Robert W. Karr Jr.

Robert W. Karr, Jr. is Chief Legal Officer, Vice President of Administration (Legal & Risk, HR, EHS, IT), Corporate Secretary, and member of the Executive and DE&I Committees of Blommer Chocolate Company, a global cocoa processing and chocolate manufacturer serving over 800 brands. Beginning in 2014, he led the company’s expansion into China, including the establishment of a manufacturing plant in Shanghai which opened in 2017. He was also directly involved in the preparation and sale of the company in 2019 to Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. based in Osaka, Japan, which specializes in plant-based food solutions. Today, he and his colleagues are leading a full business transformation initiative to be the best supplier of chocolate and chocolate ingredients in the industry - globally.Mr. Karr earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian Languages and Literature and International Business Certificate from the University of Iowa, and juris doctor degree from DePaul University College of Law. He also studied and worked extensively in Japan, including undergraduate studies at Nanzan University and law school studies at Doshisha University, and work at Nissan Construction Co., Ltd. (1991-94) and Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (2008-10).Mr. Karr is an active volunteer in Chicago. Among his various roles, including Japan America Society of Chicago Board Member, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Chicago Sister Cities International Program under Mayor Richard M. Daley and Board Member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. Mr. Karr has led several projects with the Chicago Park District in Jackson Park, including the establishment of a Japanese festival in 1998 for which he was awarded “Outstanding Individual” in 1999 by Friends of the Parks, and most recently the design and installation of SKYLANDING by Yoko Ono in 2016 in the Garden of the Phoenix.He is published in the Toyota Technical Review (2012) and North American Japanese Garden Journal (2013), and led the creation of the Garden of the Phoenix website and SKYLANDING website, which were both Webby Award finalists (2017). Along with Yoko Ono, he also produced SKYLANDING (the Music of Yoko Ono) performed by Tatsu Aoki and The Miyumi Project (2016).As of April 2022, he is the 8th President and Editor-in-Cheif of the Chicago Shimpo, the oldest bilingual English-Japanese Newspaper in the Midwest (established 1945).