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About Us

Matthew and Betty Van Steenwyk established the Archer Foundation in 2012 to empower research teams to advance scientific understanding and technology for the benefit of humanity. Matthew Van Steenwyk is the Founding and Managing Director of Longbow Technology Ventures, a technology investment fund, with deep expertise in the global energy and energy services sector. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. Dr. Betty Van Steenwyk is a licensed clinical psychologist at the VA Sierra Nevada Healthcare System in Reno. She completed her post-doctoral residency with the Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Augusta Maine on complex trauma. She is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena (Psy.D., Psychology).

The Van Steenwyk family named the Archer Award after the English long-bowmen who used the most important English military invention of the 1300s – the English longbow – to turn the tide of the battlefield in the Hundred Years War. The English long-bowmen, once dominated by a single, well armored knight, were suddenly able to launch hundreds of arrows and transform the battlefield due to the unique design of the Longbow and the superior properties (strength and elasticity) of the wood from which it is made (Yew tree).

In the same vain as those ancient long-bowmen, the Archer Foundation, through family members and an advisory board of science experts, aims to create a legacy by funding promising research that will lead to breakthroughs or solutions for the benefit of humanity.

Foundation Directors

Matthew Van Steenwyk is the Founding and Managing Director of Longbow Technology Ventures, a technology investment fund, with deep expertise in the global energy and energy services sector. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.

Dr. Betty Van Steenwyk is a licensed clinical psychologist with an independent neuropsychological practice in Las Vegas, NV. She completed her first post-doctoral residency in complex trauma with the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Augusta, Maine, and her second post-doctoral residency in Neuropsychology with Fielding University. She is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary (PsyD, Psychology).

Dr. Elizabeth Busby (nee, Van Steenwyk) is currently serving as an Emergency Room doctor in central California. Prior to this, she was a resident at University Medical Center (UMC), Las Vegas. She received her medical degree (DO) from MidWestern University in Phoenix and completed her undergraduate degree in BioPsychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Dr. Gretchen Van Steenwyk is a graduate of ETH (Zurich) where she completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Neuroepigenetics. Gretchen received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and BioMedical Science from University of Queensland and her Master’s degree in Biomedical Research from Griffith University.

Todd Van Steenwyk is co-founder of a German self-storage company with diversified professional experience from family-office operations to entrepreneurship. He holds an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid , a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Corporate and Financial Risk Management from University of Sussex, and a BS in Physics from UC Irvine, with additional background in financial mathematics.