Lifetime Achievement Award: Bon French

T. Bondurant “Bon” French is responsible for the management of Adams Street Partners and actively participates as an investment professional. He is sought out by private equity firms, consultants and investors for advice and recommendations on a variety of private equity topics. French has been with Adams Street Partners and its predecessor organizations since 1980 and has been instrumental in the development of its private equity investment strategies, fund management and client service.

French has been a guest lecturer to business schools, Wall Street firms, private equity conferences and industry trade associations about various investment topics and strategies. He was a member of the CFA Institute Committee (formerly AIMR – the Association for Investment Management and Research), which made recommendations concerning standards for reporting performance in private equity. Bon was also a contributor to the ICFA’s first book on the subject of private market investments, Investing in Venture Capital (1988). Prior to joining the Firm in 1980, he was a private placement analyst and portfolio manager with Connecticut General Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut.

French sits on advisory boards for five private equity firms within the Adams Street Partners portfolio. He is also Chairman of the Adams Street Partners Investment Committee and Executive Committee, and he is a member of the Adams Street Partners Operating Committee.

French is a Trustee of Northwestern University, Chairman of the Board of the Chicago History Museum, member of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management Dean’s Advisory Council, member of the CFA Institute, member of the Investment Analyst Society of Chicago Leadership Council, member of the Economic Club of Chicago, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Railroad Photography and Art and former Director of the National Venture Capital Association.