Contact: Patti LaSalle
SMU Public Affairs
(214) 768-7660

 

April 19, 2002

THE CAMPAIGN FOR SMU: ACADEMIC BENEFITS

See below for links to related materials.

The campaign is enriching the quality of academic programs throughout the university. Campaign commitments have resulted in 16 new academic positions, 80 new endowments for academic programs, 171 new student scholarships and awards, and 14 new or renovated facilities, most of which serve academic purposes. Highlights follow:

Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

  • The Dedman Life Sciences Building, dedicated in December 2001, provides technologically advanced facilities for SMU's biological sciences and pre-medical studies programs. The facilities support collaborations with UT Southwestern Medical Center and will advance Dallas as a center for the health sciences.
  • The William P. Clements Department of History and the Clements Center for Southwest Studies offer a Ph.D. in history with an emphasis on the American Southwest and support research, publishing and teaching related to the Southwest.
  • The John G. Tower Center for Political Studies, founded in 1992, received additional endowment through the campaign. It supports teaching and research in international and domestic politics with emphasis on global studies and national security policy.
  • The new Graduate Institute for Reading Research will be headed by a director/faculty chairholder who will administer SMU's Head Start Preschool Initiative, conduct research on the reading progress of English-speaking and non- English-speaking children, and direct activities of the institute.
  • New Dedman College faculty chairs include the Texas Instruments Chair in Reading (and reading institute director), Nate and Ann Levine Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair in International Politics and National Security, Geurin-Pettus Distinguished Chair in American Politics and Political Economy, Jacob and Frances Mossiker Endowed Chair, Kenneth Pye Trustee Professorship in History and Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Chair in Humanities.

Meadows School of the Arts

  • The new Meadows Museum, which opened in March 2001, doubles the exhibition space for the permanent collection and allows greatly expanded educational and public programming. The Meadows Collection is one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain.
  • SMU's Journalism Division is enhanced by the new Belo Distinguished Chair in Journalism and a new digital newsroom and television studio, to open this fall. These developments strengthen ties with the area's communications industry.
  • The new Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research will enhance advertising education at SMU and expand the program's ties with the Dallas-Fort Worth advertising industry, one of the top 10 in the nation. The new Stan Richards Creative Chair will strengthen the advertising faculty.
  • Future renovations of the Owen Arts Center will provide new facilities for dance and visual arts.

Edwin L. Cox School of Business

  • The new James M. Collins Executive Education Center will provide state-of-the-art teaching and conference facilities for Cox's internationally ranked Executive M.B.A. program and the school's Division of Executive and Management Development. Construction will begin in 2003.
  • The new JC Penney Center for Retail Excellence focuses on the effects of retailer activities on consumer shopping behavior and fosters improvements in the industry.
  • The American Airlines Global Leadership Program gives first-year M.B.A. students a global perspective through short-term study in Latin America, Asia or Europe.
  • The Business Information Center in Cox School of Business has been enhanced by an endowment to support collections and electronic media.
  • Several new and renovated business classrooms and research facilities were funded by campaign gifts.
  • New endowed chairs in the Cox School of Business are the Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership, Charles Wyly Professorship of Management Information Sciences and Phyllis Gough Huffington Chair in Finance.

School of Engineering

  • The Jerry R. Junkins Electrical Engineering Building, now under construction, is scheduled to open in August 2002. The building will provide the Electrical Engineering Department with new facilities for research and instruction. It will enable the department to expand and update its digital signal processing, optoelectronics, microelectronics and biomedical research labs and add a new lab for wireless communications and networking.
  • The new Junkins Building will help the School of Engineering attract high-quality students and will enhance the school's ability to educate engineers and technology leaders needed by area industries.
  • The campaign provided momentum for the development of three new master's degree programs in civil and environmental engineering.
  • The campaign helped the School of Engineering attract several new faculty members and a new dean, who is revitalizing the school.

Dedman School of Law

  • Dedman School of Law was named in 2001 after the school received a major endowment gift from law school alumnus Robert H. Dedman Sr. and his family. The new endowment will help the school continue to advance academically and expand its services to the business and legal communities through conferences and symposia.
  • Several law classrooms received technology upgrades and renovations through campaign gifts. Other new facilities include two courtrooms and a lecture hall.
  • Underwood Law Library received funding from the Hillcrest Foundation for technology improvements. Underwood, the largest private university law library in the Southwest, serves both the law school and the legal community.
  • The W.W. Caruth Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic will address child abuse issues. It joins SMU's legal clinics in civil, criminal and tax law, all of which serve the community.
  • The Sohmen Chinese Scholars Program in the law school will expand the school's global outreach through post-graduate study opportunities for lawyers from China.
  • New endowed chairs in Dedman School of Law are the Alan D. Feld Professorship in Law, Homer R. Mitchell Professorship in Commercial and Insurance Law and M.D. Anderson Foundation Endowed Professorship in Health Law.

Perkins School of Theology

  • The renovation of Perkins Chapel provides a more interactive teaching environment, including video facilities, and allows a wider variety of worship models for use by students preparing for church ministries. The renovation also enhances the chapel's use for campus and community worship services and other uses such as weddings.
  • Bridwell Library of Perkins School of Theology received additional endowment through the campaign. A major theology research library, Bridwell houses one of the nation's finest rare book collections of early printing.
  • A collection of rare Bibles given to Bridwell Library by Elizabeth Perkins Prothro of Wichita Falls enhances the library's holdings as a repository of one of the world's finest collections of Bibles.
  • The Charles and Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Endowed Scholarship Fund serves as a challenge grant in raising additional gifts from throughout the United Methodist Church's South Central Jurisdiction for scholarships in Perkins School of Theology.

Multidisciplinary Programs/Facilities

  • SMU-in-Legacy, which opened in July 1997 in Plano, has expanded its adult education programs with a diverse selection of noncredit and credit courses, including the internationally ranked M.B.A. program of Cox School of Business. The Geoscience and Energy Research Lab at Legacy serves as an incubator for small oil and gas companies, providing them with space and giving SMU geology students opportunities to work with these start-up companies.
  • The new Fondren Library Center joined the central university library and the science and engineering library, which together are SMU's largest libraries and a major reference center for North Texas. The Laura Bush Promenade, provided by President Bush in honor of the First Lady, an SMU graduate, flanks the center's entrances.
  • The Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility supports teaching and research in ethics at SMU. It also engages academic and community leaders in ongoing dialogue and conferences on ethical issues facing the city and nation.
  • The Linda and Mitch Hart eCenter, established in 2000, fosters cross-disciplinary activities related to the development and use of interactive network technologies such as the Internet, wireless networks and mobile computing. The Linda Wertheimer Hart Director administers activities of the eCenter.

Academic Support Programs

  • The Stella Porter Russell Endowment Fund for Faculty Salaries recognizes the importance of dedicated teachers by providing salary supplements for full-time faculty members.
  • Several new research funds support faculty research in diverse academic disciplines.
  • A campaign gift is financing four awards annually to University Distinguished Teaching Professors, who become members of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

The Campaign for SMU: Related Materials

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