Born in Salisbury, North Carolina, Julian H. Robertson, Jr. (1932-2022) graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1955. He founded Tiger Management in 1980 and went on to become one of the most successful global fund managers of his time. Widely recognized as a pioneer in the hedge fund industry, he is best known for his impressive track record of performance and his legacy for mentoring dozens of other successful leaders in the space (The Tiger Cubs).
Together with his wife Josephine (Josie) Tucker Robertson (1943-2010), he began collecting in the late 1980s and generously lent works to the Ackland for three special installations between 2015 and 2019. In 2000, he established the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, connecting UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University.