Stephen Robert

Stephen Robert (born June 13, 1940) is an American financial business executive, academic administrator, and philanthropist. He was Chairman and CEO of Oppenheimer & Co. from 1983 to 1997, and Chancellor of Brown University from 1998 to 2007. As a philanthropist, he heads the Source of Hope Foundation, which provides basic services to communities in great need around the world. As a journalist, he has published articles on Israeli–Palestinian relations and on the U.S. economy in major national and international publications.

Early life and education Robert was born in 1940 in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, where he graduated in 1958. He received a BA in political science from Brown University in 1962. He did post-graduate studies at the London School of Economics (1962–1963) and Columbia Business School (1963–1965).

In 1968, he began working at the investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. as a portfolio manager, later becoming chief investment officer. In 1982, during Robert's presidency, Oppenheimer was acquired by Mercantile House Holdings in London, and Robert joined the Mercantile House board of directors.

He became Oppenheimer's Chairman and CEO in 1983. In 1997, he and Gantcher sold Oppenheimer to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), and Robert resigned from the firm.

From 2005 to 2009, he was Chairman and CEO of Renaissance Institutional Management, an investment firm that advises high net-worth and institutional investment clients, which is a subsidiary of Renaissance Technologies. He retired in 2009 to focus on philanthropic work.

Robert is Chairman and CEO of his own investment firm, Robert Capital Management, based in Manhattan.

Brown University

Robert was Chancellor of Brown University from 1998 to 2007, having previously been on the university's board of trustees from 1984 to 1994 and on its board of fellows since 1994. He also guided the university through the sudden resignation of its president, E. Gordon Gee, and chaired the 2000 presidential selection committee that named Ruth J. Simmons as Gee's successor.

In 2007, the Brown faculty bestowed on him its highest honor, the Susan Colver Rosenberger Medal, for "specially notable or beneficial achievement". In the fall of 2010, the newly renovated building was renamed the Stephen Robert Campus Center, in honor of his leadership and achievements. Robert's intention for the extensive renovation was to foster greater interaction among Brown's students, faculty, and staff, and to achieve academic enrichment by building a shared sense of community.

Robert is also chairman of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown. In 2015, he was one of a consortium of three donors who jointly donated $50million to the institute to fund construction of a new building, expansion of the institute's faculty, and expansion and creation of initiatives aimed at addressing some of the world's most difficult policy challenges. In May 2019, Brown University named the new building the Stephen Robert Hall in his honor.

Politics, philanthropy, and journalism Robert is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Foreign Policy Program Leadership Committee at the Brookings Institution, and a trustee of and substantial donor to New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He has formerly been on the boards of directors of Xerox, and The Daily Beast.

In the 2010s, he has published several articles critical of Israel's policies on Palestine, in venues including The Nation, Haaretz, and the New York Times. He has also spoken at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, with the same critiques. From his standpoint as a Jew, a supporter of Israel, a benefactor and director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage,

In May 2019, New York-Presbyterian Hospital launched the Pilar Crespi Robert and Stephen Robert Center for Community Health Navigation. The program "supports and empowers vulnerable families by helping them receive appropriate, continuous care and access services that address social barriers to care, such as food insecurity, domestic violence, immigration challenges, and substandard housing."

In October 2019, Stephen Robert and Pilar Crespi Robert received the Tzedek v’Shalom Award for their work with justice and peace at the 2019 J Street National Gala.

Potential ambassador nomination In February 2022, it was reported that President Joe Biden would nominate Robert as the United States Ambassador to Italy. No formal announcement was made until 2023 when Biden selected Jack Markell instead.

Personal life Robert lives in Miami, Florida with his wife, Pilar Crespi Robert. He has two children from his former marriage to Eileen Robert.