Conrad Prebys

Conrad Prebys (August 20, 1933 – July 24, 2016) was a property developer and philanthropist based in San Diego, California.

Prebys was born in South Bend, Indiana, and graduated from Indiana University. He moved to San Diego in 1965 and co-founded Progress Construction. He bought out his partner in 1980. Over the years, Prebys shifted his focus from construction to property ownership. As of 2015 he owned 81 properties in the greater San Diego area and had an estimated net worth of approximately $1 billion USD.

Prebys owned many apartment buildings, which provided housing for thousands of families with children. His concern for the well-being of these children resulted in his support of local Boys & Girls Clubs, where these children participate in educational and recreational activities and receive guidance from caring adults. In appreciation for his generous contributions, Boys & Girls Club facilities in Escondido, Ramona and Santee were named in his honor.

Prebys was a prolific philanthropist, and made major donations to biomedical research, higher education, and public broadcasting. His donations helped to underwrite the Conrad Prebys Music Center at the University of California, San Diego and the La Jolla-based Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, a nonprofit medical research institute. Other major donations went to PBS's Masterpiece, the San Diego Zoo, San Diego State University, Indiana University, the Salk Institute, and Scripps Health.

In December 2004, just prior to Christmas (his favorite time of year); Conrad Prebys made his first philanthropic gift of $1 million to build the Conrad Prebys Clubhouse in Santee and transform the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County into a premier youth-serving organization. His financial support of the organization enabled the organization to grow in quality and scope of service for the next twenty plus years. Thanks to his largess, more children are coming to state-of-the-art facilities in some of East County's neediest neighborhoods. The result is a population of children who are positively motivated, physically fit and receiving better grades at school.

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