Philip Merrill

Philip Merrill (April 28 1934—10 June 2006) was an American diplomat, publisher, banker, and philanthropist who committed suicide while traveling alone on his boat in the Chesapeake Bay.

Career and philanthropy

Born Philip Merrill Levine, he was a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School. At Cornell, he was managing editor of "The Cornell Daily Sun" and a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He was president and CEO of Capital-Gazette Communications, Inc., which publishes "Washingtonian" magazine, the Annapolis "Capital", and five other Maryland newspapers. His wife, Eleanor, succeeded him as publisher.

Merrill 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 as assistant Secretary General of NATO in Brussels from 1990 to 1992 under President George H. W. Bush. He was appointed to head the Export-Import Bank of the United States by George W. Bush, serving from 2002 to 2005.

In 1988, he received the Medal for Distinguished Service from then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

In 2001, Merrill donated $10 million to the College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park, which now bears his name. He also donated $4 million in 2003 to create the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Eliot A. Cohen. [cite web | url = http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/merrill/merrill.php | title = Philip Merrill | work = Right Web | date = 2006-07-13 | accessdate = 2006-07-20] is the director of the Merrill Center.

Death

Merrill disappeared while sailing alone on the Chesapeake Bay on June 10, 2006. He was initially believed to have been lost at sea, and his body was found on June 19. Merrill was found with a small anchor tied around one or both ankles and what investigators believe was a shotgun wound to the head, according to an anonymous source familiar with the investigation. His body was taken to the Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. [cite news | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/20/AR2006062001476.html | title = Merrill Apparently Shot Himself On the Bay | last = Rich | first = Eric | publisher = The Washington Post | date = 2006-06-21 | page = A01 | accessdate = 2006-07-20 ] Police said, "information from an outside source" indicated that Merrill had bought a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun within a week of his disappearance. [ cite news | title = Merrill Suicide Confirmed; New Details of Case Released | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/23/AR2006062301452.html | last = Williamson | first = Elizabeth | publisher = The Washington Post | page = B5 | date = 2006-06-24 | accessdate = 2006-07-20 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/23/AR2006062300756.html Medical examiner rules Merrill's death a suicide]
* [http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/merrill/merrill.php Merrill's biography at Right-Web]
* [http://www.journalism.umd.edu/newrel/merrill1.html Merrill's biography at UMCP]
* [http://dcpages.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Philip-Merrill-Memorial-Service Philip Merrill Memorial Service]
* [http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/06/11/missing.boater.ap/ CNN story on Merrill's disappearance]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/business/media/14merrill.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "New York Times" "Philip Merrill, 72, Publisher and Ex-Diplomat, Is Dead" June 14 2006]
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-merrill16jun16,1,6895460.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california Philip Merrill, 72; Philanthropist Made a Fortune From Media Holdings and Was a NATO Diplomat]
* [http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/article.asp?article=1410&paper=1&cat=139 Philanthropy, Philip Merrill, RIP]