It all starts with passion, vision and optimism – after that, Ability heroes veer off into their own special superpowers.

Dr. Robert “Bob” Bedoukian left a deep legacy of compassion and innovation at Ability Beyond and throughout our greater community when he passed from cancer last year. Bob’s story is a part of our new Magic Within series to celebrate our heroes whose commitments have continued to create opportunities of all kinds in the lives of people with disabilities and our growth to serve more.

Such beloved and devoted heroes are hard to come by, however; the old adage, “it takes one to know one”  brought Bob and Bedoukian Research into the lives of more than 3,000 people as the demand for services and greater possibilities for independence and workplace acceptance were growing.

It also started with his dear friend, George Mulvaney, the current Chair of Ability Beyond’s Board of Directors, who introduced Bob to our organization many years ago. Along with George’s own passion, vision and optimism, one of George’s superpowers is sharing his passion to expand understanding and support people with disabilities.

Unprecedented Growth

Bob, a multiple-patent chemist and CEO of Bedoukian Research, already saw and supported Greater Danbury as a strong, thriving community. Since 2004, Bob’s generosity and advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities led him to take on leadership roles on our finance committee, campaign committees and as Chairman of Ability Beyond’s Board of Directors—helping Ability Beyond raise $22 million dollars to usher in unprecedented growth that more than doubled the number of people we serve.

Whether it’s expanding employment services for people with disabilities, supporting technological innovations to best monitor their medical issues or to streamline staff shift changes, or plans to sustain Ability homes and supported independent living—Bob’s wisdom has been invaluable.

Bedoukian Research also assisted Ability Beyond in creating a ten-year social enterprise project, Roses for Autism, to employ people we serve, create a scent from the roses grown at the farm, with sales supporting our people and programs.

Greater Danbury has been Bob’s home since 1975, where he and his wife, Gail, a local attorney, raised their children to be the next generation of scientists and leaders to carry on Bedoukian Research’s distinction in the international flavors and fragrance industry for service, innovation and responsible sustainability.

Young and Foss Awards

Ability honored Bob at our 2018 Gala with The Robert S. Young Humanitarian Award, and most recently, he was posthumously awarded The Theresa Foss Memorial Award at our 2024 Autumn Mental Health Breakfast. It was an emotional event honoring Bob’s lifetime of compassion and especially his past 20 years of profound vision and generosity to make life more hopeful, accommodating and aspirational for people with autism, developmental disabilities, mental illness and other neurological challenges.

Bob has helped our team create joyful possibilities in the lives of everyone we serve. His legacy of humor, humility and caring are renowned, just as his superpowers of predicting trends, innovations, pandemic responses and sending ice cream morale boosts!

Our Ability Family could never have enough heroes. Great things couldn’t happen without them. Hope and independence couldn’t thrive without them; even the lights in the building would be challenged to stay on. It’s why we continue to celebrate our heroes and continue Ability’s quest to have other superheroes find us.

Take Action

Please join us to keep the joy and progress moving forward—you can do this by joining our volunteer committees, meeting our Development team for lunch or coffee, attending our special events, even considering a planned gift. There was only one Dr. Robert H. “Bob” Bedoukian, and there is only one you—Ability needs YOUR superpower too—we know that Bob our other Ability angels would want you to share it!