Ithaca College

On February 23, 2011, Chris Burch ’76, chairman of J. Christopher Capital, will be on campus to host a lecture in the School of Business. The lecture will take place at 7:00 p.m. in Room 111 of the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise. The topic of Chris’ talk is “Brand Building for the Luxury Customer of the Future.”

J. Christopher Burch is chairman of J. Christopher Capital. Mr. Burch is an active investor in a variety of businesses spanning a wide range of industries and has been an entrepreneur and investor for nearly thirty years. Mr. Burch is co-founder of Tory Burch and founder and strategic investor in multiple technology and luxury brands, including Aliph Jawbone, Color Kinetics, Eastern Alliance Insurance Company, Voss Water, NextJump, and PowerMat.

Mr. Burch had his first entrepreneurial success with an apparel company called Eagle’s Eye, which he started with his brother Bob in 1976 while still a student at Ithaca College, a business that grew to be one of the largest branded sweater makers in the world. After an initial investment of $2000, the Burchs grew the business to $140 million in sales, and later sold it to the Swire Group. Mr. Burch then made his first big investment as one of the earliest investors in Internet Capital Group, one of the most successful IPO stories of its time. From this venture Mr. Burch realized a return of almost a hundred times his initial investment. Mr. Burch has continued to prove his business acumen and intrinsic flair for innovation in his subsequent ventures and is currently launching several lifestyle and consumer products brands.

Mr. Burch has been active over his investment career in donating toward charitable initiatives involving health and education. He has contributed funding toward research initiatives at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and to the China Association of Social Work, Child Welfare League of China and contributed to non-profits including the Henry Street Settlement. He is a past board member of both The Pierre New York Hotel and the Tilton School. 

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations may contact Maria Fiorille, assistant to the dean of the School of Business, at mfiorille@ithaca.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.