Business executive Robert D. Beyer joins USC Board of Trustees

The USC Board of Trustees has elected noted investor and business executive Robert D. Beyer as its newest member.

Beyer is chairman of Chaparal Investments, a personal investment and holding company. A USC alumnus, Beyer has been a member of the Board of Councilors of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences for two decades.

“Bob Beyer is a devoted Trojan and talented businessperson, and his global perspective makes him a valuable addition to our Board of Trustees,” Trustee Chair Rick Caruso said. “We are very excited to welcome him into this new role.”

USC President Carol L. Folt praised Beyer’s deep community ties and his leadership throughout his successful business career. 

“Bob’s involvement in the community demonstrates what a valuable asset he will be to our board,” Folt said. “He understands how important it is for institutions to evolve and will be a critical voice as the board moves forward on a variety of initiatives.”

Beyer said he is excited to be joining the board as USC takes a hard look at its values and its future.

This moment is so important for USC. It’s rare that established and respected institutions reexamine themselves.

Robert D. Beyer, new USC trustee

“This moment is so important for USC,” he said. “It’s rare that established and respected institutions reexamine themselves. It is vital if institutions want to continue to be responsibly impactful.”

As the father of four adult children who recently completed college, Beyer has seen firsthand how the current generation of graduates has enhanced expectations of themselves and their education: They want to make positive change in society and to learn to make career choices that will help them accomplish that.

“It’s more expansive than what we planned for ourselves when we graduated,” said Beyer, a 1981 USC graduate. “We need to respond to a broader set of priorities today.”

Beyer expects his experience in issues such as corporate governance, risk management and the evolution of institutional structures will come in handy, but he also views serving on the board as part of his lifelong learning. He noted that he chose to serve on USC Dornsife’s Board of Councilors, although he’s a graduate of USC’s business school. “Participating in its breadth and depth has been incredibly rewarding,” he said of his USC Dornsife service.

Among the areas he’s looking forward to: the continued growth of USC’s health system and the important role it will play in the future.

“The USC health system will be on the leading edge of health care,” he said. “The future of health is interdisciplinary, and USC has the academic research capabilities to be integral in that evolution.”

New USC trustee Robert Beyer’s long career in business

Beyer most recently served as the executive chairman of Crescent Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company. He previously served as chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of the TCW Group, a global investment management firm with assets in excess of $150 billion, and as a member of the Executive Committee of Société Générale Asset Management, which acquired TCW in 2001.

Beyer received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from USC in 1981 and earned an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 1983.

From 1983 until 1991, he was an investment banker and capital markets professional.

In 1991, he co?founded Crescent Capital Corp., a leading alternative investment company that was acquired by TCW in 1995.

Service to corporations and nonprofits

He is an independent director of Jefferies Financial Group and LiveVox Holdings, and has served on the boards of The Kroger Co. and The Allstate Corp. He is also an investor in and a member of the advisory board of the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club.

In Southern California, he has been a member of the Harvard-Westlake School Board of Trustees since 1995.

He also has served on the UCLA Anderson School’s Board of Advisors, the Board of Directors of Providence Saint John’s Health Center, the Board of Airport Commissioners for Los Angeles World Airports and the board of the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System.

Throughout his career, Beyer has made time to work with nonprofit organizations.

“I think it’s really just a recognition that what I do for a living shouldn’t narrow my scope too much,” he said. “In the financial markets, that can happen easily.”

Beyer lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Catherine.