Chair, Corporate Governance Committee
Robert C. Davidson, Jr. served, until his retirement in 2007, in the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Surface Protection Industries, a paint and specialty coatings manufacturing company he founded in 1978, that became one of the leading African American-owned manufacturing companies in the United States and the largest in California. Previously, from 1972 to 1974, he co-founded and served as Vice President of Urban National Corporation, a private venture capital corporation that was focused specifically on investing in minority-controlled businesses. Mr. Davidson currently also serves on the boards of directors of Smithsonian American Art Museum (Chairman-Elect), Diversity Advisory Board at Toyota Motor North America, Morehouse College (Chairman Emeritus), Art Center College of Design (Chairman Emeritus), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, (Lifetime Member) and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Advisory Council.
Mr. Davidson has extensive entrepreneurial experience in developing and managing small and medium-sized businesses. He has hands-on experience in marketing and sales, human resources and strategic planning and implementation. He has a long history with, and extensive knowledge of the Company and of the markets and communities in which the Company operates.