Member
Robert “Bobby” Bendetson is President of The Cabot House, a high-end furniture retailer with stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Florida. Cabot House has been a family owned business for four generations, founded by Bobby’s great grandfather in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1912. His father, Norris Bendetson A41, greatly expanded the business and changed its name from the Boston Furniture Company to Cabot House. He has been actively involved with Tufts as a supporter and volunteer, particularly with the Institute for Global Leadership, serving as Chair of the Executive Board and Chair of the External Advisory Board. In this role, he created the Robert and JoAnn Bendetson Public Diplomacy Initiative, which brings international leaders to Tufts. He sponsored the Institute Scholar Practitioner in Residence (INSPIRE) Fellows program; endowed the annual Norris and Marjory Bendetson Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) Symposium; and sustained the China Cross Cultural Leadership Program. Bobby was elected to the Tufts University Board of Trustees in 2007.
“I care deeply about Tufts University and I joined the Board in recognition of the Institute's multidisciplinary pedagogy, its non polemical nature, its non ideological perspective, and its openness to finding solutions to complex problems that others would not engage. The Institute has a unique ability to attract some of the world's most important figures, really dedicated to solving real world problems. I have been tremendously satisfied and rewarded by my association with the IGL which has allowed me to engage with very bright and inquisitive students - and to directly engage in the worlds of diplomacy and negotiation to effect a more safe and secure future for my children, and for the children of our world.”