Richard S. Ziman is Co-Founder and Chairman of Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (NYSE Symbol: REXR), one of the nation’s leading owners and operators of industrial real estate with over $12 billion in assets. He was also Founding Chairman and CEO of New York Stock Exchange listed Arden Realty, Inc., which was the largest owner of commercial office real estate in Southern California, until its merger with General Electric, a $5 billion transaction, the largest real estate transaction of Southern California history.
Richard is CEO and Co-Trustee of The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, one of the largest Los Angeles based charitable foundations, providing over $12 million annually addressing education, healthcare and other socio-economic, cultural, and geo-political areas of Greater Los Angeles and Israel. He is also a Trustee of the Gilbert Trust for the Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A) in London, the exhibiting location of the world renowned ‘Gilbert Collections’ of decorative arts.
Richard served for six years as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the City of Hope National Medical Center and its Beckman Research Institute (COH), a world-renowned clinical hospital and basic research center principally for cancer and diabetes. He is the Founder and Inaugural Chairman of the Los Angeles Real Estate and Construction Industries Alliance for COH, which has raised over $25 million for COH programs. Richard is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Biological Sciences, Honoris Causa) from COH.
Richard is a member of the Board of Advisors of UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, a Charter Member of UCLA Athletics 1919 Society and a member of the Advisory Boards of the UCLA Healthcare System, the UCLA Nazarian Israel Studies Center, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the UC Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies. Richard is the recipient of the UCLA GOLD MEDAL, the University’s highest honor.
Richard is a member of the International Board of Governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ), and a member of the Board of Overseers of HUJ’s Rothberg International School. He is Chairman and was President of the American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU), Western States Region and he is also a Vice-Chairman and a Trustee of the National Board of AFHU. Richard is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Philosophiae, Honoris Causa) from HUJ.
For over 35 years, Richard served as a member of the Board of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (the Federation), was Centennial Chair of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Federation and was Chair of its Hineni Society. He Co-Chaired the International the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America held in Los Angeles and was Co-Chair of the Construction Committee to rebuild the Federation’s 6505 Wilshire headquarters after the Northridge earthquake.
Richard is a member of the Board and a Trustee of the Washington Institute, the Board of The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts of Beverly Hills, the Board of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and was Chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for the U.S. Southern Pacific Region. He also served as President of Guardians, Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA). Richard currently serves as Chairman of JHA’s Foundation, JHA’s umbrella organization, and is a Founder of American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism), a former member of its Board and was a member of its Executive Committee. Richard is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa) from AJU.
Richard is the Founder, Vice-Chair and former Chairman of the Los Angeles Business Council and the Founder and Vice Chair of the LABC Institute. Richard is an active member of The Real Estate Roundtable (RER) (Washington, D.C), the leading national organization addressing the policy interests of the real estate industry. Richard also served as a member of the Board of Governors and Executive
2 Committees of RER and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). He also served as a Commissioner of the California Commission for the 21st Century.
Among his numerous contributions, Richard has established and endowed the UCLA Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate; the Ziman Family Oncology Outpatient Center at City of Hope; the Ziman Family Research Laboratories at the Beckman Center for Immunology at City of Hope; the Ziman Family wing at the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University; the Goldenberg-Ziman Alzheimer 96-bed facility and the Ziman Family Synagogue - both at the Jewish Homes for the Aging; in memory of his father, the Charles Ziman examination facilities at the UCLA Arthur Ash Student Health Center; in honor of his mother and father – the Helen and Charles Ziman Fellowships at UCLA Anderson and library and other facilities, programs and fellowships, among others, at American Jewish University and the Milken Schools.
In 2017, Richard donated to, which is permanently on display at, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the Richard S. Ziman 285-piece historical monumental Tzedakah Box Collection.
Richard was, for many years and election cycles, actively involved in numerous statewide and local elections and policy issues and was a Trustee of the Democratic National Committee, a member of its Jefferson Trust, a Finance Chair of the DNC Convention held in Los Angeles and served as National Finance Co-Chair of the Presidential candidacies while hosting numerous events for William Clinton, Albert Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton.
Throughout the years, in addition to his three Honorary Doctorates and UCLA’s highest honor, the UCLA GOLD MEDAL, Richard has received numerous honors and awards including, and the “Philanthropic Work of Art” Award by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Spirit of Life, Gallery of Achievement and Abraham S. Bolsky Awards from City of Hope, the Scopus Award of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (awarded only to Eagle Scouts), the “Citizenship Award” of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Spirit of Los Angeles “Eddy Award” from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, the “City of Los Angeles” award from the Getty House Foundation, and the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Sustainable Business Leadership Award, both from the Los Angeles Business Council.
Richard also received the “Spirit of Los Angeles” award from the Los Angeles Headquarters Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Real Estate Roundtable, the “Champion of the Real Estate Industry” from the California Business Properties Association, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Property Council, the Legends Award from the Real Estate Forum, the John F. Kennedy “Profiles in Courage” award from the California Democratic Party, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the USC School of Law, and the Business Environmentalist of the Year by the Coalition of the Environment of Southern California.
Richard has also been recognized as "Man of the Year" by the Los Angeles Property Council, the “Real Estate Investor of the Year” by the Los Angeles Business Journal, a “Real Estate Icon” by the Real Estate Forum and as the greater Los Angeles E&Y “Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Richard resides in Beverly Hills with his wife May and has four children and two grandchildren.