Fort Worth commitments, gifts pass $9 million
in SMU Second Century fundraising campaign
Fort Worth area supporters have committed over $9 million to the Second Century Campaign.
DALLAS (SMU) – Alumni, parents and friends of SMU from the Fort Worth area have committed more than $9 million toward SMU’s Second Century Campaign, capped by a $1.5 million gift to establish an endowed chair in the Division of Art History at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.
 See a slide show of scenes from a recent luncheon for Fort Worth supporters of SMU’s Second Century Campaign.  |
The Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education is a private charitable foundation supported through generous contributions from Marsha and John B. Kleinheinz of Fort Worth. Their daughter, Marguerite, graduated from Meadows School of the Arts in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in art history.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner, University officials and members of the Campaign Steering Committee for Fort Worth acknowledged Marsha and John B. Kleinheinz during a luncheon gathering at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
“We are deeply grateful to the Kleinheinz family and to all of our generous friends and supporters in Fort Worth,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The gift from the Kleinheinz Foundation supports a major goal of SMU’s Second Century Campaign to endow 110 faculty positions and brings the current total to 96. This kind of financial support makes an enormous difference in ensuring that SMU students benefit from a strong, vibrant faculty.”
Fort Worth is home to more than 6,200 SMU alumni. The Kleinheinz’s commitment to endow a faculty position is the second commitment to the Second Century Campaign of $1 million or more from Fort Worth alumni, parents and friends of SMU. Earlier in the Campaign, a gift from the Estate of Karl Kilinski II established The Karl Kilinski II Endowed Chair in Hellenic Visual Culture.
Fort Worth donors have given more than 8,000 gifts totaling more than $9 million during SMU’s Second Century Campaign, which began in September 2008, resulting in commitments to support faculty, scholarships and academic and student life programs. Thirty Fort Worth donors have made commitments of $50,000 or more and more than 737 donors have been recognized by SMU’s Hilltop Society for two-to-20 years of consecutive years of giving to SMU.
John B. Kleinheinz, a Stanford University graduate, started his career as an investment banker engaged in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions for Nomura Securities and Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, New York and London. In 1996 he established Kleinheinz Capital Partners, Inc., a private investment management firm in Fort Worth.
 Fort Worth SMU Alumni Chapter leadership team includes (l. to r.) Taylor Martin ’99, Watt Stephens ’07, Ashley Deatherage ’07, Bailey McGuire’07, Cullen Green ’07 (Chapter President), and Helen Barbre Stephens ’89. |
Marsha Kleinheinz earned a B.B.A. degree from SMU in 1983. She currently is involved in several charitable organizations, including Gill Children’s Services, The Warm Place, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Van Cliburn Foundation, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Performing Arts of Fort Worth and North Texas Public Broadcasting. Marsha and John Kleinheinz have three children.
"The success of The Second Century Campaign relies on the consistent support of our alumni each and every year, as well as major commitments from all of our constituents, throughout the country and right here in Fort Worth," said Albon Head ’68, ’71 of Jackson Walker, LLP, who serves as co-chair of the Campaign Steering Committee for Fort Worth with Stephen Tatum ’76 of Cantey Hanger LLP.
To date, SMU’s Second Century Campaign has received commitments of more than $800 million toward its goal of $1 billion to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. The campaign coincides with SMU’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915.
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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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