Honorary Chairs

Duane and Renee Roth

Duane and Renee Roth have been active in supporting numerous causes and charities throughout the region. Duane J. Roth is Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of CONNECT. CONNECT is the globally recognized public benefits organization fostering entrepreneurship in the San Diego region by assisting new business formation of technology and life sciences companies.

Prior to joining CONNECT, Mr. Roth founded Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Roth was appointed to the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee for the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in 2006 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was elected Vice Chairman in 2009. He also serves as a member on the Governor's Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth.

Mr. Roth serves on a number of advisory committees and boards of the University of California, including the President's Board on Science and Innovation, the UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center (past Chair), the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), the Health Sciences advisory board and the UC San Diego Foundation Board of Directors (past Chair). He also serves on the San Diego State University College of Business (past Chair) and the Sciences & Engineering advisory boards. Mr. Roth is a member of the Executive Board for the California State University (CSU) Professional Science Masters Program.

Mr. Roth is active in the San Diego community serving as co-Chair of the Affordable Housing Working Group, a member of the Advisory Council for Math for America and is the Chairman of the Founders Circle of the UC San Diego Preuss Charter School. Mr. Roth earned a B.S. from Iowa Wesleyan College, where he served as a trustee.