Former Partner, Perkins Coie; Former Executive Vice President, Opsware, Inc.
Palo Alto, CA
Charles (Chuck) Katz is currently involved in family business and foundation activities. Previously he served as Executive Vice President of Opsware, Inc., a company that provided software for managing internet operations that was acquired in 2007 by Hewlett-Packard, and as a partner for nearly 20 years at the law firm Perkins Coie, where he specialized in corporate finance transactions. During his years practicing law, Chuck was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for corporate law. His clients included Amazon and McCaw Cellular.
He is a member of the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund, the Board of Advisors to the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, and the Board of Advisors to the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. Chuck is a former director of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), the Student Conservation Association, the Seattle Art Museum, the Henry Art Gallery of the University of Washington and the Seattle regional board of the Anti-Defamation League.
Chuck received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University (1969), a master’s degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (1973) and a law degree from the University of Texas (1976). Chuck is an avid photographer, bicyclist and hiker. His photography publications include The Power of Trees, (text by Dr. Gretchen C. Daily), Trinity University Press, 2012, Etched in Stone, The Geology of City of Rocks National Reserve and Castle Rocks State Park, Idaho (text by Dr. Kevin R. Pogue), Idaho Geological Survey, 2008, Erratics (text by Dr. Kevin R. Pogue), Sheehan Art Gallery, Whitman College, 2002 and Annapurna Sanctuary (text by Mingma Sherpa and Bruce Bunting), World Wildlife Fund, 2000.