About

Who We Are

Established in 2012 as an independent, non-partisan, grant-making organization, FEHE funds and advises programs at elite universities where the next generation of cultural leaders are formed.

We advance our mission of academic and cultural renewal by building internal university programs supported by external institutes, forming exceptional students in character and virtue through close mentorship and intellectual friendship, networking these students with select faculty, industry leaders, and with each other, and multiplying their impact across industries, geographies, and generations.

In the 2022-23 academic year, our network sponsored 75 for-credit courses for over 3,000 students, and hosted over 1,200 events for over 25,000 attendees.

Leadership

With decades of experience in advising and managing academic programs and reform initiatives at leading universities, as well as extensive business and financial expertise, each member of our leadership team brings a deep personal and professional commitment to renewing higher education and forming tomorrow’s leaders.

Francis J. Hager, Chairman

Francis J. Hager is the Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education. He also serves as Managing Partner at OppCAP Group LLC, which he co-founded in 2011 to help asset managers access the institutional investor community and global capital markets. In addition to decades of experience in finance, Mr. Hager brings significant expertise in higher education reform. He is currently a member of the IESE (Barcelona) Business School US Advisory Council, the Board of Trustees of the Collegium Institute, and the Board of Regents of the Delbarton School (Morristown, New Jersey). Mr. Hager holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Phil. in Economics from the University of Oxford.

Luis Tellez, President

Luis Tellez is the President of the Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education. He also serves as the President of the Witherspoon Institute, a scholarly center in Princeton, New Jersey, and is a member of the Advisory Council of the James Madison program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Mr. Tellez received a BS and MS in chemical engineering as well as an MBA in Finance from Washington University in St. Louis.