Peter W. Mullin Endowed Scholarship for Transportation Design
The Peter W. Mullin Endowed Scholarship was established in 2005 by ArtCenter Trustees Peter and Merle Mullin to support undergraduate Transportation Design students with demonstrated need and academic merit.
Southern California philanthropists and classic car enthusiasts Peter and Merle Mullin have had a long-lasting and deeply impactful relationship with ArtCenter. In addition to their guidance and service on the Board of Trustees, in 2013, the couple donated $15 million to ArtCenter—the largest single gift in the College’s history, to establish the Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery and Mullin Transportation Design Center (MTDC).
“We are grateful to Peter and Merle for their support of the College and for their vision in bringing this gallery to life,” said then ArtCenter President Dr. Lorne Buchman. “The gallery is going to be an exquisite and inviting space that symbolizes so much of what ArtCenter is about—not only with strong roots in the history of transportation design but with future exhibits that represent all the disciplines we teach.”
“Our relationship with ArtCenter has been incredibly fulfilling and we’re honored to support new exhibition and academic spaces, as well as an endowed scholarship,” said Peter Mullin, who has been a member of ArtCenter’s Board of Trustees since 2011. “We view our relationship with the College as a natural extension of our passion for vintage automobiles and it is our hope that we can inspire the artists and designers of the future.”
Merle Mullin, Philanthropist and Director, Mullin Automotive Museum
Merle Mullin enjoys showing, driving and racing Vintage cars along with her husband Peter. She is a co-founder/co-organizer of a biennial vintage car rally for women only. It’s all about the Girls! is an exciting, much publicized event in which 60 women from 14 countries drive 30 collectible (and fast!) vintage cars, in beautiful, rural locations in the world. In addition to female camaraderie, this rally has successfully raised a great deal of money for important, not-for-profit causes. Mrs. Mullin is a graduate of UCLA, with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. She has enjoyed a lengthy career as an expressionistic figurative painter, having shown her work in many venues, including the Newport Harbor Art Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Mrs. Mullin has a lifelong passion for Italy. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Trust of Italy (Fondo Ambiente Italiano), whose objective is to preserve and restore important historical monuments, gardens, Palazzi and works of art in Italy. During 15 years of part-time residency in Umbria, Italy, the Mullins raised bees, from which they made artisanal lavender and sage honey. They also produced excellent organic olive oil and prosciutto from their own rare, black Cinta Senese pigs. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and is particularly interested in the more remote regions of the world, such as Myanmar, Borneo and Papua New Guinea, where she wrote and co-produced a documentary film for PBS, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: The Women of Papua, New Guinea.
Mrs. Mullin serves as a director of the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, a museum of vintage French Automobiles and Art Deco Objects d’Art founded by her husband.
She also currently serves on the Executive Board of The Blue Ribbon, the support group of the Music Center of Los Angeles, where she is very involved with the performance arts, classical music and the Children’s Festival of Music. Mrs. Mullin is on the Board of Visitors of the University of California at Davis School of Viticulture and Enology, one of the most notable wine schools in the world and sits on the Council of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
Peter W. Mullin, Chairman Emeritus, MullinTBG
Peter Mullin is chairman emeritus of MullinTBG, the nation’s largest independent executive benefits services and solutions provider. Prior to the formation of MullinTBG in 2006, Mullin served as chairman of Mullin Consulting, Inc., a leading non-qualified benefits firm he founded in Los Angeles in 1969. He is also co-founder and Chairman of the Board of M Financial Holdings Incorporated (M Financial), a network of independent firms serves the financial and life insurance needs of corporations, executives and affluent individuals. Mullin is also a member of numerous M Financial Board and governance committees. MullinTBG is the largest member of M Financial Group. Mullin has consulted on executive compensation and benefit issues for more than 30 years for public and privately held firms across a variety of industries, including many Fortune 500 companies. He has authored numerous articles on executive compensation and benefit planning. In addition to serving on the ArtCenter Board of Trustees since 2011, Mullin serves on the Guggenheim Foundation Advisory Board; Occidental College, St. John’s Hospital and The UCLA Foundation Boards of Trustees. He is chairman of The Music Center Foundation of Los Angeles, as well as past chairman and current member of the Board of Visitors of the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and chairman of the Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation. He is also president of the American Bugatti Club.
Mullin earned his BA in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In his spare time, he makes wine, olive oil, honey and raises black pigs at his home in Umbria, Italy, and competes in vintage racing events.
Together, the Mullins have created Mullin Plaza and Mullin Gardens at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California of which it has been said, “The Mullins’ passion for creating beauty and preserving historical designs for future generations has inspired them to create these important gardens and plaza as an integral part of St. John’s healing process.” At Occidental College, the Mullins, along with the noted landscape designer Art Luna, have re-envisioned the once beautiful entry garden. The Mullin Gardens now offer a soothing respite, a place of reflection and renewal for students and professors alike. They are Fellows of the Huntington Library and Gardens, in San Marino, California, where Mr. Mullin is Trustee Emeritus. The Mullins are co-owners of Ram’s Gate Winery, Sonoma, California, selected in 2017 as the Best Winery in California by Wine Connoisseur. Their Hyde Vineyard 2013 Chardonnay has also recently been selected by Wine Connoisseur as the number one white wine in California.