Jeremy Herz '98 Annual Scholarship

Jeremy Herz

Jeremy Herz ’98 Annual Scholarship

Jeremy Herz PAM ’98 has been supporting Human Ecology both financially and with his time and service for years, first by conducting interviews with potential students and then by serving as chair of the Queens committee.

With the recently established Jeremy Herz Annual Scholarship, he will provide $10,000 a year for the next five years to a student in Human Ecology. “There are students in need, who would love to go to Cornell but don’t have the financial wherewithal to attend,” Herz said. “Hopefully this can help ease the burden.”

When asked why he is so passionate about Human Ecology, Herz’s first response: the people he met. “Look at my wedding party, there were four people in it,” he said. “One was my brother and the other three were my closest friends from Cornell. Here we are twenty-some years later and they are still my closest friends.”

Smaller class sizes meant that Herz also developed relationships with some of his professors, connections he maintains to this day.

 “Throughout my career I’ve encountered a lot of people from the different Ivy schools and I think those from Cornell tend to be more well-rounded, down-to-earth, and generally just good people,” he said.

Herz said he had no clue what he wanted to do when he first got to Cornell and credits Human Ecology’s unique curriculum with providing students the opportunity to explore their passions.

“Human Ecology allows students to have an incredibly flexible curriculum, more so than any other school at Cornell, and being able to pursue what you like is extremely valuable,” he said. “I was able to take classes in the art school and the agriculture school. I took a lot of advanced economics classes in Human Ecology, but also child psychology courses and accounting and statistics and a business law class. I got to explore the full range of my interests.”

Herz was recruited for his first job working at an investment bank when a Cornell alumus visited campus. In 2005, he earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School and has worked for the Quantum Group of Funds, Insight Capital and DLJ. In 2011, he joined MSD Partners, where he is managing director of the credit team.

“In my career and in my life, I’ve been fortunate enough to have mentors and people who have helped me out,” he said. “I consider myself very lucky and I’m at a place in my career where I can afford to give back. I feel good about being able to give back because at some point in my life I needed the help. That’s why I do it.”

See more like this