Melva Bucksbaum, who helped establish Drake University's largest and most well-known lecture series, died Sunday at her home in Aspen, Colo., of bladder cancer.
Melva Bucksbaum, who helped establish Drake University’s largest and most well-known lecture series, died Sunday at her home in Aspen, Colo., of bladder cancer. She was 82. Melva and her husband, Martin, chairman of General Growth, established the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series, according to a news release from Drake. Recently, the family donated money to fortify the university’s Executive Education Center’s status as the region’s leading option for professional development and to add a lecture series focused on business and entrepreneurship. Melva Bucksbaum also was known internationally for her passion for contemporary art. She served as a trustee of New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art; served on the governing boards of the Jewish Museum and the Drawing Center, both in New York; and served on the board of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., where she grew up.
