Linda and Mitch Hart

Hart Center Announcement - From left to right are R. Gerald Turner, SMU President; Bobby B. Lyle, SMU trustee and engineering school namesake; Karen Shuford, philanthropist and Lyle School Executive Board member; Mitch Hart, chairman of Hart Group, Inc.; Linda Hart, chairman of Imation Corp.; Art De Geus, chairman and CEO of Silicon Valley company Synopsis and Geoffrey Orsak, dean of the SMU's Lyle School of EngineeringLinda and Mitch Hart are longtime, generous supporters of advancing education, leadership and entrepreneurship at SMU.

Linda Hart, a graduate of the SMU School of Law, is Vice Chairman, President and CEO of Hart Group, Inc. and former Chairman of Imation Corp. Ms. Hart is a Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., is Past Chairman of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Association and also has been an active leader in the Dallas Citizens Council, Dallas Opera, International Women’s Forum – Dallas, the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Texas National Research Laboratory Commission, the International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation and the Dallas Women’s Foundation. Ms. Hart is former Chairman and current ex officio member of the Legal Advisory Committee to the New York Stock Exchange and serves on a variety of corporate and civic boards, including Executive Boards of SMU’s Dedman School of Law and Cox School of Business.

Mitch Hart, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and is SMU Trustee emeritus. He serves on SMU’s Lyle School Executive Board and on the DEA Standing Committee for the SMU Board of Trustees. In 2017, Mr. Hart received the USNA’s Distinguished Graduate Award, the highest honor given by the Naval Academy to its graduates. He is Chairman of Hart Group, Inc., founding Director and former Chairman of Episcopal School of Dallas, and a former Trustee and Trustee emeritus of Duke University. In 1985, he endowed the Hart Leadership Program at Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, and he and Ms. Hart served on the Institute’s Board. A member of World Presidents’ Organization, Chief Executives Organization and the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, he has served on numerous business and civic boards. He also served on SMU’s Second Century Campaign’s Leadership Council and the Lyle School of Engineering’s Campaign Steering Committee. He was Co-chair of the SMU Dedman College Capital Campaign Committee during SMU’s Time to Lead Campaign from 1997-2002.