Rob Schneider has been Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation since 2021. With a breadth and depth of experience that includes the private, government and nonprofit sectors, Schneider is well-positioned to lead the world’s leading philanthropic organization with a mission “to improve lives through invention” — through the creation of products that have positive social impact, reflect environmental responsibility and lead to financially self-sustaining businesses.
Schneider joined the Foundation in 2018 as Senior Director of Strategy, where he managed the program officer team and led strategy development for the Foundation. Additionally, he joined national advisory committees led by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Engineering Change Lab. He has also served as a judge for the Growth Accelerator and Small Business Innovation Research Catalyst Prize sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the ABET and The Lemelson Foundation Engineering for One Planet Innovation in Sustainability Award.
Previously, he served at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he led the agency’s public-private partnership efforts as the Division Chief for Global Partnerships within the Global Development Lab. He also created and managed the Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship initiative to support local entrepreneurs around the world. In addition, he worked with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (now U.S. International Development Finance Corporation), providing loans to spur economic growth and development in countries receiving U.S. foreign assistance, and with the U.S. Economic Development Administration, focusing on underserved communities within the U.S.
Prior to his government service, Schneider served in a variety of engineering capacities in the manufacturing and telecommunications sectors, where he led engineering and product development teams, and managed nationwide infrastructure procurement programs.
Schneider has an MBA and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On weekends, you will find Rob and his wife enjoying the beauty of Oregon as seen from the sidelines of their teenage sons’ soccer games.
