A native of Philadelphia, Peter McCausland graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1971, earning a bachelor’s degree in history. He graduated, cum laude, from Boston University School of Law in 1974. Peter, a retired businessman, met his wife on Nantucket in 1972. They married in 1973 and have two children, Christopher and Elizabeth, and seven grand children. In 2009, Peter and Bonnie purchased Erdenheim Farm outside of Philadelphia to save it from development.
After graduation, Peter practiced law for two years with a law firm in Philadelphia and for five years as general counsel of an industrial gas company, before he started his own firm, McCausland, Keen, and Buckman, in 1982. In that year he also acquired a small industrial and medical gas company in Connecticut which would eventually become the public company, Airgas Inc., the fifth largest industrial, medical, and specialty gas company in the world.
As chairman and chief executive officer, Peter led the successful defense of Airgas and its shareholders against the longest hostile takeover attempt in history, 2009-2011. That defense, the subject of many law school and business school case studies and featured in a recently published book, Merger Masters, is generally thought to be responsible for the decline in hostile takeover attempts in recent years. In response to a second hostile approach, Airgas was sold in 2016 to the French company, Air Liquide. Airgas returned 19 percent per year, compounded, to its shareholders, since its initial public offering in December of 1986.
Since purchasing it in 2009, Peter and Bonnie have been operating and actively restoring Erdenheim Farm. This historic Pennsylvania country estate and working farm dates back to the 1680s, when it was owned by William Penn, founder of the colony that would become the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Since its inception, the farm has been in continuous agricultural use. Covering about 475 acres, Erdenheim Farm is home to roughly 550 animals including: cattle, sheep, donkeys, goats, chickens, and horses. In addition to producing beef, lamb, eggs, honey, fruit, and produce sold to local consumers and restaurants, Erdenheim Farm also raises Thoroughbred racing horses. The property’s development included work by architect Horace Trumbauer and landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers and Jacques Greber. During their nearly 16 years of owning Erdenheim Farm, they have also restored or renovated almost all of the 50 buildings at the farm as well as applied for an historic district designation for Erdenheim.
The McCauslands’ generous gifts to the university, both personally and through the McCausland Foundation, established the McCausland Brain Imaging Center and the McCausland Faculty Fellowship, creating numerous opportunities for faculty and students, while supporting innovation and scholastic development. The McCausland Brain Imaging Center provides state-of-the-art-technology to perform high-resolution brain imaging studies. The McCausland Faculty Fellowship program enhances the student experience and the careers of faculty as the premier faculty fellowship program in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Peter previously served on former University President John Palms’ advisory council and currently serves on the university’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Board of Visitors. The McCausland Foundation focuses on education, especially for vulnerable youth, medical research and conservation.
Peter has served on numerous non-profits boards over the years, including, the Fox Chase Cancer Center, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Independence Seaport Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Morris Arboretum, Springside School, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, and the Nantucket Land Council. Peter also served on the boards of public companies, including Hercules, NiSource and Valspar.