Peter Haas

Born in San Francisco on Dec. 20, 1918, Haas graduated from UC-Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1940. Three years later, he graduated cum laude as a Baker Scholar from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Haas also served as a trustee for the UC Berkeley Foundation from 1966 to 1975, and again from 1994 to 1997. For nearly three decades, Peter and his older brother, Walter A. Haas Jr., managed the company together. Peter Haas served as president and member of the board of directors from 1970 to 1981. In 1976, he became president and chief executive officer, and from 1981 until 1989, he was chairman of the board. From 1989 until his death, he was chairman of the company's executive committee. Walter Haas Jr. died in 1995. In addition to being a businessman and philanthropist, Peter Haas was a tireless civic leader in the Jewish community, throughout San Francisco and in academia. Haas and his family have given generously to his alma mater, the University of California-Berkeley. But from 1971 to 1981, he also served on the Stanford University Board of Trustees; and from 1983 to 1986, he was a member of the university's Major Gifts Committee. In addition to his wife, Peter Haas is survived by his two stepsons, Ari Lurie and Daniel Lurie. He also is survived by his two children from his first marriage to Josephine Baum, Peter Haas Jr. and Margaret Haas, as well as four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.