Leo Guthart

Leo Guthart is an American economist and businessman. Guthart is a former Vice Chairman of the Pittway Corporation, and co-founder of the Long Island Research Institute, Topspin Partners, and the Long Island Venture Fund.

Education

Leo Guthart graduated from Harvard College with a BA degree in Physics in 1958. He later attended Harvard Business School, where he received both an MBA in 1960^[1] and later a Doctorate in Business Administration.^[2] As a writer, his work has appeared in textbooks, including Financial Management; Cases and Readings by Pearson Hunt and Victor Andrews.^[3]

Career

Leo Guthart’s research as a doctoral candidate at Harvard Business School found that companies were repurchasing larger amounts of their own stock than had generally been realized, determining that these purchases had become a previously underappreciated factor in the stock market,^[4][5][6][7] tracking the trend from 1954 to 1963.^[8][9] He also wrote in 1965 that the practice would become more widespread.^[10] Guthart joined ADEMCO in 1963, which grew to the world’s largest manufacturer of security and alarm devices by 1992,^[11] under the leadership of Guthart.^[2] He then served as Vice Chairman of Pittway Corporation and Chief Executive Officer of its Security Group of Companies, including ADEMCO, until its sale to Honeywell in 2000.^[12] Simon Hakim and Erwin Blackstone wrote of Guthart’s role that ADEMCO’s “success” over the years, “can be attributed to Leo Guthart, [his] innovative behavior and willingness to take risks”.^[13] Guthart has also worked with technology transfer, focusing on commercializing the scientific work of research organizations. He also co-founded the Long Island Research Institute, alongside the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, North Shore University Hospital, and Stony Brook University.^[14] In 1993 Guthart co-founded the Long Island Venture Fund with James Simons,^[15] and in 2000 he and Simons formed Topspin Partners, LP.^[16] Guthart is currently Vice Chairman of Accelerate Long Island.^[17] Guthart has also served as the Chairman of the Cylink Corporation.^[18]

Personal life

Guthart was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hofstra University in 1993^[19] and is currently a member of the Hofstra Board of Trustees.^[20] In 2021, Hofstra University announced that a business school building on its campus will be known as the Leo A. Guthart Hall for Innovation and Discovery.^[21] Guthart is also the Treasurer and serves on the Executive Committee of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,^[22] whose campus complex features the Laurie and Leo Guthart Discovery Tower in honor of his late wife.^[23] Guthart also established the Laurie Carrol Guthart Professorship in Medicine in the Field of Neuroendocrinology at Harvard Medical School.^[24] In 2010, Guthart was inducted into the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame.^[25][26]

References

1. "DEBRIEF: Leo Guthart, Topspin Partners - Innovate Long Island". 8 June 2015.
2. Tarsala, Michael (15 May 1997). "Ademco Security's Guthart: Persistence Pays Off For An Alarm Business Bell Ringer". Investor's Business Daily.
3. Hunt, Pearson; Andrews, Victor L. (1968). Financial Management; Cases and Readings. Richard D Irwin Inc. ISBN 0256017468.
4. Berton, Lee (29 July 1969). "Buying Yourself". The Wall Street Journal. ProQuest 133391705.
5. Elia, Charles (19 March 1965). "Corporate Cannibalism Thrives". New York World-Telegram. p. 26.
6. "Growing Trend: Firms Buying Back Stock". New York Herald Tribune. 28 March 1965.
7. Murphy, Pat (19 March 1965). "Trend Has Impact on Market: More Firms Rebuy Their Own Stock". Chicago Daily News.
8. “Management Services”. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Volume 5. 1968. Page 55.
9. "Management Services". American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 17 March 1968 – via Google Books.
10. "More companies buy their own stock, lowering near term supply, study shows". Business Week. 27 March 1965.
11. "CLOSE-UP Leo Guthart: A Man Ahead Of His Time". Long Island Business News. 1988-04-25. p. 3.
12. "Company Overview of Topspin Partners LBO, LP". Bloomberg Capital Markets. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
13. Hakim, Simon; Blackstone, Erwin A. (17 March 1997). Securing Home and Business: A Guide to the Electronic Security Industry. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 9780750696296 – via Google Books.
14. PENENBERG, ADAM L. (9 July 1995). "Building a Bridge for Business and Science". New York Times. ProQuest 109497958.
15. Bernstein, James (23 June 1993). "LI Gets a High-Tech Startup Fund". Newsday. ProQuest 278642593.
16. "The Other Face of Jim Simons". www.institutionalinvestor.com. 2004-12-06. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
17. "Key piece of LI's tech future Venture capital could be the catalyst to help Long Island become a research hub - and a job generator". Newsday. 5 January 2014. ProQuest 1473999957.
18. "Company Overview of Cylink Corporation". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
19. "College Briefs". Newsday. 5 December 1993. p. 3. ProQuest 278701919.
20. "Hofstra University Trustees - Hofstra - New York". www.hofstra.edu.
21. "Hofstra Renames Business School Building, Center for Entrepreneurship to Honor Leo A. Guthart". 20 May 2021.
22. . www.cshl.edu. Archived from the original on 2014-08-18.
23. . www.cshl.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-03-20.
24. "Klibanski named first Guthart Professor". Massachusetts General Hospital.
25. http://techisland.org/inductees2010.asp Long Island Technology Hall of Fame
26. "Long Island Technology Hall of Fame - Quantum Chromodynamics - Particle Physics". Scribd.