Crisp, Peter O. oral history | 102740510

Description

Peter O. Crisp served as an associate of the Rockefeller family for forty-five years. He was a founding and managing partner of Venrock Associates, a limited partnership funded by members of the Rockefeller family and related institutions that invest in technology-based venture capital. He was president of Venrock from 1980 to 1995 and board chairman from 1995 to 1997. He served as director of the United States Trust Corporation until 2004, and vice chairman of Rockefeller Financial Services, Inc., from 1997 to 2003. Peter currently serves as a director of American Superconductor Corp (since 1987) and continues as a director of several private companies.

A pioneer of the venture capital industry, Peter dedicated his professional life to building great companies that include: New England Nuclear Corp; Apple Computer; American Superconductor; Thermo Electron Corp; Echelon Corp; Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp; Galileo Electro-Optics Corp; Itek Corp; and Hambrecht & Quist, among others. Peter’s rewards have come from “having Venrock spawn some really, really meaningful, successful companies.”

Peter has contributed his expertise and energy as a board member of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. He has also been an active board member of the Fishers Island Development Corp since 1982, and serves as Chairman of the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation in Jupiter, Florida.

Peter served on the board of the National Venture Capital Association. In 2004, he was honored with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

After graduating from Yale in 1955, Peter served three years as a U. S. Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command. He received his MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1960.

Date

2008-10

Participants

Crisp, Peter, Interviewee

Kolker, Carole, Interviewer

Publisher

National Venture Capital Association (NVCA)

Place of Publication

Mill Neck, NY, USA

Format

Standard audio cassette

Collection Title

NVCA-Venture Forward Oral History Collection

Credit

Gift of National Venture Capital Association

Lot Number

X8628.2018

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