Gift supports SMU’s new Residential Commons

DALLAS (SMU) – Paul B. Loyd Jr. ’68 and his wife, Penny Requa Loyd, are continuing their longtime support of SMU with a $5 million gift to build a Residential Commons, one of five new residential buildings planned for campus designed to enhance SMU’s living-learning environment. Their gift was announced during SMU Founders’ Day Weekend at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Commons complex, scheduled to open in fall 2014.

Artist's rendering of SMU Residential Commons

Including this gift, the Loyds’ contributions to SMU have supported a variety of initiatives, most notably SMU Football’s Circle of Champions, the Mustang Band Hall, Meadows School of the Arts scholarships, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon House Fund, and the Paul B. Loyd, Jr. All-Sports Center, adjacent to Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The center, which opened in 2000 with Ford Stadium, houses locker rooms, offices, training and sports medicine facilities for SMU’s 17 sports teams.

The Loyds also provided funding in support of the new Penny and Paul Loyd Center for the Academic Development of Student Athletes (ADSA), housed in the All-Sports Center, which helps student-athletes maximize their athletic and academic potential.

“Nearly every SMU student benefits from the Loyd family’s generosity,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “From students enhancing their study skills and preparing for exams at the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center and the ADSA, to student athletes working out in the weight room, all in the Loyd All-Sports Center, the Loyds have enhanced the campus experience of SMU students. Now a new generation of students will enjoy living and learning in the Loyd Commons.”

Construction on the Residential Commons complex is under way in the southeast corner of the SMU campus, north of Mockingbird Lane near Ford Stadium and the future George W. Bush Presidential Center. The complex will provide housing, parking and dining facilities for 1,250 students, enabling all first- and second-year SMU students to live on campus. Each residential facility will include a faculty residence and offices, classrooms and seminar rooms.

Mr. Loyd, a Houston businessman, earned a B.B.A. in economics from SMU in 1968 and a M.B.A. degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.  He was a member of SMU’s Southwest Conference championship football team in 1966 and played in the 1967 Cotton Bowl Classic.  He was elected captain of the SMU football team in 1967.

Mr. Loyd is founder and principal of a private investment firm in Houston, Texas.  He is past chairman and chief executive officer of R&B Falcon Corporation, the world’s largest and most diversified offshore drilling company that merged with Transocean Ltd. Mr. Loyd served on the board of Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. and served on the board of HollyFrontier Oil Corporation.

In addition to serving as a member of SMU’s Board of Trustees since 2000 and chair of the Athletics Committee, Mr. Loyd is a member of the executive boards for the Cox School of Business and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He is co-chair of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Athletics and honorary chair and member of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Houston. Cox School of Business honored Mr. Loyd in 2001 with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

Mrs. Loyd, a civic leader and community volunteer in Houston, graduated from St. Louis University with a B.S.B.A. and worked with several public and private companies both in the US and abroad prior to the formation of the family’s charitable foundation.

The Loyds serve as members of the SMU Parent Leadership Council. After the May 2012 graduation of their daughter, three of their five children will be SMU graduates.  Kelly Loyd graduated in 1996 with a B.S. in economics. Jessica Requa earned in 2008 a B.A. in psychology and a B.B.A. in accounting as well as an M.S. in accounting in 2009. Sarah Requa will receive the B.A. in markets and culture and a B.A. in psychology at SMU’s 2012 Commencement.

In addition, the Loyds received SMU’s Mustang Award in 1999, honoring individuals whose longtime service and philanthropy have made a lasting impact on the University.

Active in civic affairs, Mr. Loyd serves on the board of the directors of the Houston Children’s Charity and the Boys and Girls Clubs of American Samoa. Mrs. Loyd serves on the board of directors of Houston’s Theater Under the Stars, Boys and Girls Country Children’s Center, Camp Aranzazu , Generations Theatre Company and the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund.  She is chair of the Marshall Plan Charities for Afghanistan and serves on the advisory board of Boys and Girls Clubs.  They support numerous other organizations through the Loyd Charitable Foundation.

“Paul and Penny Loyd’s generous gift to the Residential Commons is a perfect way to celebrate SMU’s Centennial and prepare our campus for the Mustangs of the future,” says Brad Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs. “Loyd Commons will be an important part of a new tradition for residential and academic life at SMU.”

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.

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