Robert D. Haas joined the Fund’s Board of Trustees in 1992 and currently serves as the Board’s Treasurer and Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Haas’ deep knowledge and experience in both business and philanthropy informs his work as a trustee of the Haas, Jr. Fund.

Bob Haas served as chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co. from 1984 to 1999. As CEO, he led the company through a business turnaround that resulted in more than a decade of growth and expansion. During Mr. Haas' tenure, the Dockers® brand was created and the company expanded internationally. Under his leadership, Levi Strauss & Co. continued the firm’s longstanding commitment to leadership in corporate social responsibility—for example, becoming the first company to define and enforce labor and safety standards for employees in its worldwide contract manufacturing and finishing facilities. In 1991, Bob Haas was the first recipient of the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS’ Edward N. Brandt, Jr. Award for his pioneering efforts in addressing HIV and AIDS in the workplace. In 1998, President Bill Clinton honored him with the first annual Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership in recognition of Levi’s anti-racism initiative, “Project Change.” Mr. Haas was named chairman of the board in 1989 and continues to serve in that position.

Mr. Haas' community involvement is extensive. Currently, he is a Berkeley Fellow and serves on the Advisory Board of the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley and the Stanford Humanities and Sciences Council. Additionally, he is president of the Levi Strauss Foundation, member and honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution and honorary director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In the past, Mr. Haas has served on the North American Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission, The Conference Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, and as a director of the California Business Roundtable, the San Francisco Bay Area Council, Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership and the Advisory Board of Governors of the Partnership for Public Service. He also is a former trustee of the Ford Foundation, former director of the American Apparel Association and former member of the League of Women Voters Education Fund’s National Advisory Committee.

Bob Haas graduated as class valedictorian from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa that same year. He received his MBA in 1968 from the Harvard Graduate School of Business, where he was a Baker Scholar. He served in the Peace Corps in the Ivory Coast from 1964 to 1966 and was a White House Fellow from 1968 to 1969. He was an associate with the management consulting firm of McKinsey and Company from 1969 to 1972 before joining Levi Strauss & Co. in 1973.