Southern Methodist University

SMU’S Benefits to Dallas

  • With an enrollment of nearly 11,000 students and a faculty and staff of more than 2,000, SMU is a major contributor to the Dallas economy. New facilities constructed in the past 10 years involve the expenditure of nearly $500 million and contract opportunities for approximately 3,500 design firms, contractors, and suppliers, most in the Dallas area.
     
  • SMU’s 2007-08 operating budget is $412.1 million. Expenditures on salaries and benefits of SMU employees in 2006-07 totaled $195.9 million.
     
  • Nearly 40,000 SMU alumni live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and provide a large proportion of the area’s business and professional leadership.
     
  • SMU sponsors about 400 community events annually, ranging from concerts and theatre performances to lectures and symposia.
     
  • Each year several thousand Dallas area citizens take advantage of SMU’s non-credit and credit courses for adults and young people.
     
  • Faculty research in a wide variety of disciplines adds intellectual capital to the assets of Dallas and makes a direct impact on society. Special research centers and institutes include the Family Research Center, Institute for Reading Research, Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.
     
  • More than 2,500 SMU student volunteers serve the community annually through approximately 70 nonprofit agencies.
     
  • SMU's Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series, featuring national and world leaders, attracts sold-out crowds of 2,500 for each of eight lectures annually.
     
  • The Tate Lecture Series Afternoon Forums and the Hart Global Leaders Forums at SMU attract approximately 4,000 students from area schools annually.
     
  • The Meadows Museum at SMU, housing one of the finest collections of Spanish art outside of Spain, attracts nearly 70,000 visitors annually. More than 10,000 of them are schoolchildren participating in museum tours and other educational programs.
     
  • SMU’s athletic events attract fans to Division I competitions in football, basketball, swimming and other sports. SMU provides more than 10,000 football and basketball tickets for children in the Dallas Independent School District and community youth groups each year.

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