Pepperdine mourns longtime fundraiser Lou Drobnick, 95
The retired senior vice chancellor led Malibu civic groups and helped push Caltrans to rebuild the Malibu Lagoon bridge in 30 days after the 1994 quake.
By Hans Laetz
Pepperdine University is mourning the death of a retired senior vice chancellor.
Lou Drobnick was the longtime president of the Malibu Optimists Club and also a president of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce. Drobnick had worked for Pepperdine for more than 40 years as a fundraiser.
The university says he was instrumental in several major fundraising campaigns at Pepperdine, securing major gifts such as the Daniel and Luciana Forge gift and the Gulls Way gift that funded the creation of the Drescher campus.
After the 1994 Northridge earthquake knocked out the PCH bridge across Malibu Lagoon, Drobnick led a group of Malibu small business owners to Sacramento. They convinced the governor to push Caltrans to rebuild the bridge in just 30 days.
He was also instrumental in establishing a high school in Malibu, when Malibu High School opened in 1992 with its first graduating class in 1996.
Lou Drobnick was 95 years old.