World Changers Shaped Here SMU 2017–18 Annual Report Table of Contents 2 Introduction SMU Board of Trustees Letter from the Chair of the Board of Trustees SMU Administration Letter from the President 6 Think big. Do good. SMU and Dallas Enterprising Spirit Research with Impact Welcoming Community 32 2017–18 Highlights Unbridled Generosity A Year of Achievement Consolidated Financial Reports Expenditures Toward Strategic Goals Endowment Report SMU Board of Trustees Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 Frances A. Moody-Dahlberg ’92 Chair Connie Blass O’Neill ’77 David B. Miller ’72, ’73 Vice Chair The Reverend Dr. Sheron Covington Patterson ’83, ’89, ’96 Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79 Secretary Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83 Gerald B. Alley ’75 Jeanne L. Phillips ’76 William D. Armstrong ’82 Caren H. Prothro Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67 The Reverend Paul Rasmussen ’04 Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74 Carl Sewell ’66 Bradley W. Brookshire ’76 Richard K. Templeton Laura Welch Bush ’68 Richard Ware ’68 Pastor Richie L. Butler ’93 Royce E. (Ed) Wilson, Sr. Jeanne Tower Cox ’78 EX OFFICIO Katherine Raymond Crow ’94 R. Gerald Turner Gary T. Crum ’69 President, SMU Antoine L. V. Dijkstra Ben Manthey ’09, ’19 Student Representative Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69 Dayna Oscherwitz Antonio O. Garza, Jr. ’83 President, SMU Faculty Senate Juan González Douglas C. Smellage ’77 Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey ’99 Chair, SMU Alumni Board Frederick B. Hegi, Jr. ’66 TRUSTEES EMERITI Clark K. Hunt ’87 Edwin L. Cox ’42 Ray L. Hunt ’65 Linda Pitts Custard ’60, ’99 David S. Huntley ’80 Alan D. Feld ’57, ’60 Bishop Scott J. Jones ’81, ’92 Milledge A. Hart, III Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 William L. Hutchison ’54 Bobby B. Lyle ’67 Cary M. Maguire Bishop Michael McKee ’78 Scott J. McLean ’78 2 Letter from the Chair of the Board of Trustees It is an honor to serve my alma mater at any time, but it is especially exciting now when SMU has positioned itself so well to capture the many great opportunities before us. Under the leadership of past Board of Trustees Chair Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67 and President R. Gerald Turner (1995–present), our University is in the midst of an intellectual and community impact boom. Today SMU boasts its highest student academic profile and diversity, a growing roster of high-achieving faculty and administrators, increasing numbers of corporate and community partnerships, a major push for research with impact and passionate alumni. Financially, the University continues to grow stronger as well. SMU’s endowment grew by $114 million to a market value of $1.62 billion, and generous donors provided over $111 million in donations in 2017–18, including $57.9 million through our Pony Power efforts. For me, SMU is in my DNA. My family’s ties to the University span more than five decades. My mother, Nancy Dedman ’50, and my late father, Robert H. Dedman, Sr., ’53 LL.M., served SMU in a variety of ways after their graduations, and my father was a member of SMU’s Board of Trustees beginning in 1976, and its chair from 1992–96. There have been many wonderful advancements at SMU during these years, but at no time in my life have I been more excited about its future. As the contents of this Annual Report illustrate, SMU is home to world changers, but we have just scratched the surface of what’s to come. I’m reminded of my dear friend and mentor, the late Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, who passed away in December 2017 after 50 years as our longest-serving member of the SMU Board of Trustees. Resting on laurels wasn’t her thing. She never stopped working to make SMU better than it was the year before. We dedicate this Annual Report to her – a Mustang who thought big, did good and always cared for others. Her spirit will continue to guide us for generations in the future. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, thank you for your support of this great University. Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 Chair, Board of Trustees Please see the SMU resolution honoring Mrs. Altshuler on page 51. 3 SMU Administration R. Gerald Turner Marc P. Christensen President Dean and Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Engineering Innovation Steven C. Currall Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jennifer M. Collins Brad E. Cheves Judge James Noel Dean and Professor of Law Vice President for Development and External Affairs Dedman School of Law Kenechukwu (K.C.) Mmeje Thomas DiPiero Vice President for Student Affairs Dean Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Christine C. Regis Vice President for Business and Finance Craig C. Hill Dean Harold W. Stanley Perkins School of Theology Vice President for Executive Affairs Samuel S. Holland Paul Ward Algur H. Meadows Dean Vice President for Legal Affairs and Meadows School of the Arts Governmental Relations General Counsel and Secretary Holly Jeffcoat Dean Rakesh Dahiya SMU Libraries Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer Stephanie L. Knight Rick Hart Leon Simmons Dean Director of Athletics Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development Matthew B. Myers Dean and Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership Edwin L. Cox School of Business James E. Quick Dean of Graduate Studies Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies 4 Letter from the President As we welcome a new class of Mustangs each fall, it’s always encouraging to consider our community’s recent world-changing achievements and the many people who have contributed to making SMU such a special place. You will enjoy reading stories about some of them in this year’s report. Students and faculty are tackling significant challenges in Dallas and around the world. Alumni are giving back to their communities and creating positive change. Generous donors are investing in SMU and making an impact now and long into the future. Their stories reflect unique aspects of the SMU experience that add value and create opportunities on campus and beyond. SMU is Dallas’ university. Our vibrant community boosts the region’s intellectual capital and offers students a gateway to real-world learning in an energetic, cosmopolitan city. SMU is a data-empowered university, where faculty and students engage in research that makes an impact. Our welcoming campus provides students – who represent a wide range of different backgrounds, places and perspectives – with access to opportunity. We are home to bold innovators and collaborators who possess an enterprising spirit, the same that is woven into the fabric of our great city. We will continue building upon SMU’s momentum and distinctive strengths to rise even higher. We intend to further elevate SMU’s academic profile as a premier research and teaching university with global impact. To achieve this goal, we will focus on enhancing the quality of undergraduate and graduate students and their educational experience; on strengthening faculty, research and the impact of SMU; and on deepening innovative community partnerships and engagement. Our work ahead will be exciting, challenging and rewarding. We are inspired by all who have been part of our efforts to date, including supporters of a new three-year fundraising effort, Pony Power. This initiative was created to raise money for current use by the University, providing much-needed dollars to support students and faculty. In its first year, Pony Power brought in almost $58 million, a 35 percent increase in current-use gifts from the year before. Thank you for investing in SMU. We look forward to celebrating another year of progress on the Hilltop. R. Gerald Turner President 5 Hundreds of students, alumni, faculty and staff participated in the annual Stampede of Service in the fall. They fanned out across the Dallas area to assist nonprofit organizations that improve and uplift underserved neighborhoods. Think big. Do good. SMU’s vibrant community attracts bold thinkers from across the country and around the globe and from all walks of life. They thrive in an environment enriched by the University’s partnership with Dallas that produces limitless opportunities to learn and give back. Unconstrained by boundaries and guided by an ethical compass, Mustangs change the world. 6 SMU Professor Owen Lynch (left) and Seedling Farm manager Tyrone Day prepare to sample the sweet leaves of a fresh cabbage. In conjunction with SMU’s Hunt Institute for Humanity and Engineering, Lynch is developing a sustainable food system that creates jobs SMU and Dallas in the communities it serves. Forging connections SMU provides resources to sprout Seedling Farm amid Dallas’ food desert Owen Lynch harbors a “crazy” something more sustainable than idea – one that just might help community gardens through an eliminate the food deserts scattered extensive food production system. throughout South Dallas. Driving through the area surrounding “Each lot could become part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. a functioning food system by Community Center, Lynch points providing the city with a local, out abandoned lots and vacant sustainable food source and dirt areas under nearby freeways creating jobs for the immediate that hold possibilities as future community,” he says. “There is community gardens. a large amount of unemployed or underemployed people and “One of the unexpected assets of a youth in these local communities food desert is the large availability who could gain employment and of property or lots for farming and training within these urban farms.” food system development,” Lynch says. “These properties are at best South Dallas is one of the largest eyesores detracting from their food deserts in the country, Lynch neighborhood’s home values, but says. Urban food deserts are short at worst they are a breeding ground on fresh food providers, especially for vermin, wild dogs and other fruits and vegetables; instead they negative neighborhood effects.” are rife with quick marts selling processed foods heavy in sugar Lynch is associate professor of and filled with fats.