The P.D. Merrill Trust has been a strong supporter of innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives at the University of New England with several annual gifts starting in 2013 to expand the Makerspace and its equipment and create curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students.
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. 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 and was a founder of the Maine Economic Research Institute. 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.
UNE President James Herbert observes, “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.”
