UNE to expand business and innovation programming through gift from P.D. Merrill Trust

President James Herbert looks at a student project at the 2019 Student Innovation Challenge
President James Herbert looks at a student project at the 2019 Student Innovation Challenge

The P.D. Merrill Charitable Trust, which has long supported the University of New England, will donate $1.3 million to UNE enhance the University’s programs in business, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

The gift will support the creation of the P.D. Merrill Endowed Chair of Business, giving UNE the opportunity to embark on a national search for a leader in business education and innovation to head its Business Department.

UNE President James Herbert remarked, “P.D. Merrill played a huge role in making the University of New England what it is today, having started as a trustee in 1984 shortly after UNE’s founding, to serving as Chair of the Board during the merger with Westbrook College in 1996.  He was clearly a visionary who was always looking to the future, so it is entirely appropriate that the Chair of the Business Department be named in his honor and in perpetuity.”

The gift will also provide new resources for UNE’s Makerspace, which will also be named for P.D. Merrill. The Makerspace is a popular laboratory for creation and building that attracts a growing number of students from a variety of academic disciplines with an interest in innovation and entrepreneurship. UNE will create a new position in the Makerspace and will bring visiting innovators to UNE to share their expertise with students. The gift will also support the Student Innovation Challenge, an idea-stage competition that encourages innovative and sustainable solutions to social, environmental, and health issues facing our society.

Herbert added, “Along with other recent investments, this gift will allow us to establish our business department as a regional leader.”

P.D. Merrill was chair of Merrill Industries and a prominent business leader in the Portland community. He and his father established Merrill’s Marine Terminal in Portland, through which Maine gets its road salt and other industrial commodities. Newsprint for the Boston Globe, New York Times and Wall Street Journal comes over its wharf. He was instrumental in the renovation of what is now Merrill Auditorium, named in honor of his parents. He chaired the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and Business Alliance from 1998-1999. He was a founder of the Maine Economic Research Institute. He was active in the International Forest Products Transportation Association, and the Industrial Advisory Board of the Loeb Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics at the Maine Maritime Academy. He joined UNE's Board of Trustees in 1984, serving as chair of the Board of Trustees from 1995-2000 when Westbrook College joined UNE, and was involved in a wide variety of other philanthropic endeavors throughout the state.

“Peter Vigue, chairman of The Cianbro Companies and a trustee of the P.D. Merrill Charitable Trust, stated, "Not only did I consider P.D. as a friend but a man of outstanding principles and integrity that were unmatched. P.D.’s commitment to UNE during its years of growth had a profound effect on the success that UNE enjoys today."

John Achatz, a trustee of the P.D. Merrill Charitable Trust, stated, “P.D. cared a lot about UNE and a lot about business leadership in Maine. He did not like putting his name on things, but he would be quietly pleased that the university has chosen to honor him in this way. We are glad to support UNE in enhancing educational resources for future business leaders.”

Anthony Tenneson, former Treasurer of Merrill Industries and a trustee of the P.D. Merrill Charitable Trust, observed, "P.D. should be honored for his commitment to Merrill employees. Businesses have good years and bad. He never threw in the towel no matter what. His commitment to all employees was reflected in the agreements when Merrill's Marine Terminal was transferred to Sprague Energy. He always put the Merrill ‘family’ first. The business community and educational institutions such as UNE were his family as well. I wish we had more P.D.s today.”

Read more in Mainebiz, the Associated Press, U.S. News and World Report, and the Washington Times.

P.D. Merrill
P.D. Merrill

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.