WPI Spotlight
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This article originally appeared in the 3 May 2021 issue of Ag Perspectives
By Gary Blumenthal
We regret to inform long-time Ag Perspectives readers of the passing of Robert Kohlmeyer. Bob had a long and prolific career, first with Cargill and then with WPI.
He spent the first 34 years of his professional career doing everything from managing Cargill’s elevator operations to leading the company’s futures trading desk. He was a key trader for the company during the so-called Great Grain Robbery with the Soviet Union in 1973, and later the grain embargo against the same USSR in 1980. He would later testify several times before the U.S. Congress on the machinations of the grain trade and government policies. In a classic phrasing by Bob before a House committee in 1978 he said,
The role of the private exporter in this process is to move commodities from surplus-producing areas to deficit consuming areas in the most efficient and timely manner possible.
Bob brought his amazing insights and expertise from Cargill to World Perspectives in 1990 where he continued to educate both clients and government officials for another 30 years. Younger analysts would leave a company meeting and talk about the pearls of wisdom that would drop from Bob’s lips. He would cite old market sayings like “the market is bigger than me and thee”; and “he is your friend, but he is mine for an eighth”. While he cited the advantages of directly engaging other human beings in the Chicago trading pits, he fully embraced the digitalization of the industry and talked about the advantages of modern telecommunications.
Bob was a history major at Princeton and saw the cyclicality of the agricultural commodity markets. Thus, in his later years he wrote a series of articles called Common Thread in which he detailed the commonality of the present with past market events. His last article for WPI was late last year before illness stole his energy. His wife Julie says that it was his hope that he could resume writing for Ag Perspectives that kept him going through his illness. Whether you knew Bob Kohlmeyer or not, the legacy of his work has left a lasting impact on our industry. We will miss him dearly.
This tribute was originally published 24 March 2020.
It is with a heavy heart that we share with you that World Perspectives founder Carole Brookins died last night after succumbing to the COVID-19 virus. She was 75 years old. She fell ill after returning to Palm Beach from Paris two weeks ago. She had a storied life, breaking barriers and making things happen.
To no one’s surprise, Carole graduated cum laude from college and began her career as a municipal bond underwriter in Chicago. She then became a market reporter at the Chicago Board of Trade where she came to the attention of the second largest stock brokerage firm, E.F. Hutton. In the 1970’s she rose to become their Vice President of the Commodity Department. A little-known fact - Carole created, developed and presented the firm’s two-record album on investing called, “Learn a New Language: Money.”
Carole left Wall Street to create World Perspectives in 1980, saying she was motivated by the grain embargo against the Soviet Union since it revealed the information gap between policymakers and the trade. Because of her intellect and spunk, she was in high demand throughout her life giving public speeches and providing valuable insight. And, she attracted Washington’s most powerful as headliners at the annual conferences she would orchestrate.
One woman who met Carole back at that time responded to her passing yesterday by saying, “Carole was a powerful role model for me and many other young staffers on the Hill, in trade, business and agriculture.”
Presidents appointed her to various advisory committees and, perhaps hearkening back to her municipal bond days, she led a multinational effort in Asia in the 1990’s to build out secondary cities and create rural linkages. She was on corporate boards both before and after her appointment and U.S. Senate confirmation as U.S. Executive Director at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank).
She did not slow down after her stint as a top government executive. She continued giving speeches and working through various partnerships to make economic linkages where she knew they should be but did not exist.
Carole derived her mojo from engaging with her hundreds of friends and acquaintances located around the world. It is unknown how many different countries she visited during her lifetime, but she likely missed very few. In her final years, she split time between her two favorites, the U.S. and France. Reflecting her love of both countries, two years ago Carole invested her time, her energy and her personal wealth to create the First Alliance Foundation, which memorializes the historical Franco-American relationship.
Carole was smart, she was industrious, she was always a whirlwind of ideas. She was a dear friend and close advisor. This virus took down someone very special and the world will be worse off for it. We at World Perspectives will miss her very much.