Lance Fors

Lance Fors is a scientist-turned-entrepreneur and social-impact investor. He earned a B.A. in molecular biology from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the California Institute of Technology (1990), where he completed postdoctoral work as a fellow under Dr. Leroy Hood. He also founded and managed two companies while still in graduate school, establishing an early track record as a serial entrepreneur.

In 1993 Fors co-founded Third Wave Technologies, a Madison, Wisconsin molecular-diagnostics company, alongside University of Wisconsin–Madison professors Lloyd Smith and James Dahlberg. The company commercialized Dahlberg's enzyme-based "Invader" chemistry to detect genetic markers of disease, launching its first product in 1995 and expanding into tests for human papillomavirus (HPV) and cystic fibrosis. Fors served as Executive Chairman, President & CEO from 1993 to 2005, was principal investigator on more than $5 million of research grants, and is a named inventor on many of the company's patents. Third Wave went public in February 2001 and was ultimately acquired by Hologic in 2008 for approximately $580 million ($11.25 per share).

After exiting biotech, Fors turned to full-time social-impact work, describing himself as a thought partner and mentor to social entrepreneurs and organizations at inflection points in their growth. He chairs Social Venture Partners / SV2 (the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund) and has held leadership roles across a cluster of education-focused nonprofits.

His nonprofit board leadership includes chairing the board of Reading Partners during its rapid national scaling (roughly 2007–2015), chairing the board of the New Teacher Center (a national teacher-mentoring organization), chairing the Silicon Valley Children's Fund, and serving as Vice-Chair of StriveTogether, the nonprofit widely credited with launching the "collective impact" movement in the U.S.

• Invests as an angel at the seed stage, typically in a small number of companies rather than as a high-volume investor.
• Strong tilt toward education technology and social enterprise — organizations that combine a scalable model with measurable social impact, reflecting his nonprofit leadership in education.
• Values scaling operators: his defining nonprofit work (Reading Partners, New Teacher Center, StriveTogether) centers on helping organizations scale nationally, and he positions himself as a "thought partner and mentor to organizations at inflection points."
• Brings deep domain and operating credibility from building Third Wave Technologies from founding through IPO and a large acquisition — useful for founders wanting a hands-on, company-building board member rather than a passive check.