Charles R. Conn

Charles R. Conn
Born	(1961-08-22) August 22, 1961 Canada / United States
Occupation(s)	Executive, environmental advocate, writer
Years active	1990s–present
Known for	CEO of Oxford Sciences Innovation; Warden and CEO of Rhodes Trust; Chair of Patagonia, Inc.

Charles R. Conn (born August 22, 1961) is a Canadian-American executive, environmental advocate, and writer. In 2021, he co-established and took on a partnership role at Monograph, a venture firm specializing in life sciences. Between 2019 and 2020, he held the position of CEO at Oxford Sciences Innovation. Prior to that, from 2013 until 2018, he was both warden and global CEO of Rhodes House and the Rhodes Trust, managing the Rhodes Scholarship program.

Conn currently serves as Chair of Patagonia, Inc., highlighting his commitment to sustainable corporate governance.

Biography

Conn began his academic journey in the University Professors Program at Boston University before pursuing philosophy, politics, and economics at Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar from Massachusetts. He then joined the Boston Consulting Group and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He became a partner at McKinsey & Company and co-founded Citysearch in 1995, where he managed its merger with Ticketmaster, the acquisition of Match.com, and led the company through its initial public offering. In 2001, Conn was appointed chairman of Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch.

Subsequently, Conn acted as senior advisor to the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, spearheading initiatives such as wild salmon habitat conservation and overseeing the Palmyra Atoll research facility.

As a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, Conn has contributed to boards and advisory panels for various organizations including Patagonia, The Nature Conservancy European Council, the Arcadia Foundation, the Oxford Internet Institute, Trout Unlimited, and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

He has authored two books focused on strategic problem-solving and has published articles in outlets like Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Rhodes Trust

From June 2013 through August 2018, Conn served as warden and CEO of the Rhodes Trust, becoming both the first American and first individual without prior faculty experience at University of Oxford to hold this role.

During his tenure, he led a significant overhaul of the Rhodes Trust by raising more than £250 million to endow existing scholarships and support global expansion. The number of annual scholars grew from 83 to 101 under his leadership, with new scholarship regions added including China, UAE, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, East Africa, and West Africa.

Conn also developed a fellowship convening program centered on character development, service, and leadership. He established key partnerships with organizations such as Atlantic Philanthropies (founding the Atlantic Institute), the Eric & Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation (creating Schmidt Science Fellows), the Saïd Foundation, Templeton Foundation, and the Schwarzman Scholars initiative. After moving to Oxford, he joined the board of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation in Cape Town and became an advisory board member for the Oxford Internet Institute. In January 2014, he was appointed Professorial Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford. Conn concluded his five-year term as warden in August 2018.

Oxford Sciences Innovation

In March 2019, Conn took on the role of CEO at Oxford Sciences Innovation, an investment entity with £600 million in capital that collaborates closely with the University of Oxford to advance the commercialization of its advanced science and technology breakthroughs. Alongside him was Board Director Patrick Pichette, who previously served as CFO of Google. Both Conn and Pichette departed from OSI before the conclusion of 2019.

Publications

Title	Publisher	Year
The Imperfectionists: Strategic Mindsets for Uncertain Times	Wiley (publisher)	2023
In Uncertain Times, Embrace Imperfectionism	Harvard Business Review	2023
Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything	Wiley (publisher)	2019
Thinking About Historical Legacies: Looking for Just Principles and Processes	The Institute for Historical Justice & Reconciliation	2018
Conservation Biology through the Lens of a Career in Salmon Conservation	Conservation Biology (journal)	2011
Robbing the Grandchildren: Foundations’ shortsightedness is jeopardizing the planet’s future	Stanford Social Innovation Review	2007
Staircases to growth (co-author)	McKinsey Quarterly	1996

External links

• Wardens of Rhodes Trust