Following a national search process, Grinnell College has named Jainen “J.T.” Thayer as its next chief investment officer. Thayer comes to Grinnell from the Oberlin College Investment Office in New York City, where he was chief investment officer. Prior to his leadership role at Oberlin, he held senior investment positions at the New York University Investment Office and Fortress Investment Group. He will begin work at Grinnell in mid-September. Thayer will succeed Andrew Choquette, who has filled in on an interim basis since the departure of Scott Wilson to Washington University in St. Louis last fall. Under Thayer’s leadership, Oberlin’s investment portfolio generated an annual return of 8.3 percent and the market value of the endowment grew from $672 million to $872 million through April, making it among the best performing endowments nationally. Grinnell’s endowment was valued at more than $1.87 billion at the end of fiscal year 2017.