Paul E. Tierney, Jr. (born in 1943) is a business professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, a fund manager, and a venture capitalist at Aperture Venture Partners, and Fidus Partners. His investments have included stakes in the parent of United Airlines, US healthcare companies, and businesses in underdeveloped markets including Subsaharan Africa.Daniel Fishe
Bullish On Harare
Champions of Free Enterprise Forbes Magazine He was named Chair of the Board of Advisors for Columbia's

School of International and Public Affairs The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League univers ...

(SIPA) by Lisa Anderson, dean.

Life

He graduated from

Fenwick High School (Oak Park, Illinois) Fenwick High School is a private Catholic college preparatory school located in Oak Park, a town in Cook County, Illinois that is bordered by Chicago on the Northeast, River Forest and Forest Park on the West, and Cicero and Berwyn on the South. F ...

and ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1964. He served as a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

volunteer in rural Chile. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, with an M.B.A. as a

Baker Scholar Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which publishes business books, leadershi ...

, in 1968. He was a senior vice president at White, Weld & Co. In 1978, he co-founded Gollust, Tierney & Oliver; they split up in 1990. He owned the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

team,

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

, from 1994 to 2001. He is married to Susan; they have three children.

Philanthropy

Tierney has been chairman of

TechnoServe TechnoServe is an international nonprofit that promotes business services for poverty in the developing world. It is a registered 501(c)(3) based in Washington, D.C., with over 1,540 employees across 29 countries worldwide. History Early years ...

, an international economic development organization working in Africa and Latin America, for two decades.interview
April 2010 LEADERS magazine Tierney encourages the use of

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

and

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

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 The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, Paul E. Columbia University faculty Columbia Business School faculty 1943 births American venture capitalists Harvard Business School alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Living people