John C. Ayres (’01) is Associate Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Genprex, Inc., a gene therapy company based in Austin, Texas. Prior to that, Ayres has served as in-house counsel for various biotech, medical device and life sciences companies, including Amgen Inc., the world’s largest independent biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, CA. Ayres began his legal career in the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins LLP where he was a member of the corporate finance group advising clients on initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, M&A and other corporate transactions.
Ayres graduated summa cum laude from Truman State in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Business – Finance. While at Truman State, Ayres was a Pershing Scholar, served as a Student Ambassador and as IFC President, was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Order of Omega, Omicron Delta Kappa, Blue Key, Beta Alpha Psi and Phi Eta Sigma, participated in debate and forensics, served as an intern with the Missouri House of Representatives and was named Truman State Homecoming King.
Ayres has been recognized in the KC community as a NextGen Leader in 2019, 40 Under Forty in 2018 and was the Distinguished Recent Graduate Award recipient from the University of Missouri School of Law in 2016, where Ayres graduated cum laude in 2006 and served as Associate-Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Law Review. Ayres is a member of the Kansas City Alumni Chapter for Truman State and also devotes his time volunteering on the Public Policy Committee of BioKansas and as a co-founder and member of the Board of Trustees on the TIGERS ’06 Scholarship at the University of Missouri School of Law.
Ayres and his wife Sara reside in Leawood, KS with their two daughters.