Robert A. Eckert

Biography

Robert A. Eckert has been an Operating Partner at Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, a private equity firm, since September 2014. Mr. Eckert was the Chief Executive Officer of Mattel, Inc., a toy design, manufacture and marketing company, having held this position from 2000 through December 2011, and its Chairman of the Board from 2000 through 2012. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Kraft Foods Inc., a consumer packaged food and beverage company, from 1997 to 2000, Group Vice President from 1995 to 1997, President of the Oscar Mayer Foods Division from 1993 to 1995 and held various other senior executive and other positions from 1977 to 1992. Mr. Eckert has been a director of McDonald's Corporation, a company which franchises and operates McDonald's restaurants in the global restaurant industry, since 2003, serving as the Chair of the Public Policy and Strategy Committee and a member of the Executive and Governance Committees. Mr. Eckert was a director of Smart & Final Stores, Inc., a warehouse store, from May 2013 until July 2014 prior to it becoming a publicly-traded company. Mr. Eckert also has served as a director of Levi Strauss & Co., a privately-held jeans and casual wear manufacturer, since 2010. He was appointed director of Eyemart Express Holdings LLC, a privately-held eyewear retailer and portfolio company of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, in 2015. Mr. Eckert is on the Global Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and serves on the Eller College National Board of Advisors at the University of Arizona. Mr. Eckert received an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Research Interest

Biochemistry