| Rhoda Haas Goldman | |
| Birth Name: | Rhoda Haas |
| Birth Date: | 1924 |
| Birth Place: | San Francisco, California, US |
| Death Date: | February 17, 1996 (aged 72) |
| Known For: | Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund |
| Education: | University of California, Berkeley |
| Spouse: | Richard Goldman |
| Children: | John D. Goldman Douglas E. Goldman Susan R. Gelman Richard Goldman (deceased) |
| Parents: | Elise Stern Walter A. Haas |
Rhoda Haas Goldman (1924 - February 17, 1996) was an American billionaire in San Francisco, California.
Goldman was the only daughter born to Walter A. Haas and Elise Stern (heiress to the Levi Strauss fortune),[1] and granddaughter of David Stern. In 1996, she made $1.3 billion in accepting the leveraged buyout of the Levi Strauss company, which she opposed. She died of a heart attack during the execution of the transaction.[2] [3] [4]
She was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and, in 1946, she married fellow Berkeley alumnus Richard Goldman.[5] In 1951, the couple founded the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, a foundation that has donated over $680 million to various organizations.[6]
The Goldman School of Public Policy at Berkeley is named after the Goldmans.
She was president of the San Francisco Symphony, chairwoman of San Francisco's Memorial to the Six Million Victims of the Holocaust, director of the Mount Zion Health System, president of the Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center, and president of Congregation Emanu-El, the city's largest reform Jewish synagogue.
She was a major supporter of environmental causes and San Francisco arts organizations and a co-founder with her husband of the Goldman Environment Prize in 1990.
She had four children with her husband: John D. Goldman, Douglas E. Goldman, Susan R. Gelman, and Richard Goldman (deceased).[7] Her grandson, son of Richard, is attorney and New York Congressman Daniel S. Goldman.[8] Funeral services were held at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.