Meet Dick Watts, Chair of CPMC Foundation's Board of Trustees

Businessman, CEO Brings Continued Commitment to Philanthropy

“Having grown up in the United Kingdom, I was amazed when I first arrived here at the role philanthropy plays in the United States,” says Dick Watts. Richard C. Watts moved stateside in 1970 from England where, he explains, the government provides its citizens health care, which is not the case in the United States. A naturalized citizen, Dick received his Bachelor of Science from Imperial College in London. His extensive business and technology background included three decades at Hewlett-Packard where he oversaw a number of multi-billion dollar business units as Corporate Vice-President. More recently, he served as President and CEO of Scale Eight in San Francisco.

A Second Career in Health Care Philanthropy

In 1995, while attending the Stanford Executive Program, a colleague told him about St. Luke’s Hospital. “I was looking for ways to give back to the community,” says Watts, “and coming from a medical family, health care was always a priority.” He served on the Board of Trustees for St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation for 12 years before being invited to join the Board of Trustees for CPMC Foundation in 2007, the same year the two hospitals and their respective foundations merged.

Mr. Watts was elected Board Chair, a seat he inherited January 2009 from Gail Glasser, who served as Chair for three successful years. “I think California Pacific is unique in that it offers our community a range of reasons to give. We each have the opportunity to help move a world class medical institution forward. It is also vital to have access to the very best in health care where you live and thus a another good reason to become engaged and give.”

Because life is precious, we encourage giving to life and a lifetime of giving.