Over a five-decade career in business, Mr. Broad built two Fortune 500 companies from the ground up: SunAmerica Inc. and KB Home (formerly Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation). At their peak, the two companies had a combined market capitalization of over $20 billion. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Broad and his family have pursued an active philanthropic agenda, creating leading institutions in the fields of art, education, science, medicine and civic development.

Born in New York City in 1933, Mr. Broad is the son of immigrants from Lithuania. He grew up in Detroit, where he attended public schools. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1954 with a degree in accounting, and became the youngest Certified Public Accountant in the history of the state of Michigan. In 1957, at the age of 24, Mr. Broad and partner Donald Kaufman founded Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation to build homes young families could afford. The company has since built more than 500,000 homes across the United States and France.

Under Mr. Broad's leadership, Kaufman and Broad acquired Sun Life Insurance Company of America, a traditional life insurance company, and redirected its focus to provide retirement savings products and services for the Baby Boomer generation. Over its ten years as a public company, during which he served as CEO, SunAmerica Inc. was the best-performing stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

Mr. Broad became a tireless civic leader in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles after moving to the city in 1963. Among many community activities, he presided over the creation of The Museum of Contemporary Art in 1979 and served as chairman of the bipartisan Host Committee bringing the Democratic Party Convention to Los Angeles in 2000. Beginning in 1996, he and then-mayor Richard Riordan took on the task of raising sufficient funds to build the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, which opened to worldwide acclaim in October 2003.

Among numerous awards and civic honors, Mr. Broad received the Legion of Honor from the Republic of France. Most recently, he was awarded the Civic Medal of Honor of Los Angeles and the Heart of the City Award. In 1999, he received the first Visionary Award from KCET, the Los Angeles Public Broadcasting affiliate. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Humanities and Doctor of Laws.