Lawrence C. McQuade

Lawrence McQuade

Lawrence C. McQuade, Class of 1945

Outstanding Athlete and Scholar, Leader in Government and Business

Larry McQuade grew up in Tucson, Arizona and attended Tucson schools. At Tucson High School, he was an outstanding end on the State Championship Tucson Badger Football Squad.

His college years were spent at Yale, where he graduated (Phi Beta Kappa). At Oxford University, he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, then he went to Harvard Law School. A lawyer by training, he worked at the top of both the business and government sectors, and often at the intersection of the two. International affairs and commerce were two of his special areas of expertise.

  • Asst. Secretary of Commerce during Kennedy/Johnson administrations
  • CEO of Procon Incorporated where he oversaw the building of the largest LNG facility in the world at that time
  • Executive VP and Board Member: W.R. Grace & Company
  • Vice Chairman: Prudential Mutual Funds
  • Founding Partner: River Capital, a hedge fund focused on investments in Russia
  • Boards of Directors: Qualitas International, Prudential Mutual Funds, NNRF, Laredo National Bancshares, Bunzl PLC, Applied Bioscience, and many others
  • Executive Chairman/Partner of the Tzar Investment Group
  • Chairman at various times of Qualitas International, Czech & Slovak American Enterprise Fund, NNRF, Inc.
  • Director at various times of Oxford Analytica, Inc., Bunzl P.L.C., Laredo National Bancshares
  • Founding partner of River Capital International L.L.C.
  • Member, Council on Foreign Relations: Director, Overseas Development Council: Director, International Management & Development Institute: Director, Foreign Policy Association: Expert Advisor, UN Commission on Transnational Corporations; Co-Founder & Director, Asian Programs Foundation
  • Advisor, White House Fellowship Program; Board Member P & D Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Perhaps more important to all who knew Larry, it was the thoughtful and helpful way in which he interacted with people. This is exemplified in a comment by Nusrat Coudhury about serving on a fellowships board with Larry: “I learned about leadership and judgment from Larry during these board meetings. Larry listened, asked smart questions, was confident enough in his abilities and skill to admit when he did not know an answer, and consistently demonstrated respect for his colleagues. The entire board relied on Larry for guidance and gave his opinions considerable weight.”