Art Center College gets $15 million from auto enthusiast Mullin
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena has received the largest donation in its 83-year history: $15 million from businessman and car collector Peter Mullin and his wife, Merle, to boost the school’s noted auto design programs and other studies.
The donation will help, among other things, fund an industrial and transportation design center to be built at the school’s new south campus near the northern terminus of the Arroyo Seco Parkway in Pasadena, according to an announcement Tuesday. The college’s main campus is in the hills above the Rose Bowl area.
Peter Mullin, who has been a leader at insurance and executive-benefits companies, is chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum in the mid-Wilshire district and has his own auto museum in Oxnard. In a statement, he described the donation to Art Center as a way to give thanks to the Los Angeles area for providing him “with great opportunity.”
As Art Center expands on its more southerly campus in coming years, the Mullins’ gift will help create studios and workshops for undergraduate and graduate students in environmental, product and transportation design programs, officials said. In all, the school enrolls about 2,000 students.
“Their gift will make a transformational impact at the college for generations to come,” said Art Center president Lorne M. Buchman.
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Twitter: @larrygordonlat
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