John Goldman is a civic volunteer, active in various philanthropic and community organizations following his business career. A native San Franciscan, Mr. Goldman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College in 1971 and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1975. Professionally, Mr. Goldman is the former chairman of Willis Insurance Services of California, Inc., part of the Willis Group Holdings, a London-based global brokerage, and he was previously chief executive officer of Richard N. Goldman & Co., an insurance brokerage firm specializing in the development of customized commercial and personal insurance and risk management programs.

Mr. Goldman is the former president of the San Francisco Symphony, having assumed this role in 2001 after joining the symphony’s board of governors in 1996 and ending his tenure in December 2012. Mr. Goldman serves on the boards of Stanford Health Care and Stanford Live!, the university’s presenting arts organization. He is a past president of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, was the former chair of the Stanford Athletic Board, completed a 12-year term on the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College in June 2009, and most recently served on the executive committee of the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee. He is a trustee of several family foundations and is currently the president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation. In August 2014, he was appointed by President Obama as a general trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.