Three new directors join CUF board, chair and vice chair elected for 2022

The Clemson University Foundation (CUF) welcomes three new directors to its board. Matt Brennan, Johan Eveland and Anita Hargett will begin four-year terms on July 1, 2022.

Each new associate was elected by unanimous vote of the board after being nominated by alumni and friends and reviewed by the board’s Nominations Committee, which manages the recommendations, selection and orientation of new directors.

In addition to the new directors, Anthony L. “Tony” Mathis, president and CEO of Military Systems Operations at GE Aviation, was elected as chair, and Cheryl Holland, president of Abacus Planning Group Inc., was elected as vice chair. Both begin two-year terms. Mathis previously served as vice chair of the CUF board.

The mission of the Clemson University Foundation is to support Clemson University by promoting growth and stewardship of resources entrusted to it, which fulfill its covenants with donors. It stewards Clemson’s endowment, which surpassed $1 billion in value in October 2021.

New directors are:

Matt Brennan, chief investment officer, Ally Bank, corporate treasury division of Ally Financial

Matt Brennan of Fort Mill, South Carolina, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Clemson University in 2001. He began his professional career at Bank of America, where he spent eight years in various roles in their balance sheet management and corporate investment groups. 

Currently, Brennan is the chief investment officer of Ally Bank within the corporate treasury division of Ally Financial. In this role, he manages Ally Financial and Ally Bank’s interest rate risk position and Ally Bank’s investment securities portfolio, as well as mortgage whole loan trading. Prior to this role at Ally, he served as the chief financial officer of Ally’s auto lending and insurance and as the balance sheet management executive within Ally’s corporate treasury division.  At Ally, he was instrumental in standing up the firm’s asset/liability management process and committee (ALCO) when Ally (formerly GMAC) converted to a bank holding company during the financial crisis in 2009 — the year he joined Ally.

Outside of the office, Brennan enjoys spending as much time as possible with his family — his wife, Kate, and their two boys, Riley and Brayden. As a family, they enjoy playing and watching sports — especially Clemson Football — and thoroughly enjoy traveling the U.S. and the world whenever they get an opportunity.

Johan Eveland, founder and managing partner, Sachem Head Partners and Steamboat Solar

Johan Eveland of Guilford, Connecticut, is currently the managing partner for Sachem Head Partners, a family office he founded in 2015. Additionally, he is founder and partner in Steamboat Solar, a commercial solar investment and management company.

Eveland has an extensive career in financial management. Prior to 2015, he was the global co-head of Fixed Income at Jefferies LLC, served on the firm’s executive committee and once held the position of co-head of mortgage and asset-backed securities. Before joining Jefferies, he was the managing director and a co-head of agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities trading at RBS Greenwich Capital. Eveland was a co-founder of Alta Residential Mortgage Trust and a vice president and portfolio manager at Washington Mutual. 

Along with his wife, Kristen, Eveland has had other entrepreneurial ventures, including owning a restaurant in New Canaan at one time. The Evelands are involved in philanthropic endeavors to support human services, education, the arts and youth development initiatives in their community. They have three sons.

Anita Hargett, director of economic and strategic development, Johnson & Johnson, worldwide government affairs and policy team

Anita Hargett of Greenville, South Carolina, earned a degree in economics from Clemson University in 1994 and a Master of International Business Studies (MIBS) from the University of South Carolina in 2002. 

Hargett serves on Johnson & Johnson’s worldwide government affairs and policy team as director of economic and strategic development. She supports operations across the globe to further improve coordination across a portfolio of projects, strategic site investment decisions and large multiyear transformation projects. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, she led the economic development efforts for Walmart’s Industrial Real Estate Portfolio of distribution centers, data centers and manufacturing facilities. 

She has over 20 years of experience specializing in economic development, site selection, incentive negotiation and tax consulting.

Hargett is married, and she and her husband have two children.

Clemson University Foundation

The Clemson University Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) entity organized to promote the welfare and future development of Clemson University. It was chartered in 1933 to support the University’s educational and scientific goals. It is the responsibility of the board of directors to manage and disburse assets prudently within a policy that encourages the enhancement of the resources of the foundation.