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Terrance Gerard McGuire, commonly known as Terry McGuire, is an American venture capitalist, best known as a founding partner of Polaris Partners,a venture capital firm. [1] [2] [3]
McGuire was born and raised in Lancaster, New York. He attended Lancaster High School and then Hobart College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and economics. [4] [5] Following his undergraduate studies, he was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1979, which enabled him to study the Irish language and cultural traditions in Ireland. [4] [2] He later pursued advanced degrees, earning a Master of Science in engineering from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, followed by an MBA from Harvard Business School. [6]
He began his career in venture capital at Golder, Thoma & Cressey in Chicago before moving to Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co., where he invested in early-stage technology companies. [7] [3] In 1996, he co-founded Polaris Partners, which has since managed approximately $4 billion in assets and invested in over 200 healthcare and technology companies globally. [8] [9]
Among others, he has co-founded Inspire Pharmaceuticals (later acquired by Merck), [10] [5] AIR (acquired by Alkermes), [6] and MicroCHIPS (acquired by Dare Bioscience). [4] [5] His investments reaching a combined enterprise value of over $70 billion. [1] [2] He has experience in early-stage investments in life sciences, healthcare, and technology companies. [11] [12]
He has been acknowledged for his contributions to venture capital and biotechnology on multiple occasions. He has been listed on Forbes' Midas 100 List of Top Tech Investors [10] and named one of Scientific American's Worldview 100 visionaries reshaping biotechnology. [6] [13] He is also the recipient of prestigious awards such as the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research Award, [3] the Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in Life Sciences, [14] the National Venture Capital Association Outstanding Service Award [15] and Venture Vanguard Award, [16] and the Irish America Healthcare & Life Sciences 50 Award. [4] He has been granted honorary doctorates from Ohio Wesleyan University and Canisius College [3] [17] for his work in translational science. In addition, he was named "Most Loved VC" by The Funded. [18]
He served as Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), [19] during which time he testified before Congress regarding the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.. [20] [21] [22] [3] He also co-founded the Global Venture Capital Congress, a body that fosters cooperation among venture capital associations worldwide, and served as its chair from 2009-2024. [23]
His current and past board positions include roles at Alector, [24] Adimab, [25] Invivyd, [26] Tectonic Therapeutics, [27] and Seer, [5] among others. [2] He also serves on advisory boards for academic institutions, including the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, [1] MIT’s David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, [6] Whitehead Institute, [1] Thayer School of Engineering (serving as chair from 2008 - 2021), [7] and the Brigham Research Institute at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. [6]
He is married to Carolyn Carr McGuire, and they have three children. [11]
