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Brian Maxwell, founder of the Berkeley-based PowerBar corporate empire and a major benefactor of UC Berkeley, died Friday of a heart attack after collapsing on the steps of the San Anselmo post office. Maxwell was 51. He is survived by his spouse and six children. 

“He was the most generous person I’ve ever met,” said Tom Oliver, who worked for Maxwell at PowerBar and later at Coolsystems Inc., a Berkeley company that develops and markets technology for treating sporting injuries. Oliver is CEO at Coolsystems, and Maxwell was chairman of the board. 

“Financial success didn’t change him,” said Tanya Clark, who worked for Maxwell as PowerBar’s sports marketing manager. “He had tremendous passion and authenticity, and he always had time to listen to employees and customers.” 

Maxwell and his spouse Jennifer, a nutritionist, were inspired to create what became the PowerBar as a quick energy pickup for athletes after exhaustion forced him to drop out of a marathon. The couple launched the company in 1987, building it into a corporation with global reach, including subsidiaries in Canada and Germany. Eventually, 13 years after its founding, they sold PowerBar to Swiss-based Nestle for $375 million. 

The Maxwells moved to Marin County several years ago, though Brian had been spending at least two days a week in Berkeley at Coolsytems, Oliver said. “He was very much a hands-on chairman.” 

Coolsystems is a startup company that designs and makes cooling and compression devices for soft tissue sports injuries which have been sold to 70 universities, 110 NFL players, 37 NBA stars, and more that 50 professional sports teams, as well as physical therapy clinics. 

Maxwell was also involved with two other firms: KINeSYS, which manufactures a sunscreen for athletes in endurance sports, and the Active Network, an online service that helps athletes locate and register for sporting events and provides online training and discounts on equipment. 

Born in London, Maxwell grew up in Toronto. Even after moving to the United States in 1971 to attend classes at UC Berkeley, he ran under the Canadian flag in distance races. For several years, Maxwell was ranked as one of the world’s leading long distance runners. 

Maxwell came to Berkeley on a track scholarship, setting school records and lettering during each of his four years. He graduated in 1975, receiving a degree in architecture and the school’s Brutus Hamilton Award as outstanding student-athlete. 

Two years later, Track and Field News ranked him the world’s third-best marathon runner, the same year he finished third in the Boston Marathon. He was named to the Canadian Olympic Team in 1980, but did not get to compete after Canada joined the U.S. in boycotting the Moscow events. Maxwell did get to the Olympics, leading the Canadian team onto the field at Salt Lake City for the opening ceremonies in 2002. 

Maxwell met Jennifer while she was a student at the university, studying nutrition at the College of Natural Resources and running on the school’s track and cross country teams. She graduated in 1988. 

With their financial success, the Maxwells became major benefactors of their alma mater. In February, 1998, the pledged $5 million to UC Berkeley—$3 million to fund the Haas Pavilion and $2 million to improve academic life. 

In 2002, the Maxwells endowed a chair at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health for research in maternal and child health. That same year, the Maxwells paid all the costs to replace the damaged artificial turf at the university’s Kleeberger Field, saving the athletic facility from closure. The university renamed the facility the Maxwell Family Field in the couple’s honor. 

The Maxwells also donated money to the chancellor’s discretionary fund and funded environmental programs at UC’s Bancroft Library and biology programs within the College of Letters and Science, said UC Senior Public Information Representative Sarah Yang. 

Vice Chancellor for University Relations Donald McQuade offered a formal statement: “Brian Maxwell's life and dedication to UC Berkeley exemplify the highest standards of charitable good will and spirited advocacy. From his exuberant court-side cheering at Cal basketball to his determined support of building a world-class program in track, Brian seized every opportunity to champion excellence in athletics and academics. His legacy is everywhere evident at Cal. . . Brian's sudden death is a stunning loss for the entire Cal family, and we offer our deepest condolences to his wife, Jennifer, and to their six children. His stalwart spirit and unsurpassed dedication to Cal will always inspire us.” 

UC officials and friends of the Maxwells are organizing a local memorial service. 

“He was really an amazing spirit,” said Debbie Pfeifer, who worked for Maxwell as communications manager at PowerBar and as public relations officer for one of Coolsystems product lines. 

“He was really competitive and a natural marketer, but he also encouraged people to spend more time with their families. At PowerBar, people worked hard when they were at the office, but they went home at night and they didn’t come in on the weekends because that’s how he wanted it,” Pfeifer said. “He was really unusual that way.” ›