Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 27

Robert is a resident of Morgan Hill, transplanted from Los Angeles. Currently he is an executive and lawyer with Lightpost Holdings, a Morgan Hill based holding company. Robert's professional experience began at O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles (and later Hong Kong) and has ranged from representing large financial institutions to serving as general counsel and corporate executive to a venture capital backed internet startup company as well as NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange listed companies. Robert received a B.S. in Political Science summa cum laude from the University of Washington. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, in keeping with his commitment to protecting our natural resources and environment, Robert contributed to Nobel Prize winning research, which, in 2005, the Nobel Committee lauded as representing "a great step forward for 'green chemistry', reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter production". His other research was covered in the Nanotechnology section of a recent issue of Technology Review. He conducted further research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California - Berkeley. Robert worked at MIT's Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development in the field of Integrated Pest Management considering the efficacy and safety of the new generation of pesticides. He received his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review. At Stanford, he took a Legislation course from Professor Byron Sher. In the 90's, on behalf of one of his clients, Robert drafted legislation that was supported by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the California Taxpayers Association. That legislation was passed unanimously by both the California Senate and Assembly and signed into law. Robert has volunteered for a number of organizations, most recently having served on the California State Bar's Cyberlaw Committee. He is a recent graduate of Leadership Morgan Hill.