Jonathan Lavine

Jonathan Lavine is Chair of Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading private investment firms. He founded Bain Capital Credit and Bain Capital Special Situations in 1998.

Today, Bain Capital invests across asset classes, including private equity, credit, public equity, venture capital, real estate, and other strategic areas of focus. The firm has approximately $185 billion in assets under management and more than 1,800 employees with 25 offices worldwide.

Mr. Lavine served as Co-Chair of the Columbia University Board of Trustees from 2018 to 2022 and Chair from 2022 to 2023. He was first appointed to the board in 2011 and was named Vice-Chair in 2015. Previously, Mr. Lavine joined the Columbia College Board of Visitors in 2003, serving as Chair from 2008 to 2012. He currently co-chairs the Core to Commencement and Columbia Commitment Campaigns. He and his wife, Jeannie, are longtime supporters of several Columbia University initiatives, including financial aid, student life, and faculty support.

In addition to his work with Columbia, Mr. Lavine is involved in numerous charitable activities and organizations. With Jeannie, he established the Crimson Lion Foundation, which delivers financial resources to nonprofit organizations with a particular focus on promoting access to quality educational opportunities and addressing economic inequality.

Mr. Lavine is Chairman Emeritus of the National Board of Trustees of City Year, an organization focused on reducing the high school dropout rate in urban centers across the United States. In 2015, uAspire dedicated the Lavine Family Center for College Affordability, which Mr. and Mrs. Lavine helped establish. uAspire is an organization that provides financial resources to overcome barriers to college education. Mr. Lavine is also a member of the Boston Public Library Board of Trustees.

The Lavines and the Crimson Lion Foundation also financially support numerous other national and community-based organizations. One such organization is LIFT, a nonprofit that concentrates on breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Others include Cradles to Crayons, a nonprofit that provides clothing and essential school supplies to children across several cities; WBUR, Boston's NPR affiliate; and the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization dedicated to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment.

In 2019, the Lavines and Crimson Lion partnered with the Better Angels Society and the Library of Congress to create the annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. This project is part of their support of world-class documentarian Ken Burns and their assistance in developing the next generation of documentary filmmakers.

The Lavines also support a number of Jewish organizations, including Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, and American Jewish World Service. In 2016, President Obama appointed Mr. Lavine a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council. Mr. Lavine was reappointed to the council by President Biden in 2023.

In the area of healthcare, in 2011, the Lavines endowed the Lavine Family Humanitarian Studies Initiative at the Harvard School of Public Health and funded the Lavine Family Research Initiative at Brigham and Women's Hospital to support migraine research. The Lavines also provide major support to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital Trust.

Mr. Lavine has received several awards from Columbia and other organizations. In 2017, Mr. Lavine was awarded the Alexander Hamilton Medal, the highest honor given to a member of the Columbia College community for distinguished services. While at Columbia, he received the David Truman Award for outstanding contribution to the academic affairs of the college. He also received the Dean’s Leadership Award for the Class of 1988 25th reunion. Mr. Lavine is a past recipient of Columbia’s John Jay Award for professional achievement and Columbia/Barnard Hillel’s Seixas Award, which recognizes his significant contributions to Jewish life on campus. He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2023.

In addition to his honors from Columbia, Mr. Lavine was awarded the New England Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Community Service Award in 2012 and the Citizen Service Award from Voices for Service in 2015.

Mr. Lavine graduated from Columbia College, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and holds an M.B.A. with Distinction from Harvard Business School. For more information, follow Mr. Lavine on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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