George E. Matelich
Chair, Board Member
Senior Advisory Partner & Managing Director, Kelso & Company
George joined Kelso & Company, a North American-focused, middle market, private equity firm, in 1985 and is currently a Senior Advisory Partner and Managing Director. He has served as a director of more than 20 former Kelso affiliated companies and as lead director of two public companies and continues to actively invest and advise with his family. Prior to joining Kelso, he spent two years in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Finance departments at Lehman Brother Kuhn Loeb.
He joined the board of American Prairie in 2008, served as Board Chair from 2013 to 2024, and continues to serve as Vice Chair. American Prairie is a privately funded organization building America’s largest grassland park, and he is a director of Bridger Trust Company and a few small private companies in which he and his family have invested. George is also an advisor to the Investment Committee of the New York Botanical Garden.
He served from 2010 for 6 years on the Stanford GSB Advisory Council (MBA ’82) and was Treasurer of the University of Puget Sound Board of Trustees, where he served from 1989 for 23 years (B.A. Business, summa cum laude, ’78). He was a C.P.A. and holds a C.M.A.
Born and raised in SeaTac, Washington, George and Susan live in Larchmont, NY. They are passionate about preserving natural spaces and have owned a ranch in Big Timber, Montana since 1997, where they enjoy fly-fishing and hiking with family and friends. A newfound joy has become admiring the sunsets in Boca Grande, Florida, where together they are plotting their next chapter.