Frank Seaver
American oil executive and philanthropist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Roger Seaver (April 12, 1883 – October 30, 1964) was an American lawyer, Naval officer, oil executive, and philanthropist.
April 12, 1883
Oil executive
Philanthropist
Frank Seaver | |
|---|---|
Seaver and his wife, Blanche, in the 1950s | |
| Born | Frank Roger Seaver April 12, 1883 San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1964 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Pomona College |
| Occupations | Businessman Oil executive Philanthropist |
| Years active | 1919–1964 |
Early life
Frank Seaver was born April 12, 1883, in San Jose, California.[1] 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.[3] He later attended Harvard Law School[4] 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]
Career
Seaver 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 bought the Doheny-Stone Drill Company from Doheny in 1928.
In 1933, Seaver later renamed the drill company, the Hydril Company, a producer of oil drilling equipment.[2] The company's hydraulic blowout preventer was so durable that the elder Seaver later elected to lease it to customers, rather than sell it to them outright.[5]
Seaver ran the company until his death on October 30, 1964, in [1] The Hydril Company was later headed by his nephew, Richard C. Seaver.[5][6]
Philanthropy
Seaver and his wife, Blanche, were a major contributor to Pomona College,[5][7] where they served as trustees, and where the Seaver Science Center is named after him and several other buildings are named after his family.[8][9] They were also the principal benefactors of the Malibu campus of Pepperdine University, which named its College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences after him,[10][11] and donated portions of their $10.1 million estate (equivalent to $105 million in 2025) to other institutions.[12][13]