2023 J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award

 

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The Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility

is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2023


Peter S. Brodsky

Tuesday, March 21, 2023
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Arts District Mansion
2101 Ross Ave, Dallas, TX 75201

 

Presenting Sponsors

  Nancy Ann & Ray L. Hunt  

Problem-solver. Challenge-Acceptor. Risk-taker. Leader.

 

Peter Brodsky’s name is synonymous with innovative servant leadership in the City of Dallas. Colleagues and friends alike agree that his intellect, compassion, and ingenuity have changed the archetype of the modern-day civic leader. Peter’s passion for public service and bettering our community is multifaceted and includes impactful work in education, homelessness, social services, and thoughtful urban development. He serves as the Board Chair of Housing Forward (formerly Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance), the lead agency of Dallas and Collin Counties’ homeless response system. He is a board member and long-time volunteer for KIPP Texas Public Schools, a network of 59 public charter schools with nearly 34,000 PreK-12 students in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. From 2016-2020, Peter chaired the Dallas Animal Advisory Commission, where he explored root causes of and solutions for Dallas’ stray dog crisis, a critical social issue that further highlighted the need for affordable services for underserved Dallas residents. He serves on the Trinity Park Conservancy Board, the President’s Advisory Board of UT Southwestern, is a member of the Dallas Assembly and has formerly served on numerous boards and committees including North Texas Public Broadcasting, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Vogel Alcove, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

 

Eight years ago, Peter, along with his wife Lael, purchased the former Red Bird Mall and promised to turn it into one of the largest mixed-use commercial developments in southern Dallas. Though the $200 million development is not yet complete, Peter’s work has already spurred vast economic growth in southern Dallas through 1,500 new jobs in offices, shops, medical facilities, and restaurants.

 

Peter spent the first 20 years of his career in private equity. Over the course of his career, he was responsible for deploying or managing over $2.6 billion of equity investments, primarily at Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, and its successor firm, HM Capital Partners.

 

25 Years of the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award

 

 

 

For 25 years, SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility has endeavored to recognize extraordinary men and women of Dallas whose deeds and character are exemplary and whose service to our community is exceptional. They look beyond what they need and see greatness in the potential of others and know that goodness is the only investment that never fails. With enterprising spirits and unbound resilience, they give life to our city by looking for and championing the good. Recipients of the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award make Dallas what it is: a global gateway with limitless possibilities.

 


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2023 J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award
Host Committee

Ashlee and Chris Kleinert, Host Committee Co-Chairs

Ralph W. Babb, Jr.

Lindsay & George Billingsley

Jan Hart Black

Marla & Michael M. Boone

Talmage Boston

Jill Louis & Randy Bowman

Stacey and David Brodsky

Rebecca & Ken Bruder

Bryan & Stephanie Carter

Nita & Cullum Clark

Kimberley Elting & Stewart Cohen

Linda Pitts Custard

Effie & Brian Dennison

Christopher J. Durovich

Ruben E. Esquivel

Terry J. Flowers

Jack Furst

Hilda C. Galvan

Jennifer & John Gates

Celeste & Charles Glover

Samantha & Scott Goldstein

Margo E. Goodwin

Nancy Strauss Halbreich

Marianne & Lee Hark

Linda & Mitch Hart

Doug D. Hawthorne

Ken Hersh

Blainey Maguire Hess

Marguerite Hoffman

Regen Horchow

Marissa & Michael Horne

Walter J. Humann

Tracey Nash-Huntley & David S. Huntley

Sophia & Willis Johnson

Debra Hunter Johnson

Matrice & Ron Kirk

Lisa & Peter Kraus

Eleanor & John Lemak

Carol & John Levy

Fay and Brian Lidji

Janie & Jack Lowe, Jr.

Lottye Brodsky-Lyle

Leslie MacLean

Deb & Clint McDonnough

Janie & Cappy McGarr

Frank Mihalopoulos

Debi & Peter Miller

Tricia Miller

Katie & Grant Moise

Mollie & Dave Monaco

Sharon Lyle & Mark Mutschink

Erle Nye

Elizabeth Carlock Phillips

Carolyn & Karl Rathjen

Lizzie & Dan Routman

Byron Sanders

Gowri N. & Alex Nila K. Sharma

Ken Smith

Miguel Solis

Natalie & Michael Sorrell

Ronald G. Steinhart

Roslyn Dawson Thompson

Annette & Jack Vaughn

Dee & Trey Velvin

Carol & Ben Vig

Darla & Mark Whitaker

Kern Wildenthal

Abby & Todd Williams

 

 

Event Details

Welcome

Brad Cheves
SMU VP for Development and External Affairs

Bobby Lyle
Chair, Maguire Ethics Center Advisory Board

Invocation

Rabbi David Stern
Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, Dallas

Lunch

Remarks

R. Gerald Turner
SMU President

Rita Kirk
William F. May Endowed Director of the Maguire Ethics Center

Matrice Ellis-Kirk
Founder, Ellis-Kirk Group
Managing Director, RSR Partners

 Award Presentation and Remarks

Peter S. Brodsky
26th J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award Recipient

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Presenting Sponsors

 

Maguire Oil Company
Comerica Bank
Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt

 

 Platinum Sponsors

 

Barbara and Ralph Babb

Jill Louis and Randy Bowman

Lyda Hill

Ashlee and Chris Kleinert

Lottye Brodsky-Lyle and Bobby Lyle

The Shops at RedBird

Peggy and Carl Sewell

Shared Table:
Becky and Ken Bruder
Kimberly Elting and Stuart Cohen
Fay and Brian Lidji
Leslie MacLean 

Gold Sponsors

 
Locke Lorde, LLP
Peter A. Kraus
Darla and Mark Whitaker
David S. Huntley and Tracey M. Nash-Huntley

Silver Sponsors

 

Children’s Health

Ellis Kirk Group

Linda and Mitch Hart

JBJ Management

Jones Day

Debra and Clint McDonnough

Janie and Cappy McGarr

Minerva Consulting

Erle Nye

Phillips Foundation

Southwestern Medical Foundation / UT Southwestern Medical Center

Peter’s Fan Club

 

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About the Award

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Since 1997, the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award luncheon has served as the Center’s sole fundraising event, supporting our dynamic programs that serve the SMU faculty, staff, and student body as well as our community at-large. The support from this event directly funds the Center’s annual operations and ensures its continued success.

The J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award is named in honor of the public-spirited former mayor of Dallas.  It is given to individuals who epitomize the spirit of moral leadership and public virtue.  The founders of our nation foresaw that the ideal of liberty alone would not sustain our country unless accompanied by the concept of "public virtue," a sacrifice of self and resources for the public good.  The Maguire Center is proud to present this award to people whose careers should be recognized, honored, and modeled.

 

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Past Award Recipients

Michael Sorrell (2022)
Cary M. Maguire (2021)
Ross Perot, Jr. (2020)
Nancy Strauss Halbreich (2019)
Bobby Lyle (2018)
David Brown (2017)
Terry Flowers (2016)
Lyda Hill (2015)Award 
Gail G. Thomas  (2014)
Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt (2013)
Walter J. Humann (2012)
Ruth Altshuler (2011)
Bob Buford (2010)
Ronald G. Steinhart (2009)
Michael M. Boone (2008)
Zan W. Holmes Jr., M.Th (2007)
Roger Staubach (2006)
Caren Prothro (2005)
Tom Luce (2004)
Ron Anderson, M.D. (2003)
Jack Lowe, Jr. (2002)
William T. Solomon (2000)
Stanley H. Marcus (1999)
Charles C. Sprague, M.D. (1998)
Curtis W. Meadows, Jr. (1997)

 

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Mayor J. Erik Jonsson

 

J. Erik Jonsson, a founder of Texas Instruments, was a selfless civic worker, former Dallas mayor, and committed philanthropist.  He exemplified the highest ethical standards in his many business and civic endeavors. As a visionary, he sought to repay the debt that all businesses owe their community through selfless work as a civic leader and through his philanthropy in education.

Mr. Jonsson transformed Texas Instruments from a company offering geophysical services to one that pioneered the high-tech world of electronics and semiconductors. His accomplishments were recognized in 1975 when he was one of only four living Americans to be selected for the newly created National Business Hall of Fame, joining such historical luminaries as Henry Ford, J. Pierpont Morgan, Alfred P. Sloan, and Andrew Carnegie.

Mr. Jonsson insisted on the highest ethical standards for Texas Instruments. The company set an early example in formalizing a code of ethics for its executives and employees.

His own leadership in Dallas’s civic affairs culminated when he was selected to be mayor in the dark period following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Under his guidance from 1964-1971, the city built a new city hall, a new municipal library, and the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. He founded and largely financed the Goals for Dallas program that, for the first time in the city’s history, involved people of all races in establishing long-range municipal goals.

A mechanical engineer educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Jonsson was born in Brooklyn of Swedish immigrant parents, spent his early life in New Jersey, and moved to Dallas in 1934 to join the company that was a predecessor to Texas Instruments.