Jody Grant

 

Jody Grant has provided visionary leadership to his profession and his community, using abilities he first honed at SMU. While attending SMU on a swimming scholarship, he earned four individual Southwest Conference swimming championships and was twice named All-American. He earned his B.B.A. from SMU in 1960, followed by an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in economics and finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Grant became CEO of Texas American Bancshares in 1986. Following the banking industry’s setbacks in the late 1980s, he joined EDS as its chief financial officer. Believing that Texas needed a Texas-owned bank to support the state’s middle market companies, in 1998 he launched Texas Capital Bank, which became one of the nation’s most profitable financial institutions. Recognizing Grant’s remarkable success in the banking industry, the American Banker named him Community Banker of the Year in 2001, and he received the Horatio Alger Award for 2010. He is now chair emeritus of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.

Grant’s leadership has benefited both SMU and Dallas. Currently on the board of SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, he served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1980 to 1988. As chair of the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation Board, he worked tirelessly to raise approximately $100 million for the Klyde Warren Park. Since opening in 2012, the deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway has become a popular attraction in the Dallas Arts District. Grant’s leadership positions have included serving as chair of Communities Foundation of Texas and on the boards of the Dallas Museum of Art, KERA and Dallas County Community College Foundation.