Leo Guthart

Dr. Leo A. Guthart currently manages Topspin Partners, a venture capital fund and Topspin Partners LBO, a buyout fund. The funds are both based on Long Island and invest approximately $600 million with principal focus in the venture area on biotechnology, computer security and rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles. Dr. Guthart served as a Director of Aragon Pharmaceuticals (sold to Johnson & Johnson) and Seragon Pharmaceuticals (sold to Roche-Genentech). He is presently a Director of Peloton Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Guthart was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hofstra University from 1993-1996, and is currently a member of the Hofstra Board of Trustees. He serves as Treasurer of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and is a member of its Executive Committee, an Overseer of the Hofstra-NSLIJ Medical School and a Trustee Emeritus of the Stony Brook Foundation. He was inducted into the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame. He was a Founding Director of the Long Island Research Institute and was a Trustee of the Acorn Funds, a leading growth-oriented family of mutual funds. He is a Director of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE), an international producer of dispensing valves, pumps and closures for pharmaceuticals and perfumes. He served as Chairman of the Security and Fire Solutions Group of Honeywell International. Until its sale to Honeywell in 2000, he served as Vice Chairman of Pittway Corporation and Chief Executive Officer of its Security Group of Companies. He also served as Chairman of Cylink Corporation for many years. Cylink was the first to offer electronic public key encryption to the commercial market. Dr. Guthart is a graduate of Harvard College where he received a B.A. degree in Physics and of Harvard Business School where he was a George F. Baker Scholar and received both an M.B.A. and a Doctorate in Business Administration with a specialty in Corporate Finance. Dr. Guthart served on the faculty of Harvard Business School and was a Ford Foundation Fellow performing research on corporate share repurchases. His articles on share repurchases have been published in the Harvard Business Review, the Financial Analysts Journal and the Journal of Finance.