Quick Facts
Biography
Arthur D. Levinson (born March 31, 1950) is an American businessman and is the current CEO of Calico (an Alphabet Inc. venture) and chairman of Apple Inc. (2011 to present). He is the former chief executive officer (1995 to 2009) and chairman (1999 to 2014) of Genentech.
In addition to serving on the board of Apple Inc. (2000–present), Levinson serves on the board of directors of the Broad Institute (affiliated with MIT 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 (QB3), the Advisory Council for the Princeton University Department of Molecular Biology and the Advisory Council for the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics.
Early life and education
Born to a Jewish family, the son of Malvina and Sol Levinson, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1972 and his PhD in biochemistry from Princeton University in 1977. He subsequently moved to a postdoctoral position with Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus in the Department of Microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was spotted by Herb Boyer, who hired him to work at Genentech.
Career
Levinson joined Genentech in 1980 as a research scientist 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.
In 1995, Levinson became Genentech’s chief executive officer, and in 1999, he was named chairman. In the same year, Levinson received the Irvington Institute's Corporate Leadership Award in Science and was honored with the Corporate Leadership Award from the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
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 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 recognized Levinson as one of “The World’s Most Respected CEOs”, and the Best Practice Institute placed Levinson on their “25 Top CEOs” list. In 2008 Levinson was elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Glassdoor rated him as the "nicest" CEO of 2008 with a 93% approval rating.
In 2010, the Biotechnology Industry Organization honored Levinson with the Biotechnology Heritage Award and the San Francisco Exploratorium with their Director’s Award.
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 Apple Inc., replacing Steve Jobs. As chairman, his total compensation for 2012 was $457,222.
On September 18, 2013, Levinson was named CEO of Calico, a new company focusing on health and well-being. The company was created and funded by Google.
In 2014 he received the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus Award from the University of Washington, the highest honor bestowed upon a UW graduate.
On October 3, 2014, Levinson received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation's highest honor for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology.
In April 2016, Levinson was awarded the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of California San Francisco for his contributions to the scientific community.
As of September 2016, he is reported to own approximately 1.2 million Apple shares worth of US$ 128 million.
Personal life
He married Rita May Liff on December 17, 1978 and has two children.