Robert D. Haas (born 1942) is the chairman emeritus of Levi Strauss & Co., son of Walter A. Haas Jr., and the great-great-grandnephew of the company's founder, Levi Strauss. Biography Born and raised in San Francisco, Robert (Bob) Haas received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1968, where he was named a Baker Scholar. Haas served in the Peace Corps in the Ivory Coast from 1964 to 1966. He was a White House Fellow from 1968 to 1969. After business school, Haas worked as an associate at McKinsey & Company from 1969 to 1972. Haas joined Levi Strauss & Co. in 1973 and served in a variety of roles. He was elected to the board of directors in 1979 and as president and chief executive officer in 1984. He served in that position until stepping down in 1999. He became chairman of the board in 1989 and retired from the board in 2014. Sales and profitability grew during the period of Haas's leadership, thanks largely to the expansion of Levi's branded apparel internationally and the creation and rapid growth of the Dockers brand of casual apparel. Under his leadership, Levi Strauss & Company carried on the company's engagement in corporate social responsibility: it became the first company to define and enforce workplace and safety standards for employees. From his appointment as CEO in 1984, Haas was instrumental in redefining the company's business strategy: He created a flatter organization – including the reduction of the workforce by one third. He also invested heavily in new product development, marketing and technology. In 1985, Haas returned the company to private ownership. At the time it was announced, the Levi's LBO was the largest in U.S. business history. During his tenure, Haas built upon the ethical traditions of Levi Strauss & Company. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Robert's grandfather, Walter A. Haas Sr., and great uncle, Daniel E. Koshland Sr., refused to lay off idled employees, risking bankruptcy. Instead they created work projects such as laying wooden floors in the company's factory in San Francisco. Walter Haas Jr. and his brother Peter insisted on running integrated factories in the American South, giving equal treatment to all races during the era of segregation. During his tenure as