William Francis Murdoch Jr. ’52

Oh, we have lost one of our best. Bill came from Pittsburgh’s Bethel Park High School and majored at SPIA. He joined Cottage and ROTC, where he was named Distinguished Military Student. He also rowed crew and was in Triangle and the Orange Key Freshman Committee. He roomed with Cameron Thompson, Art Collins, and Al Ellis.

After service in the Army Artillery, Bill earned an MBA at Harvard in 1956 and worked in the family business — a Chevrolet dealership — while developing a shopping center and managing family real-estate interests. In 1961 he went to Booz Allen, then to the Rouse Co., and in 1974 to Merrill Lynch Hubbard (later HRE Properties), where he was president and CEO. He was president of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, director of Rockefeller Center Properties, and trustee of MGI Properties.

Bill’s service to the class was noteworthy. Our president and long a member of the executive committee, he with his spouse, Mary, hosted numbers of classmates at their home in Princeton.

He died July 30, 2018. Bill is survived by Mary h’52 and their children, Molly, Elizabeth, Timothy ’84, and Kate. The class joins them in grief, with thanks for Bill’s service to our country and to the class.