Rob Sands, JD ’84, knows that bold decisions and calculated risks form the path to success. Sands, who this summer is completing his first year as chair of Pace’s Board of Trustees, joined his family’s wine-wholesaling business, then called the Canandaigua Wine Company, in 1986. Over the next three and half decades, and in partnership with his brother, Rich Sands, he pursued a strategy of aggressive acquisition that both expanded the company’s footprint and moved it into premium products.
In 2000 it was renamed Constellation Brands, and today, thanks to the moves Sands made, Constellation is a Fortune 500 company with more than $8 billion in annual sales across such iconic brands as Modelo and Corona beers, Modavi and Kim Crawford wines, and Svedka Vodka, among many others.
“Rob has been a truly visionary and entrepreneurial leader for his business,” says Pace President Marvin Krislov. “We are so fortunate to be able to benefit from his leadership and wisdom at Pace.”
A native of the Rochester area, where Constellation is headquartered, Sands earned an undergraduate degree at Skidmore College before coming to Pace for law school. After graduation, he practiced for a few years at the Rochester firm Harter Secrest & Emery LLP before joining the family business as general counsel. In 2007, he succeeded his brother as CEO, and in 2018 he became executive chairman.
“Rob has been a truly visionary and entrepreneurial leader for his business,” says Pace President Marvin Krislov.
“I had a great experience at Pace Law School, and I found the education to be excellent,” Sands says. Serving as Board chair is his opportunity to give back to the University. “I think my entrepreneurial spirit and success will be valuable to Pace in moving forward with our mission and setting us up for future success,” he says.
Sands first became involved with Pace as an alumnus in 2016, when the Sands Family Foundation and Constellation Brands made a $400,000 contribution to launch the Food and Beverage Law Clinic at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. Through the clinic, the first of its kind in the country, Haub Law students and faculty provide legal services to farmers, food and beverage entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations seeking to improve our food system.
In 2018, he joined the Board of Trustees, and when the University kicked off a new strategic planning process in the summer of 2019, he became deeply involved in that effort, leading a Board committee to drive the planning process. Last summer, when Mark Besca ’81 decided to step down after an eight-year term as Board chair, Sands stepped up to lead the implementation of the new plan, Pace Forward.
He’s ready to make big steps that yield big results.
“Pace is a great institution,” he says. “This is our opportunity to make it even greater.”
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