M.C. Gill Provides USC School of Engineering $7 Million Gift

El Monte, California – 29 October 2001 – The Merwyn C. Gill Foundation announced a $7 million gift to The University of Southern California to support the USC School of Engineering’s Center for Composite Materials. Mr. Gill (universally known as “M. C.”) is the CEO of M. C. Gill Corporation, and at age 91 continues to oversee daily operations of the business. The M. C. Gill family of companies includes several subsidiary businesses including operations in the United Kingdom and France.

The Gill Foundation grant will award $5 million to USC to endow a composites center and continue to provide an additional $250,000 per year for operating support for eight years. In recognition of the gift, the center will be renamed the Merwyn C. Gill Foundation Composites Center. M. C. is also on the USC School of Engineering’s board of councilors M. C. Gill was born in northwestern Iowa and studied briefly at the University of Minnesota before graduating from USC in 1937. He began experimenting with commercial applications of plastics in the 1940s and was a pioneer in the use of these materials in aerospace. His company continues to be a world leader in providing advanced composite materials for aircraft and other applications. Under his guidance there has been a continuing emphasis on research and development, to continually improve existing products while searching for the breakthroughs that will lead to the next generation of composites.

Company leadership in ballistic laminates used in aircraft has drawn a great deal of interest recently with the renewed stress on travel safety. Long-time Pasadena resident and USC alumnus M. C. Gill says, “I am pleased to give the USC School of Engineering a push in playing a bigger role in composite materials research and education. The use of composites can only continue to grow as new applications are created and improved materials continue to be developed.”