Prior to joining Salomon Inc. as its Executive Vice President and General Counsel in September 1992, Robert was Co-Chairman of the New York law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and University Professor of Law and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he had taught since 1965. He served as Dean of that institution for seven and a half years (1982-1989).
Among his other professional activities, Robert has been General Counsel to the U.S. Treasury Department (1977-1980); Special Counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission (1962-1963); and Vice Chairman, Governor-at-Large and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Securities Dealers (1988-1991). He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quadra Realty Trust, a director of eCollege, Benjamin Moore, Gogo LLC, Hypo Real Estate Bank, Commerce Clearing House, Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder Holdings, Inc. and First Pennsylvania Bank. Robert is a member of the Board of Trustees of New School University and of the Curtis Institute of Music. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Salzburg Global Seminar. He is an emeritus member of the Council of the American Law Institute. He chaired the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2006-2011). He served as a member of the ABA Task Force on Corporate Responsibility and has been a faculty member of the Vanderbilt Directors’ College, the Duke Directors’ Education Institute and the Stanford Directors’ College. He was the President of the American Academy in Berlin and received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.