Press Release:
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NATIVE AND CO-FOUNDER OF QUIKSILVER ANNOUNCED AS
2012 FATHER OF THE YEAR HONOREE
Orange County, May 21, 2012 – The Orange County American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Father’s Day Council of Orange County will be honoring four fathers at the 2012 Father of the Year event, one of whom will be Bob McKnight, Co-Founder and CEO of Quiksilver.
McKnight has demonstrated the ability to balance his personal with his professional life, serving as an exceptional role model for his children while making a positive difference in his community.
Past Orange County honorees have included leading executives from the private and the public sectors, business owners and politicians as well as sports and entertainment celebrities. National honorees have included John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Colin Powell, Jack Lemmon, George Foreman, and Wolf Blitzer.
Bob McKnight, Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Quiksilver, Inc. has spent his entire professional career at the helm of the company. A Southern California native and lifelong surfer, Bob graduated from the University of Southern California in 1976 with degrees in Business Administration, Marketing and Management.
Upon graduation, he ventured to Indonesia for an extended surf trip, where he met professional surfer Jeff Hakman, who at the time was passionate about discussing a great new boardshort line out of Australia called ‘Quiksilver.’
The two became friends and business partners, acquiring the license for U.S manufacturing and distribution for Quiksilver, selling board shorts out of the back of Bob’s Volkswagen van and thereby creating Quiksilver USA. The rest of the story is surf industry legend.
“For me it has always been all things water…I love to surf, dive, live on an island or hang out on a boat. Surfing has always been about the travel, the friendships, the adventure, the cultures, the humor…hanging out with friends and enjoying the water. It has never been about competition.” – Bob McKnight
Under Bob’s watch, Quiksilver has grown from a startup to a worldwide corporation with revenues of $2 billion. Today, Quiksilver, Inc. is a globally diversified, world leader in outdoor lifestyle apparel with their three main brands of Quiksilver, Roxy and DC. Quiksilver Inc. has over 7,000 employees, operates in over 90 countries and has close to 900 retail stores in the world.
In 2004, Bob formed the Quiksilver Foundation, which provides a structure to the many philanthropic and educational projects that he supports and reaches the core of the McKnight philosophy: protect our playgrounds while ensuring that our presence supports local culture. Bob also serves on the boards of many different environmental, industry and educational organizations, including his position as Director for the Ocean Institute, University of Southern California Wrigley Institute on Catalina Island and the Otis college of Art & Design.
Bob currently resides in Laguna Beach, CA with his wife Annette and their three children, Kristi (29), Roxy (27) and Robbie (19). Both Kristi and Roxy work in PR and Marketing at Quiksilver. Robbie is currently a freshman at USC where he is majoring in Business and plays on the USC Men’s Volleyball Team. In his spare time Bob enjoys surfing, snowboarding, diving, and playing beach volleyball.
The dinner honoring the 2012 Father’s of the Year will be held on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at the City National Grove of Anaheim. The Master of Ceremonies for the event will be Maria Hall-Brown of KOCE-TV’s nightly news magazine show, “Real Orange”.
All proceeds from the event will support the American Diabetes Association and its mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. The public and the media are invited to join the honorees, their families and guests at this gala event.
Tax deductible, (excluding dinner costs) individual tickets are available for $250 each. Tax-deductible corporate sponsorships range from $1,000 to $15,000. Father of the Year Website: www.diabetes.org/orangecountyfoty
About the Orange County Father’s Day Council
The Orange County chapter of the National Father’s Day Council is a volunteer organization that annually honors individuals who exemplify outstanding commitment to children, family and community. The National Father’s Day Council was established in 1931. It holds Father of the Year awards events in 20 cities across the nation.
About the American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization concerned with diabetes and its complications. Founded in 1940, the ADA provides services in communities nationwide. The mission of the American Diabetes Association is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
Diabetes is a serious, life-threatening and currently incurable disease that can include complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, amputations and loss of life if left untreated. It is the seventh leading disease-based cause of death.
Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes and millions more have pre-diabetes. More than one-third of those with diabetes are undiagnosed. In Orange County, approximately 250,000 people have diabetes.
In Orange County the ADA funds research at UCI, holds camps for effected families, puts on free clinics for screening and prevention and is involved in numerous other community events.
The City National Grove of Anaheim is located at 220 E Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806.
For more information, call Patricia Simon, 714-662-7949 ext. 7441.
