Robert Nicholas "Bob" Klein II, 61, is a stem cell advocate. He initiated California Proposition 71, which succeeded in establishing the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...

, of which Klein is now the head.

Before getting involved in stem cell advocacy, he was a housing developer and lawyer. He lives in Portola Valley, California

Portola Valley, California

Portola Valley is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 4,353 at the 2010 census. It was named for Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola, who led the first party of Europeans to explore the San Francisco Peninsula, in 1769.Portola Valley is one of the...

 and works in Palo Alto

Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

, where he used to live.

Stem Cell Advocacy

He was a chief author of Proposition 71 and was the chair of the Yes on 71 campaign. He donated $3 million to the cause, the largest donation, and ran the campaign from the Klein Financial Corporation.

After the election, Proposition 71 became Article XXXV of the California Constitution

California Constitution Article XXXV

Proposition 71 of 2004 is a law enacted by California voters to support stem cell research in the state. It was proposed by means of the initiative process and approved in the 2004 state elections on November 2...

 and the Yes on 71 campaign became the California Research and Cures Coalition, a stem cell advocacy organization. Klein was the head of that organization until he took the position at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...

, the organization created by the ballot initiative. In 2005, he was named as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People; and, that same year Scientific American named Bob one of “The Scientific American 50” as a leader shaping the future of science. Klein was honored at the 2010 BIO

Bio

Bio may refer to:*Bio., Australian pay-TV channel*The Biography Channel, an American cable channel sometimes called bio*Bio , graffiti artist*Bio , a Chuck Berry album released in 1973 by Chess Records...

 International Convention as the second annual Biotech Humanitarian. Also, in 2010, Bob received the 2010 Research!America Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award for his advocacy of stem cell and diabetes research.

Early career

Bob has a Bachelor of Arts in History with Honors from Stanford University and a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School. Additional education includes: Executive Summer Finance Program at Stanford University Business School and an internship with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in Switzerland on Economic Development Policy.

Soon after graduating law school, he joined the firm of William Glikbarg, a Southern California housing developer who also taught housing law at Stanford.

He made his multi-million dollar fortune developing low-income housing

Affordable housing

Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...

. He included market-rate units within subsidized projects to help generate financing for projects.

When Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 administration housing secretary George W. Romney

George W. Romney

George Wilcken Romney was an American businessman and Republican Party politician. He was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 to 1973...

 ended public housing subisides in January 1973, Klein and an associate, Michael J. BeVier, successfully persuaded the California legislature to create the California Housing Finance Agency

California Housing Finance Agency

-Overview:The California Housing Finance Agency , established in 1975, is a completely self-supporting state agency that makes low-rate loans through the sale of tax exempt bonds. CalHFA also issues bonds which are taxable by the federal government....

, which subsidizes housing developments with low-interest bonds. (Klein did not use CHFA money in his real estate deals to eliminate the potential for a conflict of interest.) BeVier wrote about this in the book "Politics Backstage."

Family

Robert lives in Portola Valley with his wife: Danielle Guttman Klein, as well as her daughter Alyssa. He has two sons: Robert and Jordan, and another daughter as well as a son in law: Lauren and Daryl Baltazar, who are the parents of Bob's grandson: Bennett. He cites his son Jordan's autoimmune-mediated (type 1) diabetes as a primary source of his involvement in stem cell research.

Klein's father Robert Klein Sr. (Harvard, UCLA) was an administrator of San Jose

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

, Fresno

Fresno

Fresno is the fifth largest city in California.Fresno may also refer to:-Places:Colombia* Fresno, TolimaSpain* Fresno, a ghost village in Nidáliga, Valle de Sedano, Burgos* Aldea del Fresno, Madrid* Fresno de la Vega, Ribera del Esla, León...

, Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

 and Menlo Park

Menlo Park, California

Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...

..

• Proposition 71
• California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
  California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
  The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...