Since 1993, John Rollwagen has been an investor and business advisor specializing in information technology. He has served as a principal of Quatris Fund, an affiliate fund of St. Paul Venture Capital, formed to create, seed and mentor early-stage entrepreneurial ventures.

Until January 1993, John was chairman and chief executive officer of Cray Research, Inc. the leading supplier of supercomputers worldwide. In that role, he was well known for maintaining an environment of creativity and teamwork and for setting the strategic direction of the company. During his tenure, first as president beginning in 1977 and then as chairman starting in 1981, he led Cray Research from a start-up operation with less than 100 people to a highly profitable and internationally respected Fortune 500 company with annual revenues in excess of $800 million and more than 5,000 employees in 21 countries.

John was a founding member of the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP), an organization of chief executive officers of the 12 leading computer systems companies in the U.S. created in 1989 to identify and advocate industry positions on trade and technology policy. In 1987, he was appointed by President Reagan as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). He was reappointed to this position by President Bush.

John earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a recipient of the MIT Alumni Award for Distinguished Corporate Leadership, and has been honored by the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology for his contributions to the university’s electrical engineering and computer science programs. In 1992, he was the recipient of an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Hamline University.