In Remembrance: Robert F. Calman ’54 Died on January 2 2026

Robert Calman ’54 died on January 2, 2026.

Bob grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana on a music scholarship, where he excelled academically and played clarinet in the marching band. Bob graduated magna cum laude from Yale in 1954, then was commissioned as a lieutenant in the US Army, serving in Europe in Army intelligence during the 1956 Suez Crisis and Hungarian Uprising. He then entered the executive training program at Chase Manhattan Bank. After several years at Chase, Bob joined Mobil Oil in New York, rising to become treasurer of Mobil's international and North American divisions. He was recruited to IU International in Philadelphia, where he served as executive vice president, then presided over the spinoff of IU's subsidiary Echo Bay Mines, of which he remained chairman until his retirement in 1997. His colleagues universally admired his business acumen and his innovative approach to finance. 

In retirement, Bob loved to travel the world with his beloved Doris, and to preside as the “master chef” at their home in Palm Beach, regaling visitors with stories of his adventures, and self-publishing an annual food journal of his favorite recipes. Bob is survived by three children (Andrew ’82, Camille ’83, and Matthew) from his first marriage to Susan Raphael; three stepchildren (Leslie, Jennifer ’84, and Robert) from his second marriage to the late Doris Sumerson; and twelve grandchildren. 

—Submitted by the family.