Donald P. Merrifield, S.J., who served as president of Loyola Marymount University for 15 years and worked to increase diversity among LMU’s student body, has died. He was 81.
Merrifield was appointed Loyola University’s 11th president in 1969, and was the first to head the merged university after Loyola and Marymount College came together in 1973. He remained president until 1984, overseeing much of the development of the modern campus.
“The view from any corner of our campus will take in the influence of Father Merrifield,” said Robert B. Lawton, S.J. Among the 13 buildings constructed during Merrifield’s tenure are the Leavey Faculty Center, the Von der Ahe Communication Arts Building, Loyola Apartments, Eugenie Hannon Apartments, Doolan Hall, Gersten Pavilion, George Page Baseball Stadium, Burns Fine Art Center and Laband Art Gallery.
Merrifield wholeheartedly supported the dramatic expansion of the Loyola Law School facilities near downtown Los Angeles that accommodated its burgeoning enrollment, growing faculty and need for modern facilities. In 1980, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank O. Gehry was commissioned to design the campus, which has been the subject of both local and international architectural acclaim.
Merrifield’s chief contribution to LMU, however, was his passion for diversity and inclusive education. He oversaw financial aid initiatives, scholarships and recruitment drives to increase the presence of minority students on campus. During his tenure, LMU established support services for students of color and added courses on African American and Chicano/Latino studies to the curriculum.
He was instrumental in the formation of the Mexican American Alumni Association in 1981. “Look at the many, varied faces on our campus and you see the influence of Father Merrifield,” Lawton said.
Merrifield also was passionate about dialogue between religions and helped establish the first Interfaith Group on campus. At his inauguration in 1969, he turned to Rabbi Alfred Wolf to give the invocation.
Merrifield was born Nov. 14, 1928, in Los Angeles and graduated from Inglewood High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science in physics from Caltech, his master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and his doctorate in physics from MIT. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1951 and was ordained at Blessed Sacrament in Hollywood in 1965. He taught physics at the University of San Francisco before joining LMU. Additionally, for a time he served as a consultant to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in honor of Father Merrifield may be sent to: Loyola Marymount University, Attn: Alma Vorst, 1 LMU Drive, Suite 2800, Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659. There will be a funeral Mass celebrated for Father Merrifield at noon on Tuesday, March 9, at Sacred Heart Chapel on the LMU campus.
