Russell L. Carson ’67
Russell Carson attended public high school in Toledo, Ohio, prior to receiving a BA degree in economics from Dartmouth College in 1965 and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1967.
Since 1978, Mr. Carson has been a general partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), one of the country’s largest private investment firms, which he cofounded. Over the past 30 years, WCAS has raised 15 institutionally funded limited partnerships with total capital in excess of $20 billion and has invested in more than 250 companies. The firm has evolved into the leading specialist in the buyout of privately owned companies in the information services and healthcare industries. Unlike many buyout firms, WCAS emphasizes the growth of acquired businesses and ultimately seeks its financial returns through access to the public stock market. Mr. Carson has focused on WCAS’s healthcare investment activities and is a director of four portfolio companies.
From 1967 to 1978, he was employed by the Citicorp Venture Capital subsidiary of Citicorp and served as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1974 to 1978.
Active in community affairs, Mr. Carson is a trustee of Dartmouth College, chairman of the Rockefeller University board of trustees, a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a director of the Partnership for New York City, cochairman of the New York City Investment Fund, a director of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, and chairman of the Endowment for Inner-City Education. He resides in New York City with his wife, Judy, and their two children.