Peter E. Haas (December 20, 1918 – December 3, 2005)
December 14, 2005 was an American billionaire businessman who served as president and CEO (1976–2005) and chairman (1981–1989) of

Levi Strauss & Co Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

Biography

Haas was 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 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, one of three children of Walter A. Haas and Elise Stern.Businesswire: "Peter E. Haas, Sr., Former CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., Dies at Age 86"
December 04, 2005 Haas was the great-grandnephew of

Levi Strauss Levi Strauss (; born Löb Strauß ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisc ...

, the founder of denim manufacturer

. and great grandson of

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

. He attended the

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...

preparatory school in Massachusetts. In 1940, he graduated from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

with a bachelor's degree in economics. After school, he went to work for an advertising agency in San Francisco. He was rejected by the military because of poor eyesight. In 1943, he graduated ''cum laude'' as a Baker Scholar from the

Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

and then worked as a welder until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, he went to work for the family company, Levi Strauss & Co, with his older brother, Walter A. Haas Jr. Under his tenure, the Levi Strauss Company became one of the first American clothing companies to racially integrate its workforce in the South prior to the U.S. civil rights movement. Haas served as president and member of the board of directors from 1970 to 1981. In 1976, he became president and chief executive officer, and from 1981 until 1989, he was chairman of the board. From 1989 until his death, he was chairman of the company's executive committee. From 1966 to 1975 and from 1994 to 1997, he served as a trustee for the UC Berkeley Foundation. Due to the fact that his son Michael was developmentally disabled, Haas was a strong supporter of San Francisco Aid for Retarded Children. Haas served as president of the Jewish Welfare Federation (later known as the Jewish Community Federation), which his grandfather,

Abraham Haas Abraham Haas (1847–August 8, 1921) was an American businessman, co-founder of the Hellman, Haas & Co. (which became Smart & Final), and patriarch of the Haas family. Biography Haas was born to a Jewish family in Reckendorf, Kingdom of Bavar ...

, had helped to organize, from 1976 to 1978.

Personal life

Haas was married twice. He had three children with his first wife,

Kaw City Kaw City is a city in eastern Kay County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 375 at the 2010 census, an increase of 1 percent from the figure of 372 in 2000. Kaw City was named for the Kanza Indians, called ''the Kaw'' by locals. Hist ...

, Oklahoma native Josephine Baum:San Francisco Gate: "Josephine Haas (1914–2014)"
/ref> Peter E. Haas Jr., Margaret E. Haas (adopted), and Michael Stern Haas (predeceased). His son Peter served with the Levi Strauss Company in various capacities and was married to Joanne Christensen. Haas also has two stepsons with his second wife, Miriam "Mimi" Lurie: Ari Lurie and

Daniel Lurie Daniel Lurie (born 1976/1977) is an American philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of Tipping Point Community. Biography Lurie was born and raised in a Jewish family in San Francisco, the son of Mimi (née Ruchwarger) and Rabbi Brian Lurie. H ...

. Haas died in 2005. A memorial service was held at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. He passed his interest in Levi Strauss to his wife and children.

Awards and honors

*1996 – Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

*1996 – Berkeley Medal, the school's top honor, and also named the "Alumnus of the Year" *2001 – The Haas School of Business named Haas "Business Leader of the Year" and honored him with a special Lifetime Achievement Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haas, Peter E. 1918 births 2005 deaths Haas family 20th-century American Jews University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from California Businesspeople from San Francisco Stanford University trustees American billionaires Levi Strauss & Co. people Koshland family 21st-century American Jews