Westin St. Francis Hotel
335 Powell Street
San Francisco

For our guests attending the Haas Gala on November 4 who would like to book rooms, please book directly with the Westin St. Francis Hotel to get an exclusive 10% off rate.

 

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Tickets

$150/person or $75/person for recent graduates (2006 - 2011)
Haas Leadership Society members who made a gift of $10,000 or more after June 30, 2010 will receive two complimentary tickets.

Sponsorship

We invite you to sponsor at the following levels. All levels include tickets for the evening, program listing, and a generous donation to support Haas students.*
$20,000 Fiat Lux - table for ten
$10,000 Solid Gold - table for ten
$5,000 Blue & Gold - table for ten
$2,500 True Blue - table for ten
$1,500 Beyond Yourself - two gala tickets

For more information or to sponsor, please call Rebecca Ricksen at 510-642-2844

* All but $100 per ticket is tax deductible

 

Robert G. O'Donnell BS 65, MBA 66

Robert G. O'Donnell retired earlier this year from his position as a senior vice president and director of Capital Research and Management Company. Capital Research is the investment advisor to the American Funds and is part of the Capital Group Companies. At that firm, he was a portfolio counselor in several mutual funds and served as principal executive officer of The American Balanced Fund, a $50 billion fund. O'Donnell graduated summa cum laude from Berkeley in 1965 and obtained his MBA there in 1966. He is a CPA and CFA. Prior to joining Capital in 1972, he served in the U.S. Army and was a senior accountant at Arthur Andersen. He has been recognized for his philanthropic work, most notably with the Chancellor's Award at UC Berkeley in 2008. For the past nine years, he has been a lecturer at the Haas School of Business where he teaches the Investment Strategies and Styles course. He currently serves on the boards of the Sequoia Hospital Foundation, Summit Public Schools, and the Library Advisory Board at Cal. O'Donnell also is a member of the Gift Planning Committee of the San Francisco Symphony. He chaired the UC Berkeley Foundation from 2005-2007 and is an Emeritus board member. In the past, Bob has been a trustee of the Civil War Preservation Trust and a director of Phi Beta Kappa of Northern California. He is also president of The O'Donnell Foundation, a private foundation that supports educational opportunity.

 

Robert A. Lutz BS '61, MBA '62

Robert A. Lutz spent his 47-year career working in the global automobile industry, holding senior executive positions at four of the world's leading automakers. He retired from General Motors in May 2010 after serving as vice chairman for nearly nine years and leading the company's development of the Chevrolet Volt electric car. He is the author of two books, including Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, published this year. From 1986 to 1998 Lutz had a distinguished career with the Chrysler Corp., where he eventually led all of Chrysler's automotive activities. Before Chrysler, Lutz spent 12 years at Ford Motor Co., where his last position was executive vice president of truck operations. He also served as executive vice president of global sales and marketing at BMW in Munich and as a member of that company's board of management. Lutz received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1961, where he earned distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master's degree in marketing, with highest honors, from UC Berkeley in 1962. Lutz also earned the honorary degree of doctor of management from Kettering University in 2003, and an honorary doctorate of law from Boston University in 1985. The Society of Automotive Engineers Foundation named him the recipient of its 2006 Manufacturing Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who have made meaningful contributions to the development of the automotive industry. Lutz, who was born in Switzerland, also served as a jet-attack aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1954 to 1965 and attained the rank of captain.

 

David R. Eckles MBA 73

David R. Eckles, MBA 73, is the retired Chairman and CEO of Helm Financial Corporation, a privately held operating leasing company based in San Francisco. Helm provides short-term lease options for refurbished freight railcars and locomotives to railroads and shippers throughout the country. Founded in 1980 by Eckles and his partners, Helm was a pioneer in the business of leasing railroad assets at a time when railroad companies and financial institutions began divesting their equipment holdings. Helm was sold to K1 Ventures Limited, a Singaporean investment company in 2005. While with Helm, and prior to its acquisition by the employees in 2000, Eckles served as president, chairman, and CEO of their five different Joint Ventures. Prior to founding Helm, Eckles worked for ITEL Corporation, a diversified transportation and logistics company in various marketing positions that involved buying residuals from financial institutions as well as running the locomotive rebuilding program. Before ITEL, he was head of the Cash Management Division for Union Bank, and a transportation economist for Kaiser Engineers. Eckles is a longtime supporter of Young Entrepreneurs at Haas, and has served on the board since its inception in 1989. He is a Builder of Berkeley, and a devoted backer of Cal Athletics. He also serves as president of the Blueprint for Communities Foundation, an organization based in Carmel, CA that aspires to revitalize communities by refurbishing foreclosed properties and promoting neighborhood associations. Eckles earned a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in 1971 and his MBA from the Haas School of Business in 1973.