William Cronk

Retired President, Dreyer's Grand IceCream, Inc. where he and his partner grew revenue from $6 Million to $2 Billion Former National President, Boy Scouts of America Haas-Berkeley Advisory Board member Bio:

William F. "Rick" Cronk is the retired President of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc., the nation's largest manufacturer and distributor of premium and superpremium ice cream brands.

Cronk and his partner, Gary Rogers, purchased Dreyer's in 1977, which at that time was generating annual sales of $6 million in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the next twenty years, Dreyer's expanded its distribution throughout the United States, with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion.

Active with many civic and business organizations, Mr. Cronk dedicates much of his free time to the Boy Scouts of America. He completed his term as the National President (2006-08) and continues serving on the Boy Scouts' National Executive Board. In 2011, he finished his Chairmanship of the World Scout Committee, the executive body responsible for a 38 million member Scout movement in 170 countries. He is also past Chairman of the World Scout Foundation (2005-07) and will continue serving on the WSF Board.

Mr. Cronk received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Haas Business School at the University of California at Berkeley in 1965, and he participated in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1983. Since 1986, he has been a member of the Haas Business School Advisory Board, serving two terms as chairman; and is also a member of the John Muir Health Board.

Honors and awards include the Bay Area Council, Business Hall of Fame Award (2005); the East Bay Leadership Foundation, Citizen of the Year Award (2002); the Junior Achievement of the Bay Area, Inc., Spirit of Achievement Award (1994); and the University of California, Haas School of Business Alumnus of the Year (1993).

The father of three sons, Mr. Cronk lives with his wife Janet in Lafayette, California.