Eleanor Merrill, American publisher, Died at 82

  Writer

Philip Merrill was born on April 28, 1934, and died on June 10, 2006.

He was an American diplomat, publisher, banker, and philanthropist.

He served as counselor to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy from 1981 to 1983; as a member of the Defense Policy Board from 1983 to 1990 and again from 2001 to 2003; and as Assistant Secretary General for Defence Support at NATO Headquarters in Brussels from 1990 to 1992 under President George H. W. Bush.

Merrill served as chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States by George W. Bush, serving from 2002 to 2005.

Eleanor represented the United States in negotiations on the Law of the Sea Conference, the International Telecommunications Union and various disarmament and exchange agreements with the former Soviet Union.

Eleanor had chaired for the White House Fellow Commissions regional panels, for many years.

Also, he served on President George H.W. Bush’s Gulf War Air Power Survey and President Reagan’s Commission on Cost Control in the Federal Government.

Merrill served as a long time trustee of the Aspen Institute (and long time executive board member), the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Johns Hopkins University, and Cornell University.

He has donated $7 million to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The building is called the Phillip Merrill Center, was awarded the first LEED platinum certificate in the country.

During 2001, Elenor Merrill donated $10 million to the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.

He donated the funds to build the Cornell Sailing Center at Cornell University http://www.rso.cornell.edu/sailing/merrill-sailing-center.php which is named for the Merrill Family and was dedicated in 2009.

Himself and his wife were benefactors of numerous institutions including the Aspen Institute, the Ford’s Theater, Shakespeare Theater, the Meridian Center, the Barker Adoption Foundation and Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind.

He left behind was survived by his wife, Eleanor; three children, Douglas Merrill, Catherine Merrill Williams, and Nancy Merrill; and four grandsons.

He disappeared while sailing alone on the Chesapeake Bay on June 10, 2006.

Eleanor Merrill passed away at 82 years old.