Guthrie was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1969, where he attended Franklin Regional and Taylor Allderdice High Schools.

He received his AB Degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations (concentration in Chinese literature) from the University of Chicago in 1992.

After receiving tenure in 2000, Guthrie spent time at a variety of business schools including Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Emory, and INSEAD.

He stepped down from the Deanship and his university position as vice president for China operations in August 2013.

The university cited "fundamental differences about financial and operational performance" as a reason for his departure,[3] namely, the School of Business' overspending by $13 million in the preceding year under his leadership.