Robert W. Craig, Founder & President Emeritus

Bob Craig founded The Keystone Center in 1975 and served as the organization's president until 1997.

From 1953 to 1965, he was Executive Director, Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, with responsibility for program planning, trustee relations, and development.

From 1965 to 1974, Bob was a principal in two planning and industrial design consulting firms. During this period he also owned and operated a family ranch outside Aspen, Colorado, specializing in commercial cattle production.

Bob received a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Washington in 1949. He received an M.A. in Philosophy in 1951 and completed requirements for a Ph.D., ABD at Columbia University.

During World War II, he served in the western Pacific to the rank of Lt.J.G. in the United States Navy. From 1943 to 1946, he participated in four major amphibious operations. During the Korean War, he was a civilian consultant for the Department of the Army at the Mountain and Cold Weather Training Command, Fort Carson, Colorado.

As a mountaineer, Bob has participated in or led expeditions to a number of the world’s highest mountains, including K2, 1953; deputy leader, American-Pamirs/USSR Expedition, 1974; and leader, American-Tibetan Everest West Ridge Expedition, 1983.

Bob is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the West. His 1979 book, Storm and Sorrow, was made into a television docudrama and first broadcast in November 1990. He was also co-author, along with Charles Houston, M.D., of K2, The Savage Mountain, in 1954.

His active memberships include: American Alpine Club (past president); Bohemian Club (San Francisco); Cactus Club (Denver); Century Association (New York City); Denver Club; Metropolitan Club (Washington, DC); and The Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs.

Bob serves on the boards of the Aspen Center for Physics; American Alpine Club; Colorado Outward Bound; Santa Fe Institute; Snake River Health Services; Vail Valley Institute; Lowell Observatory; City Innovation; and Tomorrow Magazine.