Robbert Leopold is from the Netherlands and worked with, and for the UIAA, for a total of 27 years.
He first became connected to the UIAA when he was Secretary General of the Royal Dutch Alpine Club (KNAV). In this position he was in charge of relations with mountaineering associations abroad and with the UIAA. As Secretary General and later as President of KNAV he represented his association at UIAA General Assemblies from 1965-1978.
Four years later, in 1982, Leopold was asked by the UIAA Board to lead a working group tasked with studying the structures and methods of the UIAA. The working group was later asked to analyse the efficiency of the UIAA office and to draft a proposal for new Articles of Association and General Rules for the UIAA Commissions.
Leopold’s group presented reports and drafts for the new documents to the Council and General Assembly in the period 1983-1985.
In 1990, Leopold was elected member of the UIAA board before stepping down in 2000. The same year he was made honorary member of the UIAA for his many years of voluntary service to the federation.
In 2002 he was also given a Dutch royal decoration for his volunteer work over the previous decades.
