Robert J. Abernethy (born February 28, 1940) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist based in Manhattan Beach, California.
Abernethy attended Harvard Business School, where he took classes taught by Henry Kissinger, Thomas Schelling and J. Ronald Fox.
Upon returning from his tour, Abernethy became an Operations Officer of the data processing department of the Naval Aircraft Overhaul & Repair Facility at Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
After Harvard Business School, Abernethy worked for the Hughes Aircraft Company (from 1972 to 1974), which promoted him to Controller for the Technology Division.
[13] Abernethy formerly served as a Trustee of Davidson College[14] and Johns Hopkins University,[15] where he sat on the advisory board of the Peabody Institute[16] and the Center for Talented Youth.
[18] He is a Director of the Truman Center for National Policy,[19] the International Refugee Assistance Project,[20] and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
[22] Abernethy has advisory roles at the United States Institute of Peace[23] and the RAND Corporation Center for Global Risk and Security.
[25] He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows,[26] the Chairman's Forum of the Council on Foreign Relations,[27] the California Committee South of Human Rights Watch,[28] and the Synergos Global Philanthropists Circle.
[30] Abernethy serves as a Director of the New Leaders Council,[31] Associate Publisher to Democracy: A Journal of Ideas,[32] and a Foreign Policy Advisor to the Center for American Progress.
Abernethy supports healthcare research, serving as a Director of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship[35] and the John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation.