Robert (“Bob”) Stern (’83)
Robert (“Bob”) Stern recently retired as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sodexo, Inc. where he was responsible for the Law Department, Government Affairs, the Office of Ethics and Compliance, and Corporate Security functions. He held this position from 1998 – August 2018. In addition, in 2013 he assumed the role of Group Chief International Counsel for Sodexo SA, the parent company, based in Paris.
Under his leadership, the Sodexo Law department has received numerous awards, including: the Minority Corporate Counsel Association 2003 Diversity Employer of Choice for the Mid-Atlantic Area; the Outstanding Community Service Award from the Washington Metropolitan Corporate Counsel Association in 2003; the 2008 Constance L. Belfiore Quality of Life Award from the Bar Association of the District of Columbia; the 2008 Above-and- Beyond Award from Diversity Best Practice and Working Mother Media; the 2008 Constangy Brooks & Smith Work-
Life Balance Award; and the 2014 Legal Times Law Department of the Year for Diversity and Quality of Life (Washington DC region). In 2010 Mr. Stern received the Corporate Counsel Career Achievement Award from the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association. Mr. Stern was recognized by the Women’s Bar Association as a “Star of the Bar” in 2010.
Mr. Stern was President of the Sodexo Foundation which focused on ending childhood hunger. Outside of Sodexo, Mr. Stern served in leadership roles for various professional and civic organizations. He has served as President of the Washington Metropolitan Corporat Counsel Association. Mr. Stern is the former Chair of the Manna Food Center in Rockville, Maryland, the food bank for Montgomery County, Maryland.
Mr. Stern also previously worked at Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom, working in the antitrust section. He later joined the Law Department of Marriott Corporation, working in the restaurant division. Mr. Stern later became the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Sodexho Marriott Services, Inc., a publicly traded company, when it was created in a spin-off and merger transaction. Sodexho Marriott Services later changed its name to Sodexo. Sodexo is the leading food service and facilities management company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, delivering on-site service solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, and Government segments, with over 130,000 employees in North America.
He has written several articles for various legal publications regarding issues pertaining to managing a corporate law department and to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Mr. Stern has also participated as a panelist on legal educational forums.
Mr. Stern earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College. He holds a law degree from the American University, Washington College of Law, where he served as a Note and Comment Editor of the Law Review and graduated cum laude.