Mr. Jerry B. Bias is a Baltimore, Maryland native with South Carolina roots. Shortly after graduating from the University of Virginia (UVA), Jerry began his career on Wall Street as a real estate investment banker with Merrill Lynch. He was a Managing Director leading High Yield Trading with JP Morgan Chase before becoming a Partner at Och Ziff Friedheim (currently known as Sculptor). Bias then Co-Founded Cyrus Capital Partners and was Head of Global Trading. This hedge fund which specializes in distressed credit opportunities across the entire capital structure grew from $100MM to $5B over the course of Bias’ tenure. After relocating to Charleston, South Carolina in 2014, Jerry operated a boutique investment bank with a focus on leveraged finance, private equity and real estate investing.

He was one of the chosen few to live on the “Lawn,” a U.S. National Historic Landmark District and focal point of Thomas Jefferson’s illustrious “grounds.” It is the University of Virginia’s most prestigious honor to bestow upon an undergraduate student since 1819. Jerry respected and valued the significance of this honor so much that, a decade later, he purchased a 125-acre farm and started a vineyard near the university and placed it into land-use conservation. Since then, Jerry was a Governor appointed member of the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University, a land-grant Institution, and served as the Chair of the Compensation Committee for the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) for the better part of a decade.

Jerry planted the first 300 vines at his vineyard before soliciting assistance to plant his seven acres under vine. Initially, Bias named the winery Sugarleaf Vineyards and then changed the name to Wisdom Oak Winery. Both labels were bestowed the honor of being served at the White House. The Sugarleaf Petit Manseng was served at the Governor’s Ball and the Wisdom Oak Winery Cabernet Franc was served at President Obama’s second inauguration.

Jerry’s teaching approach is to equally include the quiet and the vociferous by having students participate in real world situations and finding ways to provide solutions to challenges. His belief is that although we are all ordinary people, we all have extraordinary capabilities and his job is to ignite that light. He was a Foreign Affairs major at UVA.

Jerry currently is the CIO of Four Ten Capital Advisors which is an urban real estate development and a business advisory company. As such, Bias is a General Partner and Head of Capital Development for the Mission Investment Company’s Innovation Growth Fund, a Sr. Advisor for Institutional Investor and CEO of Upton Joe Coffee Company. He also has served on several local and national boards and is a Lifetime Member of the National Urban League.