Bob and Trish Duggan
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Former CEO of Pharmacyclics, Founder of Robert W. Duggan & Associates
FUNDING AREAS: Higher education, health (drug rehabilitation), Church of Scientology
OVERVIEW: Robert Duggan and his wife, Patricia, have been strong supporters of University of California Santa Barbara, where they met. Duggan has served on the board of trustees of the UCSB Foundation since the late 1980s. The couple has a philanthropic organization, the Bob & Trish Duggan Foundation, although this entity appears to have paused all grantmaking in recent years. Duggan is perhaps the Church of Scientology's largest donor, having given the church at least $20 million over the years.
BACKGROUND: Robert "Bob" Duggan attended the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of California Los Angeles. Duggan is the founder of a venture capital and securities investment firm, Robert W. Duggan & Associates. He is the former CEO of cancer drug maker Pharmacyclics, served as director of Intuitive Surgical, originally called Computer Motion, which revolutionized computer-aided and robotic surgery. Duggan's passion for investing started in a corporate finance class he took at UCSB. Duggan joined the Forbes billionaire list thanks to the success of Imbruvica, a treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia that continues to bolster Pharmacyclics' stock.
ISSUES:
HIGHER EDUCATION: Duggan and Trish have supported UCSB, the school where they met as students. Duggan has been on the board of trustees of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation since 1989. It is unclear exactly how much money the couple has given the school over the years, but UCSB is the site of, among other things, the Robert and Patricia Duggan Chair in Organic Chemistry. The couple has also supported athletic scholarships, supported the creation of a Tibetan Buddhist chair and funded a dedicated room with 5,000 Buddhist sutras at the UCSB library.
HEALTH: The Duggans have supported the Foundation for a Drug Free World, a group established by the Church of Scientology, which provides "youths and adults with information so they can make informed decisions and live free of harmful drugs."
SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY: Trish has an arts background and traveled to Tibet with the curator of Oriental art at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, which has received support from the couple. The Duggans have also given to the Santa Barbara Symphony.
OTHER: Duggan, a Scientologist, has given the Church of Scientology some $20 million over the years, making him one of the church’s largest financial supporters. Duggan is also known to support literacy and drug rehabilitation programs. In 2015, Duggan joined a group of funders supporting a $1 million Global Change the World Social Entrepreneurs competition.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Duggans’ Foundation does not seem to be engaged in grantmaking at this time. According to its 2015 tax filings, the foundation “restricts its contributions to 501(c) organizations that are Churches of Scientology and affiliates [of] social betterment organizations."
CONTACT:
Bob and Trish Duggan Foundation
1932 Emerson St.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Applications for grants and contributions should be made to:
Ryan Flake
616 Druid Road East
Clearwater, FL 33756
(949) 422-3626
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