Arthur D. Levinson (born March 31, 1950) is an American businessman and is the current chairman of

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

(2011–present) and CEO of

Calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

(an Alphabet Inc. venture). He is the former chief executive officer (1995–2009) and chairman (1999–2014) of Genentech. In addition to serving on the board of

(2000–present), Levinson serves on the board of directors of the

Broad Institute The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The institu ...

(affiliated with

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

and Harvard). Previously, Levinson had served on the board of directors at F. Hoffmann-La Roche (2010–2014), NGM Biopharmaceuticals (2009–2014), and Amyris Biotechnologies (2009–2014). He currently serves on the Board of Scientific Consultants of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Industrial Advisory Board of the

California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences The California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) is a nonprofit research and technology commercialization institute affiliated with three University of California campuses in the San Francisco Bay Area: Berkeley, San Francisco, and ...

(QB3), the advisory council for the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Department of

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

and the advisory council for the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics.

Early life and education

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the son of Malvina and Sol Levinson, he received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in Seattle in 1972 and his PhD in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

from

in 1977.

Career

Levinson was a postdoctoral researcher with

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winners Michael Bishop and

Harold Varmus Harold Eliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist. He is currently the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a senior associate at the New York Genome Center. He was ...

in the department of microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco, when Herb Boyer hired him to work at Genentech. Levinson joined Genentech in 1980 as a

research scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophic ...

and became vice president of research technology in 1989; vice president of research in 1990; senior vice president of research in 1992; and senior vice president of research and development in 1993. Levinson became Genentech's chief executive officer in 1995 and chairman in 1999. Levinson received corporate leadership awards from the Irvington Institute and the National Breast Cancer Coalition in 1999. Levinson was inducted into the Biotech Hall of Fame at the 2003 Biotech Meeting of CEOs. ''BusinessWeek'' named Levinson one of the "Best Managers of the Year" in 2004 and 2005, and '' Institutional Investor'' named him "America's Best CEO" in the biotech category four years in a row (2004–2007). Levinson served on the board of directors of

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

from 2004 to 2009. In 2006, Princeton University awarded Levinson the James Madison Medal for a distinguished career in scientific research and in biotechnology. Also in 2006, ''

Barron's Barron's or Barrons may refer to: *Barron's Educational Series, a publisher of books, as well as college entrance exam preparation classes and materials, now an imprint of Kaplan Test Prep ** B.E.S. Publishing, the former owner of Barron's * ''Barr ...

'' recognized Levinson as one of "The World's Most Respected CEOs", and Louis Carter, CEO and founder of Best Practice Institute placed Levinson on its "25 Top CEOs" list upon approval of his Senior Executive Board. In 2008 Levinson was elected as a Fellow to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

and

Glassdoor Glassdoor is an American website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, it has additional offices in Chicago, Dublin, London, and São Paulo. Glassdoor also allows its users to ...

rated him as the "nicest" CEO of 2008 with a 93% approval rating. In 2010, Levinson was honored with the Biotechnology Heritage Award from the

Biotechnology Industry Organization The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the largest advocacy association in the world representing the biotechnology industry. It was founded in 1993 as the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and changed its name to the Biotechnology ...

(BIO) and the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and the Director's Award from the San Francisco Exploratorium. Levinson has authored or co-authored more than 80 scientific articles and has been a named inventor on 11 United States patents. On November 15, 2011, Levinson was named chairman of the board for

, replacing Steve Jobs. On September 18, 2013, Levinson was named CEO of

, a new company focusing on health and well-being. The company was created and funded by Google. In 2014 he received the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus Award from the University of Washington, the highest honor bestowed upon a Washington graduate. On October 3, 2014, Levinson received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation's highest honor for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology. In April 2016, Levinson was awarded the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of California, San Francisco for his contributions to the scientific community. As of May 2021, he owns approximately 4.5 million Apple shares worth US$786 million. In 2020 he received the Bower Award for Business Leadership of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

Personal life

He married Rita May Liff on December 17, 1978, they have two children and residing in Seattle area. His son, Jesse Levinson, is currently CTO of Zoox.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levinson, Arthur D. 1950 births American computer businesspeople Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Directors of Apple Inc. Businesspeople from Seattle Princeton University alumni University of Washington alumni Life extensionists Biogerontologists Living people 20th-century American Jews Genentech people American technology chief executives American chairpersons of corporations Alphabet Inc. people University of California, San Francisco alumni American transhumanists 21st-century American Jews

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References