At the time of his retirement from Pacific Bell (now a part of AT&T) in May 1998, Bob was a corporate Executive Vice President and President of Business Communications Services, a business unit which included responsibility for $3B in revenue, $1B in direct expense, 15,000 employees and the establishment of two new subsidiaries: Pacific Bell Internet Services and Pacific Bell Network Integration.
During his twenty-six year career, he managed work groups in operations, sales, and marketing. Among his specific jobs at Pacific Bell, he was the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales for five years from 1987-1992. In this capacity, he was responsible for all brand management, product management, market strategy and sales for the consumer and business markets. Several major accomplishments in this role were the expansion of distribution channels to sales agents (a first among the regional Bell operating companies) and extensive market segmentation which had major implications to products and channels. Both measures resulted in revenue growth rates greater than the overall national telecommunications market. In 1997, he negotiated the deal with the San Francisco Giants that resulted in naming their ballpark, “Pacific Bell Park.”
Bob is currently a director for two companies. Blue Shield of California is a not-for-profit company with revenues of approximately $14B. He has been on the board since November of 2004. He has been the Chairman of the Board since 2012. Broadvision (NASDAQ: BVSN) is an e-commerce software company with revenues in the $60M range. He has been on the board since September 2004. He chairs the compensation committee and serves on the audit committee.
Bob is also active in several nonprofit groups. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Youth Tennis Advantage, a nonprofit group serving Bay Area inner city kids with tennis and tutoring. He is also the former Chairman of the Committee of 100, a national non-profit group promoting strong U.S.-China relations and advancing the interests of the Chinese American community in the U.S. He is also a past board member of the Asian Pacific Fund, serving the Asian American nonprofit community in the Bay Area. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Councilors for U.S.C.’s School of Engineering. Currently, he is serving as a Big Brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister Program of the Bay Area.
Bob received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Southern California in 1970. He received his MBA from U.C. Berkeley in 1972. In his spare time, Bob enjoys tennis, golf and travelling. He and his wife, Carolyn, live in Moraga, California. They have two grown daughters who have families of their own.
