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Pepperdine University Mourns Passing of Long-time Benefactor Virginia Braun

Virginia B. (Ginie) Braun, long-time friend and benefactor of Pepperdine University, passed away in Pasadena on March 19 after a brief illness. She was 93. 

Mrs. Braun joined the Pepperdine University Board in 1983. She was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Pepperdine in 1985 and was named to the University’s Board of Regents in 1995. The wife of Henry A. Braun of Pasadena, she contributed generously through the Carl F. Braun Family Trust to Pepperdine, especially its School of Public Policy. The Henry A. and Virginia B. Braun Center for Public Policy was dedicated in 2003 on the University’s Drescher Graduate Campus.

After Pepperdine officially opened its Malibu campus in 1972, the Braun family also helped fund the University’s Thornton Administrative Center, built in the early 1980s as part of the University’s Wave of Excellence campaign. The building opened in 1986. The family also supported the arts and sciences at Pepperdine through major gifts and recently provided funds to create the Charles B. Runnels Sports and Recreation Village on campus in honor of Pepperdine’s chancellor emeritus.

Mrs. Braun was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1917 and attended Briarcliff College in New York and Garland College in Boston. She was known regionally and nationally for her active volunteerism and involvement in civic, cultural, and educational enterprises. She was the founder and past president of the Republican Women Federated and held leadership positions on the Republican Finance Committee. She also attended many national conventions as a delegate on the State Republican Central Committee.

She will be remembered for her tireless energy and enthusiasm as she served and held leadership positions with numerous nonprofit organizations including the Braille Institute, Child Guidance Clinic, Doheny Eye Clinic, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Pasadena Guild of Children’s Hospital, and the United Way.

“Ginie radiated life,” said Pepperdine president Andrew K. Benton. “She inspired us with her optimism, her faith in God, and her faith in the enduring grace of the human spirit. She will long be remembered by Pepperdine as a shining role model as we endeavor to live up to her ideals and values. She will be missed greatly.”

Mrs. Braun is survived by four children – Barbera, Michael, Spike and Cindy; five grandchildren – Jennifer, Heather, Bro, Kern and Kyle and seven great-grandchildren – Zane, Durham, Hayden, Rainey, Simms, Barrett and Garrett. 

Flags were lowered on the Malibu campus March 21 in her memory.