Paul E. Tierney

Paul E. Tierney, Jr. (born in 1943) is a business professor at Columbia University, a fund manager, and a venture capitalist at Aperture Venture Partners,^[1] and Fidus Partners.^[2] His investments have included stakes in the parent of United Airlines, US healthcare companies, and businesses in underdeveloped markets including Subsaharan Africa.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} He was named Chair of the Board of Advisors for Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) by Lisa Anderson, dean.^[9]

Life

He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1964. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Chile. He graduated from Harvard University, with an M.B.A. as a Baker Scholar, in 1968.^[10]

He was a senior vice president at White, Weld & Co. In 1978, he co-founded Gollust, Tierney & Oliver; they split up in 1990.^[11] He owned the Major League Soccer team, D.C. United, from 1994 to 2001.

He is married to Susan; they have three children.^[12]

Philanthropy

Tierney has been chairman of TechnoServe, an international economic development organization working in Africa and Latin America, for two decades.^[3][13][14] Tierney encourages the use of private equity and venture capital to fund entrepreneurial firms in Africa, believing this funding approach "can be a superior alternative to the traditional development funds funneled through the likes of the World Bank."^[3]

References