Scott Bierman

Harold Scott Bierman is an economist, author, and higher-education administrator, best known for serving as the 11th president of Beloit College in Wisconsin from July 2009 until his retirement at the end of the 2022–23 academic year (he announced the retirement on September 19, 2022). He earned a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Bates College in Maine (1977) and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia. His academic specialties are game theory, industrial organization, and public-sector and experimental economics, and he co-authored the textbook *Game Theory with Economic Applications* (with Luis Fernandez; Addison-Wesley/Pearson, 1st ed. 1993, 2nd ed. 1998).

Before Beloit, Bierman spent 27 years at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, rising through the faculty and administration: instructor (1982–85), assistant professor (1985–89), associate professor (1989–96), and full professor (1996–2005). He chaired the economics department (1991–95), served as faculty president (1997–2000), and then moved into senior administration as associate dean (2003–05) and Dean of the College (2005–09), a role from which he was recruited to lead Beloit.

As Beloit's president during and after the 2008–09 recession, Bierman focused heavily on financial stewardship — retiring nearly all of the college's external debt, streamlining operating expenses, and growing net-tuition revenue. His signature project was the Powerhouse, a decommissioned power station converted into an award-winning student union and recreation center that opened debt-free in February 2020, financed through Historic Tax Credits, the New Markets Tax Credit program, and philanthropy. He also launched the "Impact Beloit" community-learning initiative and strengthened experiential and mentored-learning programs. He has served on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Bates College.

Note on "angel investor" classification: Bierman appears in the supplied stub — and in some third-party investor databases — categorized as an "angel investor" at the seed stage. Extensive searching found no public record of personal startup investments, a personal investment vehicle, or a named portfolio. The most likely basis for the label is his role as a college president (institutions are sometimes swept into such databases) and his economics background. The classification below should be treated as unverified.

• No publicly stated personal investment thesis could be verified. Bierman has not published startup-investing criteria, check sizes, or a portfolio.
• His documented "capital allocation" experience is institutional rather than venture: as Beloit's president he financed the multimillion-dollar Powerhouse redevelopment through tax-credit programs and philanthropy without incurring debt, and he eliminated most of the college's external debt during a recession — evidence of a conservative, risk-managed approach to capital.
• His intellectual framework is economics-driven — game theory, industrial organization, and experimental/behavioral economics — reflected in his textbook *Game Theory with Economic Applications*.
• If engaging him as an early-stage backer, treat any stage/sector/check-size figures from investor databases as unconfirmed and verify directly.