Automotive
Executive
Bruno Rubess was born in
Riga, Latvia, and immigrated to Canada in 1953. As a life insurance under
writer, Mr.Rubess eventually entered the automobile industry as a salesman
with Mercedes-Benz, 1955. By 1962, he had joined Volkswagen Canada as Sales
Training Manager, becoming, within a decade, its President and Chief Executive
Officer. Mr. Rubess and his Latvian-born wife, Biruta, as viewed here in
traditional Latvian costumes, were married in 1953. Together they have
been active in Latvian activities, helping organize the Canadian Latvian
Cultural Centre in Toronto. They have also participated in a variety of
youth seminars and numerous fundraising causes over many years of volunteerism.
Retiring from Volkswagen’s headquarters in Germany in 1992 as Chief of
Corporate Strategy, that same year, Mr. Rubess became the only non-resident
appointed for six years to the Board of the (Central) Bank of Latvia where
he continues as management consultant to guide the Bank’s numismatic coin
program and major building activities. Mr. Rubess is also an Officer of
the Three Star Order of Latvia. [Photo, courtesy Bruno Rubess]
