User talk:Somuhlir

Somuhlir (talk) 00:36, 15 July 2014 (UTC) Architect John O. Merrill Jr., FAIA, the son of the founder of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Life John Merrill was born in Evanston, Illinois and moved St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of 3. At 16, he graduated from St. Paul Central High School and entered the University of Wisconsin. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, at age 19, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp as an Aviation Cadet and flew B-25 aircraft and B-26 Marauder aircraft in WWII. While leading a dangerous three-ship mission near the Rhine River in Germany, his bomber was hit by enemy flak and shot down. He and his crew bailed out and landed in the town of Andernach. He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner until liberated by General Patton in April 1945. He served in the Reserves until 1954 as a Captain and received many awards for service including the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and three Clusters. In 2011, the German Consul-General held a reception to honor Merrill for his role in liberating the town of Andernach.

Career Merrill was the Partner in Charge of many of SOM’s widely regarded design projects and worked directly with Laurence Rockefeller who commissioned the firm to design the Mauna Kea hotel in Hawaii. He oversaw dozens of recognizable Bay Area and Pacific Northwest projects including Crown Zellerbach; the Crocker Galleria; the Alcoa Building; the Oakland Stadium and Coliseum; the 52-story Bank of America building; Davies Symphony Hall; and the Weyerhauser corporate headquarters in Tacoma, WA. Lou Wasserman was a client as were Walter Shorenstein, Stephen Bechtel Jr, Cyril Magnin, San Francisco Mayors George Christopher and Joe Alioto as well as Baron Lambert in Brussels.

He was elected a Partner in the firm in 1957 and served as a senior Managing Partner of the firm until his retirement in 1989. In addition to his important contribution to the firm’s West Coast practice, he worked internationally in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia, Russia and France among many countries. Along the way he was elevated to the level of Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, of which he served as President of the San Francisco chapter in 1976.

Professional Affiliations His influence reached far beyond the firm. In fact, he was instrumental in achieving AIA San Francisco’s Affirmative Action Plan for Women in Architecture. And he was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Art Institute when that 75-year old, 800-student institution was near collapse due to student unrest and financial problems in the early 1970’s. Merrill instituted student and faculty reforms as well as fundraising efforts that saved this cultural asset.

Merrill was a Director of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the Bay Area Council, the Planning and Urban Institute and he was a Trustee of the Mount Tamalpais School. He was on the visiting committee of his alma mater, MIT, where he had earned a bachelors degree in Architecture. Merrill was an avid bay and ocean sailor and a past Rear Commodore of the St. Francis Yacht Club. He enjoyed racing with his sons John III and Charlie and completed the storied Transpacific yacht race in 1979. Frequently John could be found holding court on Friday evenings at the San Francisco Yacht Club, regaling members with his witty and adventurous stories.

General Facts Born: Evanston, IL Enlisted in the Army Air Corp as an Aviation Cadet: 1942 at age 19 Joined SOM SF: 1949 Helped establish SOM Portland: 1952 Associate: 1953 Associate Partner: 1954 Elected Partner: 1957 Retired: 1989

Wife: Elizabeth Children: John O.Merrill III, Alison Doughty, Jennifer Martin, Lindsey Kauffman, Charles Merrill, Katherine Alvarez (from his first marriage to Margaret Feld) and Ross Batt Education: U of WI, U of MN, MIT Resident: Tiburon, CA