Notable Nu’s · Business & Philanthropy
EP 369 · UCLA Class of 1953
Born
January 23, 1929, Escondido, CA
High School
Escondido High School, Escondido, CA
Pledged EP
1950
UCLA
Class of 1953
Bob Wilson built 2.1 million square feet of retail space, chaired a $3 billion UCLA fundraising campaign, and had Wilson Plaza dedicated in his name. He was also a twin, a Korean War veteran, a devoted husband, a father of five, and a grandfather of 21. He passed away on January 24, 2022 — one day after his 93rd birthday.
Robert S. Wilson was born on January 23, 1929, in Escondido, California, the second of five children born to Wilma and Albert Wilson. He grew up alongside his fraternal twin brother Bill, attending a one-room school in Escondido before moving on to play football for his beloved Escondido High School.
After graduating, Wilson spent two years studying veterinary medicine at UC Davis before transferring to UCLA. He pledged the Epsilon Pi Chapter of Sigma Nu in 1950, then interrupted his studies to serve in an Army artillery unit headquartered in Japan during the Korean War, spending most of his enlistment managing courts martial.
He returned to UCLA two years later, earned a degree in business in 1953, and married the love of his life and fellow Bruin, Marion.
Following a brief flirtation with law school, Wilson joined Coldwell Banker where he worked first in mortgage loans and later in commercial sales. In 1964, he and colleague Fred Duckett founded Duckett-Wilson Development Company to build and manage grocery-store anchored neighborhood shopping centers.
To date the company has developed 63 well-placed centers, owning and managing 2.1 million square feet of retail space and managing another 900,000 square feet of non-owned space. Duckett-Wilson also founded the popular Fish Market Restaurants, with six locations throughout California.
While building his career, Bob and Marion raised five sons who, along with their wives, gave them 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Through it all, the couple remained dedicated to helping UCLA fulfill its mission of educational excellence.
Their support for the university included scholarship funding, endowing a chair in the school of dentistry, funding for on-campus construction projects, and Bob’s chairmanship of the school’s fundraising campaign — which raised a record-setting $3 billion. The impact of their philanthropy is most visibly memorialized in Wilson Plaza, dedicated in their name in 2000 in recognition of their longtime generosity.
In 2006, Bob and Marion were awarded the UCLA Medal — the university’s highest honor.
“Beginning in 1982 with the creation of Estrella Park in downtown Los Angeles, he and Marion went on to support UCLA, Colonial Williamsburg, the LA and San Diego Zoos, the San Diego Maritime Museum, the San Diego Symphony, countless homeless organizations, and the Paradise High School students and faculty affected by that area’s disastrous wildfires.”
— Wilson family obituary
Robert S. Wilson passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 24, 2022, at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, California — one day after his 93rd birthday. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Marion. He is survived by his brother Martin, his five sons Dennis, Tom, Greg, David, and Ric, their wives, and his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Bob Wilson was a lifelong churchgoer, a passionate UCLA sports fan, and a man whose real pride and joy was always his family. The Epsilon Pi Chapter is honored to call him a brother.
Notable Nu’s is a series celebrating distinguished members of the Epsilon Pi Chapter of Sigma Nu at UCLA.
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