LOS ANGELES -- Merritt Adamson, the developer and philanthropist whose donation of prime Malibu land helped Pepperdine University achieve national prominence, has died of cancer. He was 59.
Adamson, managing general partner of the Adamson Companies and successor to the family-owned Adohr Milk Farms Inc., died Sunday night at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, said Vincent Fowler, a spokesman for Adamson Companies.
In 1968, Adamson donated the first 138-acre parcel of choice ocean-view land in Malibu to a relatively obscure Pepperdine College. The school moved to Malibu from South Los Angeles in 1972 and has since experienced unprecedented growth.
Pepperdine University's Malibu campus now covers more than 800 acres and is home to undergraduate Seaver College and a law school. A recent survey of college presidents placed Pepperdine among the best universities on the West Coast, and several Pepperdine athletic teams are ranked in the top 20 nationally.
David Davenport, president of Pepperdine, said 'the generous gift of prime Malibu land from the Adamson family was one of the foremost reasons for our move to Malibu. His active interest in the continued growth of our university and his participation in our university board provided encouragement for all of us.'
Adamson's grandfather was Frederick Rindge, a Harvard graduate, who co-founded Union Oil, Pacific Mutual Insurance and Southern California Edison.
