Jim Mosman, former CEO of the California State Teachers' Retirement System and former executive director of the National Council on Teacher Retirement, died Nov. 4 in an apparent suicide.
He was 66.
Mr. Mosman had been coping with chronic facial pain, and medical treatment had been unsuccessful, said Meredith Williams, who succeeded Mr. Mosman as NCTR executive director, in an interview.
Mr. Mosman served as CEO of CalSTRS from 1981 to 2001, and then as executive director of the NCTR from 2001 to 2012.
His tenure at CalSTRS occurred during an era when public pension funds moved beyond their traditional fixed-income investing model into other asset classes. The CalSTRS investment portfolio grew to $105 billion from $24.3 billion during his time at the plan, CalSTRS data show. The pension fund now is $186.4 billion.
“We have lost a man who thoroughly embraced and championed the security of teacher pensions; who led by his word and followed through on his promises,” said Jack Ehnes, CalSTRS CEO, in a statement.
Mr. Williams said Mr. Mosman was a go-to person for officials at many teacher retirement plans when they had questions or needed resources, even before he joined NCTR.
“Jim was a mentor to many people in the teacher's retirement community,” Mr. Williams said.
Mr. Mosman is survived by his wife, Caroline Cabias, and daughter, Alisa Mosman.
The family requested that memorial contributions be made to SPCA, Shriners Hospital, Red Cross and the Salvation Army. n
