A groundbreaking venture capitalist and philanthropist, Peter O. Crisp (MBA 1960) is known for his firm’s investments in companies that have become household names: Intel, Apple, American Superconductor, and Thermo Electron (now Thermo Fisher Scientific), to name a few. As a founder and managing general partner of Venrock Associates, Crisp led the venture investments of the Rockefeller family during a 45-year career, serving as president of Venrock from 1980 to 1995, board chairman from 1995 to 1997, and vice chairman of Rockefeller Financial Services from 1997 to 2003. Now retired, Crisp has served as a director of more than 50 nonprofit and corporate boards, with a particular focus on medicine, serving a remarkable four decades on the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he led almost every committee during his tenure. In addition, he has served on the boards of Northwell Health and Florida’s Jupiter Medical Center Foundation, where he served as chair from 2008–2013. Crisp graduated from Yale University with a BA in history; married to Missy Crisp since 1963, he has three daughters and nine grandchildren. A diehard hockey player for decades, Crisp hung up his skates a few years ago but continues to play golf at his home in Hobe Sound, Florida.

John B. Hess (MBA 1977) is CEO of Hess Corporation, a global independent energy company engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas and an industry leader in environmental, social, and governance performance and disclosure. Hess led the Fortune 500 company through a strategic transformation from an integrated oil company into a pure play E&P company that has been the No. 1 energy stock in terms of total shareholder return over the past five years and last year was the No. 2 stock overall in the S&P 500. A thought leader for the energy industry, Hess serves on the board of trustees at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is chairman of the board of the American Petroleum Institute. He is also a member of the Business Council, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Economic Club of New York. The father of three sons, all of whom attended HBS, Hess received an AB in economics from Harvard College. He is a member of the HBS Board of Dean’s Advisors and served as chair of the Harvard Business School Campaign.

As co-owner and CEO of Black Opal LLC, Desiree Rogers (MBA 1985) leads the rejuvenation of two storied brands for people of color: Black Opal Beauty and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Rogers has enjoyed a multifaceted career devoted to transforming organizations in the private and public sectors, including the Illinois Lottery, Integrys Energy Group, and Allstate. In 2009, Rogers was invited to serve as the White House Special Assistant and Social Secretary to President Obama, where she executed innovative arts and cultural events emphasizing the vision of the White House as the “People’s House.” She then joined Johnson Publishing as CEO, leading efforts to reposition and explore opportunities for the company’s subsidiaries, including Ebony and Jet magazines, and in 2013 became chairman of the tourism board Choose Chicago, introducing and overseeing a digital marketing campaign that resulted in a record-breaking 57 million visitors in 2018. In 2019, Rogers, and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack acquired Black Opal and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Born in New Orleans, Rogers received a BA in political science and government from Wellesley College and has one daughter, Victoria. She serves on the boards of Inspired Entertainment and Stagwell Media and is involved with numerous nonprofits, including the American Cancer Society and Gyrls in the H.O.O.D.

Gerald W. Schwartz (MBA 1970) is chairman and founder of Onex Corporation, a Toronto-based investment management firm with more than $50 billion in assets under management. As CEO of Onex from its founding in 1984 until 2023, Schwartz led a number of significant acquisitions, including Beatrice Foods, SkyChefs, Celestica, and in 2019, WestJet. Inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, Schwartz was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006. A native of Winnipeg, he holds a BA in commerce and a degree in law from the University of Manitoba. In 1995, Schwartz and a team from HBS began to acquire art by emerging artists for areas of daily activity on campus to spur reflection and discussion outside the classroom; in 2019, HBS dedicated Schwartz Common & Pavilion to serve as an outdoor hub of community exchange at HBS. Schwartz and his wife Heather Reisman have four children; over the years, the Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Foundation has made numerous philanthropic contributions, including a landmark 2019 gift to the University of Toronto to create Canada’s largest university-based innovation hub for AI, biomedicine, and entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur with 30 years of experience financing early-stage technology and healthcare companies, Gwill E. York (MBA 1984) is a founding managing director of the venture capital firm Lighthouse Capital Partners. Launched in 1994, Lighthouse has committed over $2 billion in capital to more than 500 companies in six limited partnerships. Lighthouse Series A investments include Netflix, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, NVIDIA, NxStage, Insulet, Cascade Communications, Sirocco Systems, Impossible Foods, and Rent the Runway. Currently, York sits on the boards of Sofina and Alto Neuroscience, as well as several early-stage companies. Born in Boston and raised in Cleveland, York returned to the Boston area more than 40 years ago and has served on the boards of numerous institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Mass General Brigham, and the Museum of Science. President of the Board of Trustees of Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, York also serves on the board of One Mind, a nonprofit that leverages research, business, and media to catalyze change in the field of mental health treatment. In addition, she is advisory board chair of 10 Million Names, a collaborative project dedicated to recovering the names of the estimated 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the United States between the 1500s and 1865. The mother of two adult sons, York received an AB in economics from Harvard College.