Mary and Richard Compton

Mary and Richard “Dick” Compton believe it is important to invest in the health of the community now for the future. Their milestone philanthropic commitment of $15 million in 2016 inspired Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation to build on their vision by planning the Reaching Higher Together campaign.

Dick knows firsthand how generosity pays off. He grew up in rural Michigan and attended a one-room schoolhouse. He started out as a local farm mechanic without much thought about his future. But a local farmer, Ann Dorr, saw something special in Dick. Ann encouraged him to think bigger and offered him a loan to attend the University of Michigan.

Fast forward, Dick is a co-founder of NuSil Technology and continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of this Fortune 500 company. The Comptons are active Santa Barbara community members and long-standing patrons of Cottage Health.

In 2023 Mary and Richard Compton increased their giving to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation, for a total of $65 million to support medical excellence and innovation at Cottage Health. Adding to their prior $15 million gift, a new commitment of $50 million is the largest single gift in Cottage’s 135-year history and will be invested in the health of the Santa Barbara community and the region.

The gift will create and name the Compton Center for Medical Excellence and Innovation, bringing together top clinicians, educators and research investigators to propel clinical and operational innovation – and advancing health care for patients and families.