Photo courtesy of Chaminade University of Honolulu
From left, Chaminade Board of Regent chairman Adm. (Ret.) R.J. “Zap” Zlatoper, USN; university president Sue Wesselkamper, and Jesuit Father Donald P. Merrifield.
By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Chaminade University of Honolulu awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, to Jesuit Father Donald P. Merrifield, a long and distinguished leader in Catholic higher education, at its winter commencement, Dec. 19, in the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena.
Father Merrifield was president of Loyola Marymount University for 15 years and its chancellor for an additional 18 years, before he retired from education to come to Hawaii to do parish work and other ministries. He is an advisor to Chaminade and a member of its board of regents.
Father Merrifield received a bachelor’s of science in physics from the California Institute of Technology before joining the Jesuits. He also has several advanced degrees including a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He taught physics at Loyola University and at the University of San Francisco from 1961 to 1969. He was also a consultant in theoretical chemistry at Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and a lecturer in the engineering school at the University of Santa Clara.
After being named president of Loyola in 1969, he guided the university through many developments, playing a significant role in the university’s merger with Marymount College. In 1984, Father Merrifield stepped down as president and was appointed chancellor.
He retired from Loyola Marymount in 2002 and moved to the Jesuit community in Hawaii where he has done parish work, served the Hispanic community, visited prisons and ministered to Honolulu’s homeless.
More than 350 students received degrees at the graduation ceremony. Judge Thomas K. Kaulukukui Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the Queen Liliuokalani Trust, was the guest speaker.