Dr. Rick LeFaivre joined OVP Venture Partners as a venture partner in 2004 and focuses on technology-based investments in information technology, digital biology and digital energy. He also serves as Director of New Ventures - Technology at the University of Washington's Center for Commercialization, helping to create companies that leverage technology developed at UW.

Rick brings over thirty years of career accomplishments to OVP as a computer scientist, professor, R&D executive and venture advisor working at elite universities, high-technology companies and venture firms. He has served as VP of the Advanced Technology Group at Apple Computer, as SVP of R&D and CTO at Borland International, and has held R&D management positions at Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems and Tektronix. He was a founding partner of IdeaEdge Ventures, a San Diego-based venture development organization; and the Software Patent Institute, which advises the government on issues related to software patentability. He started his career as a professor in the computer science department at Rutgers University, teaching and carrying out research in artificial intelligence and advanced programming technology, and later served as Executive Director of the Von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at the University of California, San Diego, focusing on the effective commercialization of university-developed technology. Rick has published extensively in the computer science literature, has served on a number of industry and academic advisory boards, and has testified before the Congress of the United States on matters of technology policy.

Rick received his AB in Mathematics from the University of Missouri and his MS and Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin. He was the founding chair of the University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Board of Visitors, and is a member of the University of Washington College of Engineering Visiting Committee, the University of Washington Information School Founding Board, the University of Washington Institute of Advanced Materials and Technology IP Advisory Board, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Energy and Environment Directorate Review Committee.