Peter O. Crisp ’50, a former Hotchkiss trustee and officer, died on Aug. 4, 2026, at the age of 93. He was elected alumni trustee in 1971 and term trustee in 1976. He served as treasurer until 1981, and he was a Reunion agent. 

Crisp, the son of Martha Ottley and Vandeventer Crisp, was born Aug. 9, 1932. He grew up on Long Island and raised his family there while spending summers on Fishers Island, NY, and later retiring to Hobe Sound, FL. 

At Hotchkiss, Crisp was captain of the hockey team, managing editor of the Mischianza, and a member of the golf team, student council, Hotchkiss Dramatic Association, and the Chem-Physics Club. Following his graduation from Hotchkiss in 1950 and from Yale in 1955, he served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force in the Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command. 

After receiving an MBA at Harvard Business School in 1960, he was hired by the Rockefeller family. His focus was on venture capital, pioneered by Laurance Rockefeller, concentrating on early-stage technology companies in aviation and electronics. 

In 1969, he was the founding partner of Venrock, a partnership funded by the Rockefeller family and related nonprofit organizations to invest in embryonic enterprises. During his 52-year association with the family, he was instrumental in helping create millions of jobs and fostering transformational companies. 

Crisp served on the boards of 42 companies, including Eastern Air Lines, Texas Air, Itek Corporation, Apple Computer (16 years), Thermo Electron (29 years—now Thermo Fisher), American Superconductor (25 years), and Evans and Sutherland. Following his retirement from Venrock in 1997, Crisp served as vice-chairman of Rockefeller Financial Services for six years. 

He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Venture Capital Association in 2004 and the Harvard Business School's Alumni Achievement Award in 2024, among several other awards. 

Crisp also served on the boards of three hospitals, motivated by the legacy of his brother Vandeventer, who died from leukemia at age 12: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (42 years); chairman of Glen Cove Hospital (now Northwell—eight years); and chairman of the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation (five years), as well as many other educational and community charitable organizations. 

Crisp is survived by his wife of 63 years, Missy; three daughters, Wendy C. Henderson (Ted),  Ann C. von Stade (John), and Tina C. Miller (Malcolm); nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. His sister, Lucetta Crisp Knox, and his brother Van, predeceased him.