Laurence D. Fink is founder, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, Inc. He also leads the firm’s Global Executive Committee. Fink and seven partners founded BlackRock in 1988, and under his leadership the firm has grown into a global leader in investment management, risk management and advisory services for institutional and retail clients. Fink was named one of the "World’s Most Respected Leaders" by Fortune in 2016, "CEO of the Decade" by Financial News in 2011, and one of the "World's Best CEO's" by Barron's for 10 consecutive years. Prior to founding BlackRock in 1988, Fink was a member of the management committee and a managing director of The First Boston Corporation. During his tenure at First Boston, Fink was co-head of the Taxable Fixed Income Division. Fink serves as a member of the board of trustees of New York University and is co-chairman of the NYU Langone Medical Center board of trustees. Fink also serves on the boards of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Council on Foreign Relations, and Robin Hood, a poverty-fighting charitable organization. He is also an Executive Committee member of The Partnership for New York City, an economic development organization. Fink earned an MBA degree with a concentration in real estate from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a bachelor's degree in political science from UCLA.