Clifford W. Hague

Trustee

Cliff Hague's principal career was in development, clinical research, business development, and marketing of high-tech medical devices. He was a member of the executive team of MiniMed Inc., overseeing growth of the company from zero to $350 million in revenue, with more than 2,000 employees, and successfully took the company public. Hague was involved in the development of seven generations of external insulin pumps, as well as implantable pumps, glucose sensors, computer-controlled drug delivery systems, and many other medical devices. He was directly responsible for 52 product introductions and is named on 30 patents.

Retiring at the age of 43, he moved to Catalina Island full-time, and at various times was an owner and partner in 10 different businesses in Avalon. This included Catalina Island Vacation Rentals, which under his tenure as chairman grew from a mom-and-pop operation to 80 percent market share. He served on the Catalina Conservancy for more than 10 years as a director, vice chair, and chairman. He has served on the board of the Catalina Island Museum since 2005; and during his tenure as president, the decision was made to buy land and pursue development of a new $10 million facility, which was completed in 2016. He was one of the founders of the Catalina Island Foundation to support local nonprofits on Catalina, and has been a member of the Rotary Club of Avalon since 2000.  

Hague has served on numerous other for-profit and nonprofit boards, and has been an angel investor in several medical device start-ups. He has combined wildlife art and conservation in several philanthropic projects for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), and has a 30-acre intact old growth rainforest preserve on the Big Island of Hawai'i, which he has willed to SDZWA. Hague had his own private zoo as a teenager that included over 150 exotic birds, 6 monkeys, and countless reptiles, amphibians, fish, carnivorous plants, and rare botanical species. He also interned with the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, the Los Angeles Zoo, and the Sacramento Zoo; was a ranger for Lion Country Safari; and was curator of the University of California, Davis Museum of Zoology. Hague graduated summa cum laude from UC Davis in zoology with a minor equivalent in Mandarin Chinese, and received an MBA from the University of California, Irvine in marketing and the management of high-technology ventures.