Frank Roger Seaver (April 12, 1883 [1]–30 October 1964) was an American lawyer, Naval officer, oil executive, and philanthropist. [2] [3]
He grew up in Claremont, California, graduating from Pomona College in 1905, [2] where he managed the football team and served as the first president of the Associated Students of Pomona College. [4] He then attended Harvard Law School [5] and practiced law in Los Angeles, and helped draft the first charter of Los Angeles County. [2] He served in the Navy during World War I and helped establish the California Naval Militia. [2]
He met Edward L. Doheny on a weekend yachting trip in 1919, who hired him to work for his oil enterprise. [2] He became General Counsel and Managing General Agent for Doheny's operations in Mexico from 1921 to 1927, and convinced the Mexican government to hire him for an ambitious road paving project. [2]
He later founded the Hydril Company, a producer of oil drilling equipment. [2] He and his wife, Blanche, were a major contributor to Pomona, [6] where they served as trustees, and where the Seaver Science Center is named after him and several other buildings are named after his family. [7] [8] They were also the principal benefactors of the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University, which named its College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences after him, [9] [10] and donated portions of their $10.1 million estate (equivalent to $99.2 million in 2023) to other institutions. [11] [12]
Frank Roger Seaver (April 12, 1883 [1]–30 October 1964) was an American lawyer, Naval officer, oil executive, and philanthropist. [2] [3]
He grew up in Claremont, California, graduating from Pomona College in 1905, [2] where he managed the football team and served as the first president of the Associated Students of Pomona College. [4] He then attended Harvard Law School [5] and practiced law in Los Angeles, and helped draft the first charter of Los Angeles County. [2] He served in the Navy during World War I and helped establish the California Naval Militia. [2]
He met Edward L. Doheny on a weekend yachting trip in 1919, who hired him to work for his oil enterprise. [2] He became General Counsel and Managing General Agent for Doheny's operations in Mexico from 1921 to 1927, and convinced the Mexican government to hire him for an ambitious road paving project. [2]
He later founded the Hydril Company, a producer of oil drilling equipment. [2] He and his wife, Blanche, were a major contributor to Pomona, [6] where they served as trustees, and where the Seaver Science Center is named after him and several other buildings are named after his family. [7] [8] They were also the principal benefactors of the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University, which named its College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences after him, [9] [10] and donated portions of their $10.1 million estate (equivalent to $99.2 million in 2023) to other institutions. [11] [12]