Board Members

Elected 2008

Robert Bonner is the principal of Bonner ADR & Consulting Services, where he serves as a neutral arbitrator, mediator, and homeland security consultant. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland and Georgetown University Law School, his career has alternated between government service and private law practice. From 1984 through 1988, he served as the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and then was nominated and confirmed as a U.S. district judge for the same district. From 1990 to 1993, he was the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Bonner returned to Los Angeles as a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, working from the firm's L.A. and Washington, D.C. offices.

A week after 9/11, Bonner was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, where he played a key role in developing the strategy to secure the U.S. borders, including creating the Container Security Initiative, the National Targeting System, and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. After the homeland security reorganization of 2003, Bonner became the first commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency responsible for managing and securing the U.S. borders.

In 2006, Bonner returned to Gibson Dunn where he co-chaired the firm's White Collar Defense and Public Policy Practice groups. Later, he became principal of the Sentinel HS Group, a Washington-based homeland security consulting firm, advising private-sector and government clients on homeland security strategy and solutions. Bonner also engages in alternative dispute resolution, including international arbitration and mediation of high-stakes disputes.

Bonner is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council and serves on the Civilian Oversight Commission overseeing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, serving as its first chair. He formerly chaired the California Commission on Judicial Performance. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations' task forces regarding Immigration Reform and North America policy.

Standing Committees: Audit, Compliance and Risk; Finance, Facilities, and Infrastructure