(March 5, 1925 – October 24, 2016) As a long time businessman & philanthropist in the Portland area, Harry Merlo has had a hand in the local sports world on high school, collegiate, and professional levels.

With specific ties to tennis & soccer, he’s provided key infrastructure and financial support that have kept our athletes training & competing at elite levels.

In the early eighties, Merlo had the unique opportunity to sponsor an initiative to bring the Davis Cup to the Rose City. He jumped at the chance, and the world’s largest annual international team competition chose Portland to host two semifinal rounds in 1981 & 1984, boosting our local economic development and employment by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Not only has he had financial impact in the sports world, but Merlo also directed the effort behind drafting the first United States Tennis Association Code of Conduct, which has been in effect to ensure appropriate sportsmanship since 1985.

His other significant donations include beneficiaries like the USTA, Portland Timbers, the University of Portland, Jesuit High School, and many other organizations through his own enterprise: the Merlo Foundation.

Merlo spent more than two decades as the CEO of Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, after which he has since focused on multiple other projects and business ventures. He still lives in the Portland area.