Paul A. Gompers

Paul A. Gompers is an American economist and former long-distance runner. He is the Eugene Holman Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is the co-author of three books.

Early life Paul A. Gompers grew up in Belleville, Illinois. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard University in 1987. He earned a Marshall Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford, where he earned an MSc in economics.

In December 1983, Gompers ran 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 28 seconds in his first ever marathon while still a freshman at Harvard. The time was a world under-20 record, and it still stands as the fastest marathon ever by an American teenager. At the 1985 World University Games, Gompers won his first international medal by placing 3rd in the men's marathon.

Career Gompers worked as a biochemist for Bayer shortly after college. He has also published articles in The Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, The Journal of Private Equity, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, The Journal of Law and Economics, etc. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Works