William Powers '79 to speak on capital markets

Investor and philanthropist William C. Powers, a 1979 Princeton University alumnus, will share his insights in "A Tiger's Journey Through the Capital Markets 1983-2010," this year's G. S. Beckwith Gilbert '63 Lecture, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, on the University campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Computer Science Building, Room 104. A reception will follow.

Powers, recently retired as managing director and senior portfolio manager of Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), based in Newport Beach, Calif., where his achievements included serving as the architect of PIMCO's global portfolio teams in Munich, London, Tokyo and Sydney. He also was a member of PIMCO's Investment Committee from its inception and a long-time member of its executive committee. Powers currently partners with investors in real estate, natural resources, commodities, collectibles and the entertainment industry. Before joining PIMCO in 1991, he worked for Salomon Brothers and was a senior managing director at Bear Stearns.

In addition to his bachelor's degree in economics from Princeton, Powers earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

A letterman in football, named All-Ivy in football in 1978 and winner of the Charles W. Caldwell Memorial Trophy at Princeton that same year, Powers has been a long-time supporter of University athletics. In 2006 he funded Princeton Stadium's game field, named Powers Field in his honor. The $10.5 million gift, which was the largest ever to Princeton athletics, also created two endowments -- one to support field maintenance and another to provide operating funds for the football program. He also established two scholarships to support the University's need-based financial aid program.

Powers has been an active volunteer for Princeton, serving as an Annual Giving volunteer, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Princeton Varsity Club and a local Alumni Schools Committee volunteer.

Among his other pursuits, Powers is the creator of "The Blues and Jazz: Two American Classics," an innovative program conducted by the Thelonious Monk School of Jazz that is designed to preserve and promote jazz and the blues through music education programs in public schools.

He currently serves as the chair of the Hollywood Bowl, on the executive committee of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as a trustee of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by Presidential appointment, and on the advisory board of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Powers is also on the boards of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Festival and the Painted Turtle camp for special-needs children. He previously served on the board of St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.

The Gilbert lecture was established in 1988 to bring innovative leaders in business, government and the professions to the Princeton campus to discuss their ventures and the insights gained in their careers. This year's lecture is sponsored by Princeton's Bendheim Center for Finance and Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering.