Rob Beard    

Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer

Rob Beard brings more than 20 years of senior international experience across the business, policy, and legal worlds to his role as Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer for Coherent Corp.

Mr. Beard joined Coherent in 2024 from Mastercard, where he was Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer. While at Mastercard, he led the company’s global legal, government affairs, and policy teams, and served on Mastercard’s Management Committee. Mr. Beard came to Mastercard after a nearly decade-long tenure at Micron Technology, during which time he held various roles on the legal team and ultimately served as general counsel and corporate secretary. While at Micron, he played a key role in promoting the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and in negotiating an incentive package from the state of New York for Micron’s announced $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility to be built in the Syracuse area. 

After clerking on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Mr. Beard began his corporate legal career as an associate in Shearman & Sterling’s London office, before moving to Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He graduated from the University of Utah and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law, summa cum laude. Mr. Beard has also taught in the University of Illinois Communications Department, at the University of Illinois College of Law, and at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.