Robert A. Fox
Robert A. Fox was born and raised in Philadelphia, and in 1952, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in economics, where he played varsity football. He then joined his brother, Dick, founding the Fox Construction Company, one of The Fox Companies, and developed numerous housing communities in the Delaware Valley.
In 1963 Mr. Fox became president, CEO and chairman of the board of Warner Company, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, and remained with Warner until 1979. While there he completed over 20 acquisitions and grew a startup subsidiary, Waste Resources Corporation, into a national, publicly traded solid waste management firm.
In 1979, Mr. Fox founded R.A.F. Industries, Inc., a private investment company acquiring and managing a diversified group of companies and venture capital investments, and remains chairman and CEO. He has served on the Boards and Advisory Boards of many companies, including Safeguard Scientific, Prime Bank, and Keystone Foods Corporation.
Throughout his business career, Mr. Fox has been involved in and supportive of many philanthropic activities, including service as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, president and member of the Board of Managers of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, and a director of the Foreign Policy Institute. At Penn, Mr. Fox chaired the Trustees’ Budget and Finance Committee, and served on the Executive, Nominating, Facilities and Campus Planning Committees.
In April 1999, Mr. Fox and his wife, Penny, founded The Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania to promote, encourage, and develop young leaders at Penn. The Program included the creation of three Fox Leadership Professors. In 2007, he continued his interest in promoting leadership by initiating the Annual Frederic Fox Lecture in Leadership at The Fox School of Business at Temple University, named for his father. At Wistar, the Foxes established and endowed the Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professorship to recruit and support a researcher in the field of cancer research. Bob and Penny reside in Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania. They have four children and seven grandchildren.