Kenyon Reflections

Chuck Albers

December, 2011

During my four years at Kenyon, important forces shaped my life.

1.)    After changing majors a couple of times, trying both Chemistry and Mathematics, I discovered that Economics was the field for me.  Eventually, I stumbled into a career as a mutual fund portfolio manager, which was a win-win:  I loved it, and it was financially rewarding, as well.

2.)    At Kenyon, I discovered the writings of Hannah Arendt, Friedrich Hayek, George Orwell, Ayn Rand, Barry Goldwater, and others. From that point forward, I’ve been a strong defender of individual liberty, supporting  both political and economic freedom.

3.)    In my senior year, I married Judy Hite from Ohio University. We were married 37 years until her death in 1998. Having Judy as my wife was a major positive influence:  I am sure it made me a wiser and kinder person. We had a son and two daughters, and I now have nine grandchildren.

With the help of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, I went on to study Economics at Columbia University for a year and a half. Later, I returned to Columbia to earn an MBA in 1967, concentrating in Finance.

After working several years as a securities analyst in NYC, I landed a position as a portfolio manager, where I flourished. For 27 years I worked at Guardian Life Insurance Co., becoming Senior Vice President.  My principal claim to fame was heading the Guardian Park Ave. Fund, where we were able to achieve outstanding returns for investors over many years. Later, I moved over to OppenheimerFunds, also in NYC, where I headed the MainStreet investing team for six years. I retired in 2003. One key to my investment success was my use of sophisticated quantitative models, which enabled me to be the proverbial “one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind.”

Recreationally, I competed as a long-distance runner in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Eventually, I ran a marathon, finishing in less than four hours, and that was good enough for me:  I never ran another. Also, for many years I enjoyed mountain hiking, often with folks from the Appalachian Mountain Club, which included hiking expeditions to Canada and Slovenia.

Now, I’m on six boards of directors. One organization is the Atlas Economic Research Foundation (Washington, DC) which supports an international network of pro-freedom think tanks. Another is the Ivy Leaque Club (Sarasota, FL) which has an active social program including frequent luncheon speakers. I enjoy living in Sarasota: there are many well-educated retirees there, and there are plenty of fun and interesting things to do.

Fortunately, I’m still able to travel to interesting places, often with my partner, Julie Planck, who has been with me since 1999. Most recently, in September, I traveled with friends to Vienna, Austria, for a week. The highlight was a conference of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, held at the venerable Academy of Sciences there.