BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former United States Military Academy (USMA) water polo player and current Carlyle Group Managing Director Frank Finelli ’79 is giving back to the Army via a fund to support military veterans attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management.
Finelli joined The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, in December 1998, where he is a Managing Director focusing on investments in the defense and aerospace sector. He has led numerous acquisitions and oversees Carlyle’s cross-portfolio purchasing and functional initiatives. He has been repeatedly selected for the Defense News 100 Most Influential and Executive Mosaic WASH100 distinctions.
A distinguished 1979 graduate of the USMA, where he was also a varsity letterman in swimming and water polo, Finelli served for four years as a Field Artillery Commander in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Looking to further his knowledge, he came to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management where he earned a master’s degree in management with dual concentrations in finance and operations research in 1986.
“MIT Sloan was a real differentiator,” Finelli says. “Not only did they teach us world-class analytical tools, but we also learned how to think about complex problems and use a decision calculus model to sort through next steps.”
The recipient of a Master of Military Arts in Strategy from U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, he served as an Associate Professor of Economics at the U.S. Military Academy, where he taught econometrics and conducted manpower and defense procurement analyses from from 1986 to 1989.
After serving in a series of field assignments in Germany and supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon where he played a key role in the first Quadrennial Defense Review in 1987. prior to retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, Finelli worked as a legislative assistant to Dan Coats, then a U.S. Senator on the Armed Services Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. (Coats later served as the Director of National Intelligence for the Trump administration.)
He also worked for the Vice Chairman in restructuring the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), when he also coordinated reviews of communications and intelligence programs.
“Up to that point,” Finelli explains, “the Department of Defense really only focused its simulations on two scenarios—a major war in Europe or a major war in Korea. I was asked to expand the set of analytical processes that we required to incorporate into the development of a more complex national security strategy.”
The result took into account “not only major theater wars but also what we needed to do to support the engagement of U.S. military forces all around the world,” Finelli says. “And that had never been done before.”
A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Business Executives for National Security, and The Atlantic Council. He is Chairman of the Virginia’s Veteran Services Foundation Board and serves as a Board Director for Army Emergency Relief (AER). His military awards include the Defense Superior Service Award, the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf cluster, the Honor Cross of the German Armed Forces in Silver, the Ranger Tab and Master Parachutist badge.
However, his most notable recent achievement is the establishment of a fund to support military veterans attending the MIT Sloan School of Management
In his work in finance, he says, “I run into executives who are MIT graduates, and their technical capabilities are generally unmatched. And they just bring a discipline. It’s almost an engineering approach to general management that translates into more effective performance.”
The national security sector needs that kind of analytical talent, Finelli says. “MIT plays a huge role in the innovation for advanced capabilities that will help secure the peace going forward. And this fund is a tremendous opportunity for our veterans to study at MIT Sloan and gain an unparalleled, hands-on experience that sets graduates apart.”
As to the type of students he hopes to attract to MIT Sloan with the Sloan Veterans Fund, Finelli says, “First of all, you have to have the academic credentials and capability, because this is a tremendously grueling program. But aside from that, we need people who understand service, are demonstrated leaders, and also have a sense of professional humility—who recognize that a lot of people have to work together in a high-performing team in order to make a difference.”
Information courtesy the Carlyle Group & the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
