Pasadena, Calif.—Venture capitalist and philanthropist Walter G. Kortschak has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
For more than 25 years, Kortschak, a Caltech alumnus, has advised and invested in start-up and growth-stage companies principally in the technology sector. He has served as a director of more than 50 companies and a number of his investments have had successful public exits and merger transactions. He is a senior advisor and former managing partner of Summit Partners, L.P., a private equity and venture capital firm. Prior to his 23 years with Summit, he was a vice president and associate at Crosspoint Venture Partners. He is also a past director of the National Venture Capital Association.
Walter and his wife, Marcia, are active philanthropists in the area of education. Over the past decade, the Kortschaks have been ardent supporters of students who learn differently. In November 2010, the Kortschaks endowed the USC Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity to support USC students with dyslexia, attention deficit challenges, and other learning differences with a broad array of innovative services. The Kortschaks are President's Circle members of the Caltech Associates, and Walter is a member of the Caltech Alumni Association and of the Chair's Council of the Institute's Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Kortschak received a BS from Oregon State University and an MS from Caltech, both in engineering, and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Kortschaks live in Palo Alto, California, and have a college age son and daughter.
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Caltech. The Board is led by Kent Kresa, chair, and vice chairs David L. Lee and Ronald K. Linde, and is currently composed of 42 trustees, 12 senior trustees, 25 life members, and one honorary life member.
