Arthur D. Levinson (born March 31, 1950) is an American businessman who is the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

(2011–present) and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(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. Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Alphabet is the world's third-largest technology company by revenue, after Amazon and Apple, the largest techno ...

venture). He is the former CEO (1995–2009) and chairman (1999–2014) of

Genentech Genentech, Inc. is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It operates as an independent subsidiary of holding company Roche. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent cent ...

. In addition to the board of

(2000–present), Levinson is 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 ...

. Previously, Levinson had been on the board of directors at

Hoffmann-La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on ...

(2010–2014), NGM Biopharmaceuticals (2009–2014), and Amyris Biotechnologies (2009–2014). He is on the Board of Scientific Consultants of the

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...

, the Industrial Advisory Board of the

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

(QB3), the advisory council for the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Department of

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

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

Early life and education

Levinson was born to a Jewish family. He is a son of Malvina and Sol Levinson. Levinson received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

with a major in

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1972 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

biomedical sciences Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...

from

in 1977.

Career

Levinson was a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

with

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winners J. 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 Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

, when

Herb Boyer Herbert Wayne "Herb" Boyer (born July 10, 1936) is an American biotechnologist, researcher and entrepreneur in biotechnology. Along with Stanley N. Cohen and Paul Berg, he discovered recombinant DNA, a method to coax bacteria into producing for ...

hired him to work at Genentech. Levinson joined

in 1980 as a

research scientist A scientist is a person who researches 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 philosophical study of nature ...

and became

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

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 An institutional investor is an entity that pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked ...

'' 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 and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

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'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...

'' 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 (The Academy) 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, and other ...

and

Glassdoor Glassdoor is an American website where current and former employees anonymously review companies, operated by the company of the same name. In 2018, the company was acquired by the Japanese company Recruit Holdings (owner of Indeed) for US$1. ...

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 from a merger of the Industrial Biotechno ...

(BIO) and the

Chemical Heritage Foundation The Science History Institute is an institution that preserves and promotes understanding of the history of science. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it includes a library, museum, archive, research center and conference center. It was ...

, 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 Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

. 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 a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

Personal life

He married Rita May Liff on December 17, 1978, they have two children and reside in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

area. His son, Jesse Levinson, is currently CTO of Zoox.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levinson, Arthur D. 1950 births American computer businesspeople American pharmaceutical industry businesspeople 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 Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References