Herbert M. Sandler

Co-founder. Herb and his late wife, Marion, founded and operated Golden West Financial Corporation from 1963 to 2006. Golden West was a risk-averse residential mortgage portfolio lender that kept its loans on its own books, had the lowest loan losses in the industry over a 40+ year period, achieved an unparalleled earnings record, and grew to become the nation's second largest thrift institution. Golden West was named Fortune magazine's most admired savings institution seven times and Morningstar named the Sandlers as CEOs of the Year in 2004. Sandler Foundation, established in 1991, rigorously researches opportunities and makes strategic general support investments to support exceptional individuals and institutions. The foundation has helped launch ProPublica, Center for American Progress, Center for Responsible Lending, and the American Asthma Foundation, and has supported high-risk innovative research in basic science, asthma, neurosciences and third world diseases at UCSF. The foundation has also catalyzed the expansion and/or improved operating capacity of many non-profits, including the ACLU, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Human Rights Watch, MDRC, Oceana, PICO, and Stanford's Clinical Excellence Research Center that designs innovative ways to provide high-quality health care at lower cost.