Steve Hilton

Hi Randy: As you recall, when you started work at the Hilton Foundation in 2008 you were one of the youngest CIOs managing a relatively large private family foundation. You began building an incredibly strong team including Jay, Michael and Yatin, among others. I remember when you brought on your team I kinda got nervous since everyone looked like they were still in college, including you. I even called David Swensen (your former employer) at Yale to get his advice and he told me to relax and trust your judgment and said you had great skills in training young hires. Over the nearly 8 years that you were CIO at the Hilton Foundation - you and your team did such a GREAT job in managing the Foundation's investments. And I was especially impressed with the way you created a strong culture within the investment team. The other thing about working with you Randy - I so much enjoyed your enthusiasm, high energy, positive attitude, and wonderful sense of humor. Truly - I felt so fortunate to have you as part of the Hilton Foundation's executive team. And while I was sad to see you leave in 2016, I recognized that it was your skill and personality that infused the David Swensen "magic" into the entire investment team! So, THANK YOU for all you did to not only bring a heck of a lot of FUN into the Hilton Foundation, but for your impressive role to ensure strong investment returns both during your tenure at the Foundation and continuing even to this day under the leadership of Michael Buchman. Those investment returns have enabled the Foundation to do even more good in helping millions of disadvantaged and vulnerable people throughout the world. Take care my friend!

-Steve Hilton

Retired Chair, President & CEO: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Currently: Retired Surf Dude

I had the privilege of watching a Notre Dame football game with Randy. We enjoyed the fellowship of watching and analyzing every play throughout. What a fan of the game. Love him.

Randy, when I joined the Yale investment office you were my lifeline -- you taught me estimate-sheeting, James bonding and all. I also learned more than I ever wanted about Britney Spears. Your work ethic was unparalleled, demonstrating how to give one's absolute best while making it fun and seemingly easy. I am so grateful.

Seeing the smile on your face when I presented you with the Four Horseman picture and letter from Barron. Priceless.

While working him at the Hilton Foundation, Randy stood tall as a leader and advocate. His spark and humor elevated us all. Here’s to Randy and the lives that he elevated.

Oh my friend. You will be missed. You were a straight talker (sometimes it got you in trouble), football loving, dedicated investment professional who for no reason at all loved Notre Dame football. You lived and learned. And you were a great friend. How were we friends? Because you gave of yourself so freely and because you were so transparent and in a world where people love to keep their cards close. You loved your family and respected them deeply. And its fitting in your last year on earth that Notre Dame beat BYU. Rest in peace, rest in joy.

Randy always told my sisters and I that we were his 3rd favorite cousins. We always wondered who his 1st and 2nd favorite cousins were. Growing up in Korea, I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Randy, but Randy stayed over at our house in Korea for over a month when he was a college student. That was my first memory with Randy. He moved into our house and he couldn't speak Korean, and he was the tallest dude in our entire neighborhood. Our family was worried how he would adapt to Korea, since he seemed so far from Korean culture. However, Randy soon made friends with the whole neighborhood with his minimal Korean skills. His absolute positivity and openness spread to every neighbor he spoke to. One time Randy's parents sent me a gift from the States. It was the coolest remote controlled car I had ever seen(Korea didn't have cool toys back then). I was overly excited to play with it, but there was no charger in the box. It turned out Randy had been secretly playing with it before his parents sent it over to Korea and forgot to put the charger back in. I had to wait another month for the charger to arrive. I thought it was the most hilarious thing, something only Randy would pull off. Even though my siblings and I didn't get to see Randy regularly, in our heart, he is always a close cousin who is there for us. He is intentional about celebrating our big moments together as he is present in most of our gradation photos. I'm grateful for his big heart.