Born July 20, 1942, and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Robert S. “Bob” Jepson is an American success story. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School before enrolling at the University of Richmond, earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1964. After graduation Bob joined the United States Army, where he served in the Military Police for two years.
On December 28, 1964, he married his high school sweetheart Alice Finch Andrews, the daughter of Charles Bruce Andrews and Evelyn Byrd Childrey of Richmond. Alice had attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she majored in English and was elected to the Sophomore May Court in 1962. They have two sons, Scott and Steve, and now have five grandchildren.
After leaving the Army, Bob worked briefly for a Richmond-based holding company before he and Alice moved to California, where Bob worked with the brokerage house of Birr Wilson in San Francisco. There Bob formed California Capital, the first of many businesses he would own. Since those days, Bob has been at the helm of many successful companies; Jepson Corporation, a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturing conglomerate he founded in 1983 and sold in 1989, and Jepson Associates, Inc., a private investment firm he started in 1989. In 2013, he was named the Most Respected Business Leader by Georgia Trend.
With their shared love of art and education, Bob and Alice Jepson have changed lives as well as the landscape of many educational institutions. Among their most notable contributions is the University of Richmond Jepson School of Leadership Studies, founded in 1992. They also funded a new building for the Gonzaga School of Business Administration in Spokane, Washington. The Jepsons have given generously to Alice’s alma mater at Mary Washington University, including building and endowment programs, and the Jepson Fellows program, and an initiative designed to recruit high-quality junior faculty members and support their quest for tenure.
In Savannah, their adopted hometown since 1989, the Jepsons have left an equally indelible mark on the future of the city. Bob has served on numerous corporate and charitable boards including Chairman of the Georgia Port Authority and Chairman of the GHS Board of Curators from 2014–2016. Under his leadership GHS enjoyed unprecedented growth, including topping a $1 million-dollar fundraising goal with the Georgia History Festival and in 2015, the crown jewel of the Jepson legacy at GHS, the Jepson House Education Center, named in honor of Bob and Alice. Alice too is deeply committed to Savannah, helping to found the Children’s Hospital Charter Circle at Memorial University Medical Center, serving as Board Chair of the Telfair Museums, serving on the Savannah Philharmonic Advisory Board, and on strategic planning committees for The Savannah Country Day School, to name a few.
In 2006, Bob and Alice created the Alice A. and Robert S. Jepson, Jr. Fund at the Georgia Historical Society ensuring that their legacy and their name will live on for generations to come.