Robert W. Conn, Ph.D
Robert Conn is the former president and CEO of The Kavli Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to advance science for the benefit of humanity. He retired at the end of 2020 after serving 12 years in this role. Dr. Conn is a co-founder of the Science Philanthropy Alliance and served as board chair from 2015 to 2019.
His leadership in education, research, the private sector and science philanthropy have helped to advance the enterprise of science. As a leading researcher in plasma physics, fusion energy, energy policy and materials science, he pioneered the study of fusion power systems design, identifying the major physics and engineering challenges facing the development of practical fusion energy. He co-founded and served as the first director of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Fusion Technology Institute, and later founded and led UCLA’s Institute of Plasma and Fusion Research. As Dean of the Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, he guided its rise into the top 10 engineering schools in the country. In the private sector, Dr. Conn co-founded the semiconductor equipment company Plasma & Materials Technology in 1986, serving as board chair and CTO. The company had an initial public offering on NASDAQ in 1995 and was later acquired. After leaving UC San Diego, he was a Managing Director at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital where he led investments in semiconductor, computing and software companies.
Dr. Conn is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, elected in 1987, and he is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Nuclear Society. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Pratt Institute, and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the California Institute of Technology.
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