Robert E. Denham, a partner in the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, was elected to chair the 15-member Board of Directors of MacArthur. Denham has served on MacArthur’s Board since November, 2000 and will begin his new role effective June, 2007.
Outgoing MacArthur Board Chair Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education at Harvard University, said, “I am delighted that Bob Denham has agreed to serve as chair. He brings a wealth of foundation and non-profit experience to this role, a breadth of knowledge, a rigorous analytic perspective, and a deep understanding of MacArthur and its work.”
Lawrence Lightfoot joined MacArthur’s Board in 1991 and began her tenure as chair in 2002. Previous Chairs of the MacArthur Board include John E. Corbally (1995-2002), Elizabeth J. McCormack (1990-1995), William T. Kirby (1989), Thornton F. Bradshaw (1986-1988), and Paul D. Doolen (1979-1984).
MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton said, “Bob Denham is a wonderful choice as our new Chair. As former Chair of the Russell Sage Foundation Board, he has a deep understanding of how foundations work. He has a robust interest in the substance of MacArthur’s programs: opening opportunity for low income-workers, devising a fair and rational system for immigration, and understanding the implications of demographic change in the U.S. and abroad. He has been an active Trustee, visiting neighborhoods where we work in Chicago and seeing first-hand our conservation work in Africa and Cuba. He will give thoughtful leadership to a new generation of MacArthur Board members.”
Denham is a trustee of the Russell Sage Foundation (past Chair), the Financial Accounting Foundation (Chair), Good Samaritan Hospital of Los Angeles (Vice Chair), and the New School University. He was formerly Chairman and CEO of Salomon, Inc. He is a past member of the OECD Business Sector Advisory Group on Corporate Governance and was a Presidential appointee to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council and the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform.
“The MacArthur Foundation applies creativity, financial resources, deep experience, and sometimes genius to addressing some of the world’s most difficult and important problems,” Denham said. “I am honored to be its Chair.”
Born in Dallas, Texas, Denham is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Texas, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master’s degree in government from Harvard University in 1968, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1971, where he graduated magna cum laude.