Shepherd Center - A Catastrophic Care Hospital

Time, energy, and generosity. Many of Shepherd Center’s supporters apply these qualities, and their professional expertise, to make a profound impact on the Center, including Duncan Beard, a longtime donor and volunteer who is known for turning vision into action.

Duncan was born and raised in Moultrie, Ga., (also the hometown of trustee Emory Schwall and former trustee Claire Davis Smith) and attended the University of Georgia. In 1975, Duncan moved from Florida to Atlanta. He joined Mutual of New York (MONY) and began selling life insurance.

In the same year that Duncan moved to Atlanta, a fraternity brother encouraged him to meet James Shepherd for coffee. After a few meetings, he began offering James funding ideas for Shepherd Center. James reportedly told him that rather than talk about all his ideas, Duncan should come over and “just do it.”   As a result, Duncan was welcomed to the Shepherd Center Board of Directors in 1979. He served in this position until 2005 when he retired to become the inaugural chairman of the Shepherd Center Foundation Board of Trustees. In this role, Duncan personally recruited many of the original Foundation trustees.  The Foundation Board of Trustees has since grown to 31 members.

Duncan continues to serve on the Foundation Board of Trustees. “Some people are talented at volunteering, or physical therapy, but I happen to be okay at asking people to give money,” Duncan says.

Duncan introduced the Shepherd Center photography contest in 2005. He spoke with AXA Advisors (formerly MONY) about funding the prize money for a photo contest for the Center. An overwhelming 1,300 entries were submitted, and the winning photographs are permanently exhibited on the seventh floor of Shepherd Center’s Marcus-Woodruff Building.  It was a home run.

Duncan has played in all 25 Shepherd golf tournaments, and co-chaired the 2008 Shepherd Center Cup tournament with volunteer Debbie Gross. He brought new life into the Tee-Off Party when he invited professional auctioneer and personal friend Tommy Rowell, of Rowell Auctions in Moultrie, Ga., to volunteer his services.    

 “Shepherd Center is a great investment. It’s the best facility of its type in the world,” Duncan says. “Just as you would want the best aquarium in your city, or one of the best baseball fields, you want Shepherd to continue to be the best.”