James R. Swartz (MSIA 1966, H 2016)
A founder of Accel Partners, Jim Swartz is recognized as one of the most successful venture capitalists in the world. His firm’s roster, focused on technology investments, included industry leaders Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook, and Veritas Software and Swartz has been a lead director of more than 50 successful companies.
Raised outside Pittsburgh, Swartz was a dedicated student-athlete. After earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied physics at Harvard University, he returned to Pittsburgh to earn his master’s at the Tepper School of Business. Viewing “digital computing as the future” and seeking an “analytical, operation research, computer-based management education," he chose the Tepper School's degree based on its nationally recognized pre-eminence.
After a short stint in consulting, Swartz entered the venture capital arena. Since then, he has been dedicated to sharing that knowledge and strengthening Carnegie Mellon’s leading role in entrepreneurship education.
As the recipient of scholarship funding himself, Swartz has been committed to “helping people get someplace.” As such, he established the Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows Program for graduate students and the Swartz Entrepreneurial Leadership Series, bringing nationally recognized entrepreneurial speakers to the Tepper School.
Reflecting on the rise of entrepreneurship and his own experience, Swartz advised students,
“Change is the most important concept in your life and in your career. Everything you learn in school will be measured by how it enables you to deal with change during your career. Every time you hear yourself say, ‘We used to do it a certain way,’ bite your tongue and move on. Learn to grab the opportunities presented to you and move quickly with them. Use change to advance your own career and to capitalize on it. That’s what all great leaders do. Identify it, embrace it, lead with it.”
In addition, he is a longtime member of the Tepper Business Board of Advisors, sits on the Swartz Center Advisory Board, and serves as chair of the President’s Global Advisory Council, of which he was a founding member. In 2014, he and his wife dedicated $10 million in support of the Tepper School Quad and in 2015, $31 million to launch the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.
For his distinguished career achievements and unwavering commitment, Swartz was honored as the 2018 inaugural recipient of the CMU Founders Medal for Outstanding Service and Exceptional Achievement and was previously awarded the 2013 Tepper School Alumni Achievement Award
He additionally received the National Venture Capital Association’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, and the organization he founded to fund documentary films on societal issues has garnered Emmy, Peabody, and Academy awards.