BOLDLY SHAPING TOMORROW - THE THIRD COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN IN SMU'S HISTORY IGNITES THE FUTURE OF OUR UNIVERSITY
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S M U M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 2 1
BOLDLY
SHAPING
TOMORROW
THE THIRD COMPREHENSIVE
CAMPAIGN IN SMU’S HISTORY
IGNITES THE FUTURE OF
OUR UNIVERSITY
As the premier private university in North
Texas, SMU exists to shape future leaders
who transform communities and
organizations through ingenuity and
thoughtful problem-solving. Building on our
history of excellence, we now embark on
SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow
– our multiyear, $1.5 billion campaign to
attract and support outstanding students
and faculty, to explore new fields and
cutting-edge technologies, and to positively
impact Dallas and the world beyond. We
invite you to join us and empower the bold,
the curious and the creative to better their
professions and their communities.
smu.edu/ignited
TO O U R R E A D ERS
Igniting the future
AN EXCITING NEW CHAPTER IN OUR HISTORY OPENED SEPTEMBER 17 WITH THE PUBLIC LAUNCH OF SMU IGNITED:
BOLDLY SHAPING TOMORROW, our $1.5 billion campaign for impact. With your support, we’re re-imagining the role
of education – and of SMU itself – in an era of rapid change, by focusing on the opportunities created through
research and teaching, scholarships and community.
J
ust a year ago, the thought of Grant-eligible students – and • Enhancing campus
moving forward with a campaign providing a financial safety net for and community.
seemed unlikely. But, undaunted students who could be derailed By increasing partnerships with
even by the pandemic, Mustangs by sudden financial crises. corporations and nonprofits such
did what they always do – they came as the West Dallas STEM School,
As you’ll read in this issue
together for our University. During which you’ll read about in
of SMU Magazine,
the campaign’s planning phase, this magazine, and Dedman
the Class of 2025 was
SMU received over $654 million, School of Law legal clinics
the largest and most
including 90 gifts of $1 million for those who cannot afford
academically qualified
or more and contributions from representation, we will
incoming class in our
tens of thousands of donors. This continue to make a positive
history. SMU Ignited will ensure
extraordinary generosity makes an difference in our community. And
we continue to attract such
impressive statement about the value by investing in facilities, programs,
outstanding students to campus.
our community places on all that student-athlete success and
• Enriching teaching and research. community outreach programs,
we do. It also drives us toward even
SMU Ignited will have a significant the University will bring more
more ambitious goals for the future:
impact on our attainment of R1 people together on campus.
the largest fundraising target ever
research status, the highest level of
set by a private school in Texas. I’ve just skimmed the surface
research capability recognized by
SMU Ignited will fuel our strengths of what we will accomplish with
the Carnegie Classification system.
to meet tomorrow’s challenges the generosity of you, our alumni,
To that end, we will invest in faculty
through three major objectives: faculty, staff, students, families
pursuits that have substantial
• Empowering outstanding and supporters – our SMU family.
societal impact, and we’ll support
students. Since our founding, each generation
excellent corporate, industrial
Students will always be our top of Mustangs has answered the call to
and teaching partnerships while
priority. With your support, we blaze a new path for our University.
bolstering Dallas’ emergence
will transform the lives of high- It’s time to imagine the future at its
as a technology hub.
achieving students by enabling fullest potential with SMU Ignited:
them to come to SMU regardless And we’ll build on the research Boldly Shaping Tomorrow.
of means. We want to broaden we’re already doing in such
student support by offering more areas as computational drug
need-based merit scholarships – discovery and human speed –
including meeting full financial both highlighted in this issue – to
need for high-performing Pell continue our trajectory toward the R. GERALD TURNER
top tier of research excellence. President
VOLUME 72 NO. 1
INSIDE FALL 2 0 2 1
4 12 18 26
FAMILY LEGACY COMMUNITY COLLABORATION VIRTUAL LABORATORY TIME TRAVELER
Through their leadership and The pathbreaking partnership ChemGen, a set of computational For digital age archaeologist
philanthropy, Nancy McMillan igniting an innovative model routines developed by SMU Mark McCoy, hands-on
Dedman ’50 and her family for public education marked a researchers, can slash the time research can mean using
have shaped a vision for a milestone in August when the and resources needed to begin drones to map landmarks
brighter tomorrow extending new West Dallas STEM School the development of successful or deploying scanning
far beyond SMU. welcomed its first students. drugs, including for the systems to reveal a site
treatment of recurrent cancer. without lifting a trowel.
Welcoming community 4 Class notes 30
Game. Set. Match.
Time to Boulevard! In Memoriam 44
Threading the needle
The download 48
SMU, Dallas and beyond 12
Energizing business education
Sparking student success
Fighting the ‘COVID slide’
SMU IGNITED
The University kicked off the Research with impact 18
public phase of SMU Ignited: Biomechanics society honors Peter Weyand
Boldly Shaping Tomorrow
‘Extreme’ research earns NASA grant
September 17, gathering
alumni, guests, students, Alzheimer’s breakthrough
faculty and staff on the
Main Quad in front of iconic Enterprising spirit 26 NEW HEAD COACH
Dallas Hall to celebrate the Mapping the road to change When Toyelle Wilson first got the job running
investment in the future of Coding a ‘smart’ solution SMU’s women’s basketball program,
SMU and beyond. Commencement address she didn’t know she was making history.
24 10
P E R S P E C TI V E
Leading bold change
IT IS MY HONOR AND PRIVILEGE TO SERVE AS THE CHAIR OF THE SMU BOARD OF TRUSTEES, especially during
this transformational time. Like proud alumni everywhere, I am excited about what SMU Ignited means for the future
of this great University and for the generations who will follow our lead to the Hilltop.
O
ur family has found that SMU is This campaign will create new Along with faculty support, more
the best investment we have ever opportunities to expand partnerships investment in graduate and doctoral
made. We have long appreciated the and outreach beyond our campus, fellowships will amplify the endeavors
University’s role in creating a culture elevate the quality of our graduate of the Moody School of Graduate and
that allows people to achieve their programs and raise our national Advances Studies.
highest personal and professional visibility. And, in the process, our One of the great opportunities and
potential. All who contribute to our SMU degrees will become even more responsibilities for SMU is to become
University’s future make a positive valuable and respected. more diverse and inclusive –
difference that starts on campus and While SMU has long that’s what drives creativity
expands to communities far beyond been an exemplary and innovation. The
the Hilltop. teaching institution, the campaign will increase
SMU has made incredible strides University’s growing scholarship support for
over the past 25 years, thanks research portfolio is outstanding students,
to the generosity of Mustangs regardless of their financial
everywhere. It has been exhilarating means, and investments in
and gratifying to be part of this “All who contribute programs targeted to meet the
progress. But as we have shown to our University’s needs of underrepresented students.
time and again at SMU, we don’t rest future make a positive These goals fortify our commitment
on our accomplishments; instead, difference that starts on to a campus where all Mustangs feel
they propel us toward even grander
campus and expands to valued.
challenges. That’s what SMU Ignited is SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping
communities far beyond
all about. Tomorrow will catapult SMU further
I think SMU is one of the very few
the Hilltop.” into the top tier of U.S. institutions
institutions that has the ability to of higher learning and establish a
– Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84
dramatically change the quality of life legacy benefiting generations of world
for all people in Dallas and beyond. changers to come. My family and I are
Throughout the city’s history, our drawing international recognition so proud of what this University has
alumni have been involved in many and creates opportunities for accomplished so far, and feel the best
major initiatives that have improved new collaborations. Building the still lies ahead.
life for the entire community, University’s capability to hire star-
including current innovations in quality research faculty and provide
education, such as those at the West them with the resources they need
Dallas STEM School, and the criminal to meet head-on some of the world’s
ROBERT H. DEDMAN, JR. ’80, ’84
justice reform happening at Dedman most complex challenges is a major Board of Trustees Chair
School of Law. component of this new campaign.
3
FA M
I L Y
L E G
ACY
by Andrea Luttrell ’12
4 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021
A year of milestones for SMU THROUGH THEIR LEADERSHIP AND PHILANTHROPY, NANCY MCMILLAN
DEDMAN ’50 AND HER FAMILY HAVE SHAPED A VISION FOR A BRIGHTER
TOMORROW EXTENDING FAR BEYOND SMU.
O
ver nearly five decades, the relationships that SMU fostered have
Dedman name has become changed our lives immeasurably for
synonymous with the University’s the better.”
growth as a global research and Legendary businessman Robert H. SMU benefactors
teaching institution. Virtually every Dedman, Sr. ’53 received a Master of Nancy McMillan
Dedman ’50 and
student at SMU has been touched by Laws degree from SMU and practiced
her son, Robert H.
their generosity in some way. Gifts law before founding ClubCorp Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84,
who serves as chair
have included endowments naming International Inc., a leading operator
of the SMU Board of
Dedman College of Humanities and of golf courses, private clubs and Trustees.
Sciences and the Dedman School of resorts. He lived his life according to
Law, the lead gift constructing the a Biblical reference he often quoted:
Dedman Life Sciences Building and “Of those to whom much is given,
support for endowed professorships from them much is expected.” In
and life-transforming scholarships. addition to financial support, he gave
“What we’ve invested in has just generously of his time to SMU. He
gotten better and better,” Dedman was appointed to the
says. “We believe SMU is a great 21st- Board of Trustees in
century university that is making an 1976 and served as
immeasurable impact on our lives and its chair from 1992 to
in our world. SMU has become the 1996. He passed away
economic and cultural leader in Dallas in 2002.
and beyond.” Their son, Robert
H. (Bob) Dedman,
The roots of transformative impact
Jr., received
The University was forever
an MBA from
changed when Nancy McMillan
Cox School
enrolled as a junior after attending
Randolph-Macon Woman’s College of Business
in 1980 and
in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was a
a JD from
member of Phi Beta Kappa honor
Dedman
society and earned a bachelor’s degree
School
in political science in 1950.
of Law in
“SMU brought me to Dallas where
1984. He
I met my husband,” Dedman says.
continues his
“He and I made a lot of close friends
father’s legacy
because of our involvement at SMU,
of service as the
and the education, perspectives and
WELCOMING COMMUNITY 5
current chair of the SMU Board of change are visible across the Hilltop. saying, ‘World changers shaped here.’”
Trustees, which he joined in 2004. This year marks milestones for many And she does, too. Dedman is a
Their daughter, Patricia Dedman Nail, of their major investments, the first force for good both on and off the
received a Master of Arts in counseling of which was the Dedman Center for Hilltop, supporting a host of causes
psychology from Dedman College of Lifetime Sports, which celebrates its focused on education, health care and
Humanities and Sciences in 1981. 45th anniversary in 2021. the arts. In the Dallas community,
The Dedman family’s commitment For Dedman, watching as SMU she has been involved with the
to supporting SMU has been a empowers students to go out into the boards of the St. Paul and Zale Lipshy
constant over two generations. world and make it a better place is the University Hospitals (part of UT
“Nancy, Bob and Bob, Jr. and the real reward of giving. Southwestern Medical Center), Shelter
entire family have supported the “I enjoy seeing the impact SMU has Ministries of Dallas and the Salvation
University, day in and day out, in on young people and entrepreneurs Army. She has been an active
countless ways, inspiring other alumni, like Blake Mycoskie [founder of supporter of the Dallas Museum of Art
family, students, faculty, staff and TOMS Shoes] and Whitney Wolfe and the Texas Ballet Theater.
friends,” says SMU President R. Gerald Herd, to name a few,” Dedman says. At SMU, Dedman currently serves
Turner. “I cannot overstate how much “Blake’s philosophy of one-for-one on the Dedman College Executive
the Dedmans have meant to SMU. It philanthropy has been replicated Board. She has served on the boards
would not be the place we all know and by many other businesses to help of the Willis M. Tate Distinguished
love without the Dedman family and people in need, and Whitney works Lecture Series, Godbey Lecture Series
Nancy’s unfailing leadership.” to empower women with the skills in Dedman College and the G. William
she learned at SMU. I admire how Jones Film and Video Collection in
The real reward of giving:
students’ success our students embrace the diversity of Hamon Arts Library. In 1995, she
The Dedmans’ passions for people to make the world better. It’s and her late husband received the
education and enacting positive inspiring. It gives real meaning to the Mustang Award in recognition for their
March 1981 Gifts establish the Robert H. and Nancy Dedman Professor in Economics and
Trustee Professor in Economics and Robert H. and Nancy Dedman Professor of History in Dedman
The generational College of Humanities and Sciences and support the Dedman College General Endowment.
impact of donor
generosity is visible
across the Hilltop in 1976 Lead gift launches the Dedman Center for April 1981 One of the largest personal
Lifetime Sports. Additional support from the Dedman investments in higher education history at the time
investments made family in 2006 funds renovation and expansion. named SMU’s biggest and most diverse school the
Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences in honor
over decades by of Robert H. Dedman, Sr. and Nancy Dedman.
benefactor Nancy
McMillan Dedman ’50
and her family. This
year we celebrate these
milestones of their
transformative giving.
6 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021
outstanding philanthropy to SMU. For their areas of interest.”
her service to Mustangs everywhere, SMU would not have been able to
she was honored with SMU’s accomplish all that it has without
Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005. donors like the Dedman family, who
We want to Dedman’s wisdom, humor and understand that funding universities
leave the passion for education inspire
Mustangs to follow her path and make
means funding our community’s
future.
world better a difference.
“I feel honored to know and work
“I hope our family’s legacy will be
in giving to universities that are not
than how we with Nancy,” says Vice President for subject to political whims of the state
Development and External Affairs Legislature,” she says. “Dallas needs
found it, and Brad E. Cheves. “She epitomizes the a great public and a great private
hope that Mustang spirit – smart, courageous,
bold and welcoming. SMU is truly
university to become one of the top
20 metropolitan centers in the world
we can be a lucky to have her as one of our
greatest champions.”
in the 21st century. I hope we made
a positive difference in helping SMU
catalyst for As SMU enters into its next become a premier national university
others in the
comprehensive fundraising campaign, with a strong liberal arts tradition
Dedman is excited to see how the complemented by world-changing
community to University builds on its culture of
excellence to reach new heights. She
research capabilities. Striving for
excellence and continuing to improve
get involved.” hopes “alumni, donors and supporters the quality of life for everybody in this
become involved by contributing their community is the hope of the Dedman
– Nancy McMillan Dedman ’50 time, their talent and their treasure in family.”
1998 Endowment opens new opportunities for future Mustangs December 2001 SMU dedicates the Dedman Life
through the Robert H. Dedman SMU Scholars Program at North Dallas Sciences Building made possible with a lead gift from the
High, the high school from which the late Mr. Dedman graduated. Dedman family and support from other donors.
April 1997 A $30 million commitment from February 2001 Endowment from law alumnus Robert H. Dedman, Sr., December
the Dedmans and The Dedman Foundation – the Nancy Dedman and The Dedman Foundation names the Dedman School of Law. 2012 Gift from
largest single gift in University history at the the Dedman family
time – helped launch A Time to Lead, SMU’s first and The Dedman
comprehensive campaign. Foundation launches
the Dedman College
Interdisciplinary
Institute to bring
together faculty and
students across
disciplines for
collaborative research.
WELCOMING COMMUNITY 7
GAME. SET. MATCH.
A $4 million gift from Mark ’87 and Jennifer Styslinger ’86 and during his tenure. Styslinger ranked
the Altec/Styslinger Foundation will shape and sustain future among the top 20 players nationally
tennis champions in the newly named Styslinger/Altec Tennis in 1984 and was selected as an All-
Complex. This gift is in addition to a long history of support for American in 1984–1985.
the SMU tennis programs and complex. Jennifer O. Styslinger earned
her BBA from SMU in 1986. She is a
community volunteer, serving as a
S
ince its opening in 2015, the competing at the highest level of
member of the board of trustees for
45,000-square-foot complex intercollegiate athletics.
The Highlands School, Altamont
has quickly become recognized as a “Jennifer and I met at SMU, and
School and Grace House Ministries.
premier facility for the greater tennis we were thrilled to have the chance
She co-chaired the 2008 Maestro’s
community in Dallas and beyond. It to support a place that has been so
Ball in support of the Alabama
earned the 2019 USTA Facility Award, important in our lives,” says Mark
Symphony Orchestra. The Styslingers
which was awarded during the 2019 Styslinger, senior vice president of
are members of the Mustang Club.
U.S. Open. sales and service for Altec Inc., a
The Styslingers reside in Birmingham,
“The Styslinger/Altec Tennis manufacturing company founded
Alabama, and have four children.
Complex has enabled SMU to attract in 1929 by his grandfather, Lee J.
top-ranked student athletes, to build Styslinger, Sr. Read more: smu.edu/smumag21styslinger
on our excellent tennis programs Mark Styslinger earned his BBA
and to continue partnering with from SMU in 1987 and was a member
outside organizations for community of SMU’s men’s tennis team from The Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex has enabled
outreach,” says SMU President R. 1983 to 1986. He earned 81 individual SMU to build on its excellent tennis program.
Gerald Turner. victories and played in four NCAA
The Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex team championship finals. The team
reinforces SMU’s commitment to won three Southwest Conference titles
8 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021Time to Boulevard!
Game day revelry along Bishop Boulevard came back in a big way this fall. Friends
laughing and chatting, the Mustang Band playing and football fans cheering provided a soundtrack
capturing the energy and excitement of traditional gridiron festivities on the Hilltop. The football season
opened September 4 in Ford Stadium with junior Tanner Mordecai tossing seven scoring passes – an
SMU record – as the Mustangs beat Abilene Christian 56-9. For Family Weekend, September 11–12, the
Mustangs hosted UNT and on September 25, the team played its 100th game against TCU as a warmup
for the Homecoming faceoff against South Florida October 2. Great games are still to come. Find ticket
information at smumustangs.com.
SMU Spirit wins NCA championship
The SMU Spirit squad placed first in the Game Day D1
category at the 2021 National Cheerleaders Association (NCA)
and National Dance Alliance (NDA) Collegiate Cheer and Dance
Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida, earlier this year. SMU Cheer,
SMU Pom, Peruna mascot and the Mustang Band performed a game day
routine together to win national bragging rights. This latest honor builds
on SMU Cheer’s previous winning streak as 2016–18 NCA collegiate
champions.
WELCOMING COMMUNITY 9Coaching with fire and passion Making a comeback
SMU DataArts is set to help
When Toyelle Wilson first got the job running SMU’s women’s nonprofits use technology to speed
basketball program, she didn’t know she was making history. their recovery from COVID-19.
She only found out she would be the University’s first Black The national center for arts research
female head coach when she started seeing it mentioned on based at SMU Meadows School of the Arts
social media. is one of 46 arts organizations worldwide
selected for the new $30 million Digital
A
nd she’s overjoyed to be a “first.” atmosphere.”
Accelerator Program launched in July by
“That’s a blessing,” she says. And that kind of caring climate fits
Bloomberg Philanthropies in New York.
“I’m humbled, I’m appreciative, I’m in with her coaching philosophy.
The goal is to assist arts groups in
excited.” And, hopefully, she says, “Relationships matter,” Wilson says.
recovering from financial hardships
“I’m not the last.” “A player doesn’t care how much
created by the pandemic by providing
The representation of SMU hiring you know until they know how much
tools and training aimed at building
a Black woman head coach definitely you care.”
audiences, increasing fundraising,
matters, she says. For young Black Hart says that Wilson was picked
driving revenue and continuing to deliver
women playing basketball, she says from a very talented group of
programming virtually and in person.
her selection for this role candidates.
The grant will allow SMU DataArts
“shows they can be “She is a respected
to streamline data collection, increase
whatever they want leader, and her
data storage, provide more sophisticated
to be, they can do positive energy,
data integration and management, and
whatever they strong work ethic
enhance computing power to support
want to do.” and ability to
increased national demand for data
Wilson, who connect with and
analysis and machine learning.
was hired in inspire others
SMU DataArts also will work with
April, comes are qualities we
Bloomberg Philanthropies on the design
to the Hilltop look for in a head
of its program evaluation.
after two seasons coach,” Hart says.
“The investment in strategic planning
with the University Wilson says she
and technology combined are so
of Michigan women’s can’t wait to get her team
important to long-term sustainability,”
basketball program, where playing – and she’s bursting with
says SMU DataArts Director Zannie
she served as the assistant coach and excitement.
Voss. “Boosting our data collection and
recruiting coordinator. Before that, “I coach with fire, I coach with
management capabilities will enable
she spent six years as an assistant passion,” she says. “I’m ready for this
us to deliver critical insights to the field
coach at Baylor University and three moment. I’m ready to shine.”
more quickly and comprehensively.”
seasons as the head coach at Prairie A native of Voorhees, New Jersey,
View A&M University. Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree
Joining SMU was an easy call, she in business management from
says. When Wilson interviewed with Manhattan College in 2003 and was
Director of Athletics Rick Hart and a four-year letter winner for the
others at SMU, she says she could women’s basketball team.
tell right away that “it was a family She has one child, a son, Kash.
10 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021Threading
the needle
The Meadows Museum’s Canvas & Silk: Historic
Fashion from Madrid’s Museo del Traje is the first
major collaboration between Spain’s national fashion
museum and an American museum.
T
he major exhibition includes 40 works from the
Meadows collection alongside contemporaneous
examples of historic dress and accessories from the
renowned Museo del Traje.
“Not only will our collection be seen by audiences in
the U.S. for the first time, but it will also be displayed in a
completely new light,” says Elvira González, curator of the
historic apparel collection at the Museo del Traje. “We’re
excited to see what kind of scholarship and new ideas
might be generated by presenting these works in a new
environment and alongside these paintings and drawings.”
Canvas & Silk is accompanied by Image & Identity: Mexican
Fashion in the Modern Period, a focused exploration of how
national identity formation is reflected in fashion. The
featured works from the 19th and 20th centuries are drawn
from the collections of the Meadows Museum and SMU’s
DeGolyer Library.
Both exhibits continue through January 9, 2022. Timed-
entry tickets may be purchased at meadowsmuseumdallas.
org.
A new era of engagement
A gift of $3 million from Linda P. Custard ’60, ’99
and William A. Custard ’57 – with matching funds
of $3 million from The Meadows Foundation – will
establish the Custard Institute for Spanish Art
and Culture at the Meadows Museum. Read more TOP Carl Nebel (German, 1802–1855), Poblanas from Voyage Pittoresque et
about this exciting new institute in the next issue archéologique, dans la partie la plus intéressante du Mexique, Paris: M. Moench
[etc.], 1836. DeGolyer Library. BOTTOM Traje a “la francesa” [French Costume],
of SMU Magazine. 1795–1800. Silk, linen, and cotton. Museo del Traje, Madrid. ©Museo del Traje,
Centro de Investigación del Patrimonio Etnológico, Madrid, Spain; CE000663–
65. Photo by Jesús Madriñán.
WELCOMING COMMUNITY 11Launching a new model for
community collaboration
THE PATHBREAKING T
he new school is the result in the L.G. Pinkston High School
of more than three years of building, a West Dallas landmark.
PARTNERSHIP collaboration between the Dallas The STEM school launched with
IGNITING AN Independent School District, SMU’s seventh and eighth grades this year
INNOVATIVE MODEL Annette Caldwell Simmons School of
Education and Human Development,
and will eventually enroll students in
Pre-K through eighth grade.
FOR PRE-K–8 PUBLIC the Toyota USA Foundation and Simmons School faculty provided
EDUCATION MARKED the West Dallas community. Every their expertise in developing the
A MILESTONE IN step – from the beginning of the
public-private partnership to what’s
project-based, industry-informed
STEM curriculum meant to inspire
AUGUST WHEN THE happening at the school today – is and prepare students for college
NEW WEST DALLAS being documented by Simmons and careers in a rapidly changing
STEM SCHOOL School researchers and educators
to codify a process that can be
world. That readiness also requires
addressing issues outside the
WELCOMED ITS successfully duplicated in other classroom that can derail learning.
FIRST STUDENTS. Dallas schools and, eventually, across “We want our students to learn
the nation. new ways of thinking and find the
From the beginning, bringing
neighborhood stakeholders to the
table was crucial to understanding the
Science teacher Elizabeth Blue-Allen (right
needs and aspirations of the families photo), the school’s STEM curriculum
served by the school, which is housed coordinator, leads project-based lessons with
students working in teams.
12 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021best solutions to emerging addressing broader community needs,
challenges. For this to including access to transportation,”
happen, guidance is says Sean Suggs, director, Toyota USA
essential, so we have Foundation and group vice president,
created strong professional Toyota Social Innovation.
learning groups for teachers Prior to the school’s opening this
so they can advance fall, the Toyota USA Foundation
too,” says Stephanie L. approved a grant of $3 million to SMU,
Knight, Leon Simmons adding to the $2 million grant the
Endowed Dean of the foundation awarded in September
Simmons School. 2018. This is in addition to Toyota’s
"Wraparound" teacher and community grants, West
academic and social services Dallas scholarship and mentorship
will be delivered by local nonprofits programs, and the recently launched
directly to students to help with such transportation circulator in the area.
issues as literacy, nutrition and after- The school’s innovative ecosystem
school care. recently received another boost from
“Together with the community, business leader Carter Creech ’60, project. Creech’s contribution will go
we have worked on everything from an SMU alumnus with a passion for toward a new middle school career
building design, teacher development, education philanthropy, who pledged and college readiness pilot program
curriculum and before- and after- an additional $3.5 million, following at the school, as well as efforts to
school care. This extends also to his initial gift of $1.5 million to the replicate the West Dallas STEM
School.
Master Principal Marion Jackson
has described her school as “the jewel
of West Dallas.”
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime
for the students and community of
West Dallas,” Jackson said during the
virtual groundbreaking for the school
in May. “This partnership has afforded
us the space to realize what’s possible
when we focus our collective efforts
on changing how we meet the needs
of our students and families.”
As the model school continues
to take shape, Simmons School
educators and researchers will
work alongside DISD teachers
on state-of-the-art educational
practices, professional development,
and continuous monitoring and
evaluation of the program.
SMU, D A LLA S AND BEYOND 13Energizing business
education
A $15 million gift from Sharoll and Bryan S. Sheffield ’01 to SMU’s corporate leaders to explore customer
Edwin L. Cox School of Business will empower future entrepreneurs engagement and how it drives loyalty
by creating new technology-equipped collaborative spaces. and value.
Bryan S. Sheffield is founder and
T
heir generous commitment classroom space on the lower level managing partner of Formentera
will establish Bryan S. Sheffield and faculty offices on the second floor. Partners, an energy-focused
Hall, part of the future Cox School “This facility will give our next- investment firm based in Austin. Prior
renovation and expansion project. generation CEOs experience in a data- to Formentera, he founded Parsley
“Bryan is a wonderful example of driven, collaborative environment Energy, an independent oil and gas
how SMU shapes world changers. – and the skills to build trust with company. Credited with leading the
His forward-thinking leadership in customers. Combined, technology and second-most successful exploration
the energy industry is a testament public trust are critical to supporting and production IPO in history,
to his entrepreneurial spirit and the our future energy landscape,” says Sheffield was recognized among
financial acumen he developed as a Bryan S. Sheffield, who received his Forbes’ 40 Under 40 and as Austin
business major in the Cox School,” BBA from Cox School in 2001. Business Journal’s CEO of the Year.
says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. To further enhance the real- At SMU, Sheffield was honored with
Located on the southwest corner world experiences shaping the next the Cox Outstanding Young Alumni
of the renovated business school generation of business leaders, the Award in 2016. He serves on the
quad, Sheffield Hall will serve as the second floor of Sheffield Hall will Maguire Energy Institute Advisory
new hub for Cox School’s Bachelor provide a home for the Brierley Board. In 2014, the Sheffields
of Business Administration (BBA) Institute for Customer Engagement. committed to creating the Scott
program, including BBA admissions, The unique academic institute Sheffield Energy Investment Lab in
academic advising and student brings together students, the Maguire Energy Institute in honor
records. In addition, it will house marketing faculty and of Bryan’s father, veteran energy
industry leader Scott Sheffield.
Sharoll Sheffield serves as principal
at Marbella Interests, where she
advises the Sheffield family’s personal
interests and philanthropic giving.
Under her leadership, the Sheffields
have become generous advocates
for the millions of neglected and
abandoned animals in Texas.
Read more: smu.edu/smumag21sheffield
The gift from Sharoll and Bryan S. Sheffield
’01 offers a new home for SMU's leading
customer engagement institute.
14 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021Longtime academic
leaders honored for
career achievements
An all-University reception in
September celebrated the
academic and campus leadership
MOLUPTAE NUS DOLUPTAS ellam doloreperion
of professors Caroline Brettell and
eossunt iossitaectem aliqui odisciis volorerunt
Tom Fomby, recent recipients of SMU
invero blabo. Bus diaecaes millam, etur sunditi
Faculty Career Achievement Awards in
il inum volupta ped moleniande volupta conese
recognition of their teaching, scholarship
nonecta quis issinveni corrupt iassit earis
and service to the University.
apisqui deligni mendebist laturese reheniendis
Brettell, the 2020 honoree, serves as
nectur minus audis ipsus, ulparum evene volum
chair and Ruth Collins Altshuler Professor
Sparking student success
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of Anthropology. World-
renowned for her
A
$1 million gift from the Hegi Family – Fred ’66 and Jan Hegi ’66 and their sons expertise in
and daughters-in-law, Peter and Amy ’96 and Brian and Elisabeth (Libby) the fields of
– will equip students to navigate today’s fast-changing work environment and migration and
find lifelong career success through the renovation and expansion of SMU’s Hegi the immigrant
Family Career Development Center, located in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. experience,
The Hegis’ generous commitment will modernize conference rooms and the lobby Brettell has written,
of the center, as well as fund the addition of two new career counselors to equip co-authored and edited 19
students with skills that position them for professional success. books and written more than 100 journal
articles and book chapters. In 2017, she
Read more: smu.edu/smumag21hegi was elected as a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Fomby, the 2021 recipient, has been
Modeling STEM roles a professor of economics at SMU since
1975. Fomby has
Paleontologist Myria Perez ’18 published 50
stands next to her digitally generated professional
likeness featured in the #IfThenSheCan articles and
– The Exhibit at NorthPark Center written a
in Dallas. Perez is among more than leading textbook.
120 STEM innovators highlighted in Over the years,
the collection. Her statue holds an air the trailblazing
scribe, one of the tools of her trade teacher has been involved
as a fossil preparator now working in all University enterprises: research,
at the Smithsonian Institution’s publications, presentations at
National Museum of Natural History professional conferences, directing
in Washington, D.C. As a student, she numerous doctoral dissertations,
Photo by James Edward
helped prepare fossils for the SMU- teaching advanced analytics courses and
led exhibit, Sea Monsters Unearthed, participating in the governance of SMU.
currently at the museum.
SMU, D A LLA S AND BEYOND 15Education researcher named to Women’s leadership
national academy initiative launches
This school year, SMU Dedman
R
ichard Duschl, executive School of Law launches the
director of the Lyle School of Jennifer M. Collins Women’s
Engineering's Caruth Institute for Leadership Initiative to explore the
Engineering Education, was selected unique challenges women will face
for membership in the National in their education and in the legal
Academy of Education in recognition profession. The program is made
of his education-related work and possible by a lead gift from The Braly
research. He was one of 22 scholars Family Foundation in honor of Dean
across the nation elected to the Duschl is a past president of Collins.
association in March. NARST, a global organization to Law alumna Angela F. Braly ’85, co-
A widely recognized expert in both improve science teaching through trustee of The Braly Family Foundation
STEM and science education research, research, and received the NARST and former chair of the board, president
Duschl also holds an appointment in Distinguished Career in Research and CEO of WellPoint Inc., a health
the Simmons School of Education and Award in 2014. He also served as care insurance company now known
Human Development in the Teaching director of the Division for Research as Anthem Inc., serves on the boards
and Learning Department. He joined on Learning at the National Science of The Procter & Gamble Company,
SMU in 2018. Foundation. Lowe’s Companies Inc., Brookfield Asset
Management and Exxon Mobil.
SMU’s law school has a long history
Prestigious early career awards fuel rising stars of training leaders in the fight for
Two researchers driving innovation in by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, gender parity. The late Louise B. Raggio
education and engineering recently The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher ’52, for example, played a pivotal role
received national early career awards in Education and Inside Higher Ed and other in the enactment of Texas’ Marital
recognition of their contributions to national news media. Property Bill in 1967, enabling women
their fields. Janille Smith-Colin, assistant to conduct certain financial and
Dominique Baker, assistant professor in the Department of Civil business transactions without their
professor of education policy in the and Environmental Engineering in the husbands’ permission. Less than a
Annette Caldwell Simmons School Lyle School of Engineering, received decade later, Chief Judge Barbara M.
of Education and Human Development, a 2021 Early-Career Research Fellowship Golden Lynn ’76 was among five female
earned the Early Career Award from the from the Gulf Research Program of the law students filing suit against firms
Association for Education Finance National Academies of Sciences, that denied them summer internships
and Policy. The awards are given to Engineering and Medicine. in favor of male students. Lynn went on
scholars who show an exemplary Smith-Colin joined SMU in 2018. to become the first woman appointed
early career trajectory and whose Her wide-ranging research on trans- as chief judge of the U.S. District Court
research substantially contributes to portation infrastructure will continue for the Northern District of Texas, and
the field of education finance and policy. as one of seven fellows selected for the she has been honored by the University
Baker joined SMU in 2016. Her research academies’ new human health and community for her accomplishments with a 2021
focuses on the effects of higher education access resilience track focusing on root causes of SMU Distinguished Alumni Award (see
policies on students, particularly those who are individual and community health and well-being. page 33).
underrepresented within higher education. Each fellow receives a $76,000 award, mentoring
Her work and expertise have been highlighted and support for two years of research.
16 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021Despite some drawbacks the virtual
experience taught everyone involved
valuable lessons for the future, she
says.
“We know we can do a lot of things
online now that we didn’t think we
could before.”
“Early assessments
should be part of
school whether or not
there’s a pandemic.
Every year, teachers
get in a new batch
Fighting the ‘COVID slide’ of kids, and they
need to know what
with one-minute tests is happening with
When the pandemic forced her kindergartners online during the 2020–21 those kids.”
school year, teacher Michelle Davis ’21 deployed quick reading assessments
to assist with keeping their learning on target. – Diane Gifford
L
ast year at F.P. Caillet Elementary youngest students catch up and
in the Dallas Independent School remain motivated to learn.
Regular evaluations have become
District, Davis used a program called Training teachers to use these tests
even more vital as youngsters
DIBELS to test a range of literacy skills. has been a focus for Diane Gifford,
returned to more traditional
Students read grade-level passages clinical associate professor in SMU’s
classroom settings this fall. Davis
to display such competencies as Annette Caldwell Simmons School of
now teaches third grade at Caillet,
identifying letter sounds and compre- Education and Human Development.
and the learning gaps are even more
hending text. The assessments “It’s increasingly important that
pronounced. None of her 44 students
take about one minute and are teachers offer these assessments and
reads at grade level.
typically done at the beginning of the determine where weaknesses are,” she
“Right now, it’s figuring out how
school year and continue every few says. “Early assessments should be
to keep them from falling even
weeks until the end. part of school whether or not there’s
farther behind,” she says. “It’s a huge
“We need to assess the students to a pandemic. Every year, teachers get
challenge.”
know where they are developmentally,” in a new batch of kids, and they need
says Davis, who received her master’s to know what is happening with those
degree in bilingual education from kids.”
SMU in May. Last year a lot of the assessments Teacher Michelle Davis ’21 ends the quick
This kind of rapid, low-key test had to be done virtually. “That’s assessment with a celebratory fist bump to
Angelique Luciano, 6, at F.P. Caillet Elementary
can be an essential tool for teachers not ideal,” particularly for younger in May. Photo by Lynda M. González/The
as they try to help our communities’ students, Gifford says. Dallas Morning News.
SMU, D A LLA S AND BEYOND 17VIRTUAL
LABORATORY
SMU’S CHEMGEN At SMU, big ideas become big breakthroughs. What started as a scrappy
research project conducted in a lecturer’s spare time now has the potential
TECHNOLOGY CUTS to accelerate findings about lifesaving drugs.
TIME, COSTS, Structural biochemistry and computer programming don’t, at first
PERSONNEL NEEDED glance, seem to have much in common.
TO RESEARCH But Associate Professor John Wise in Dedman College’s Department
of Biological Sciences links the two disciplines in a way that has led to a
LIFESAVING DRUGS breakthrough in the important work of drug discovery.
Now, SMU has a patent pending for a set of computational routines under
by Jessica Good the name ChemGen. The computer-driven process can mimic chemical
18 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021reactions in a lab, slashing the time from the very beginning of his nearly help, he collected about 300 used
and number of scientists needed to two-decade career at SMU. desktop computers. OIT helped
begin the development of successful After his biochemistry education at network the machines into a
drugs for specific applications, such as Syracuse University and University “commodity cluster” – a kind of tiny
the treatment of recurrent cancer. of Rochester Medical Center and his supercomputer – housed in basements
That approach could save time and early work as a scientist, Wise arrived and spare rooms across the Hilltop.
money. Medicinal chemists, whose on campus in 2002. He started as a From humble beginnings like those,
specialty is making the compounds lecturer – not a tenure-track position SMU has grown into a supercomputing
found in the discovery phase into – so, for a while, he couldn’t apply powerhouse. SMU’s ManeFrame
drugs, are extremely well-paid organic II, one of the most powerful
chemists, Wise says. supercomputers in North American
“In the old-school way, the head of higher education, is completely
the research would pick a couple of
What is accessible to SMU students and
projects and put 10 to 20 chemists on
each project,” says Wise, ChemGen’s
structural faculty, as well as to research partners
outside the University.
lead inventor. And that gets expensive. biochemistry? Why are computers so much faster
Wise has been working for more than at this work than scientists? Imagine
a decade with other SMU scientists,
Structural biochemistry, a drug-researching scientist as a
a subdiscipline of
including students, to develop what blindfolded auto mechanic, Wise
biochemistry, is concerned
became ChemGen. The idea came while suggests. That mechanic might get
with elucidating the
Wise and biology Professor Pia Vogel, really good at fixing cars, but having
molecular structures in
founding director of SMU’s Center for eyes on the problem would be a vastly
living organisms that
Drug Discovery, Design and Delivery, make life possible. It faster approach.
were trying to find compounds that encompasses the structures Even for skilled organic chemists,
can reverse chemotherapy failure in of the thousands of different the early part of drug discovery is
aggressive cancers. proteins in each cell that like working with a blindfold on,
Wise’s current lab group members actually do the work of life, Wise says. Scientists find the specific
include a graduate student and as well as the RNA and proteins causing the disease on a
several undergraduates – reflecting DNA molecules that encode molecular level, then attack them by
SMU’s commitment to helping the information for building optimizing that vulnerability. But the
students conduct research as early the organism. only way to see what’s happening on
as their first term on the Hilltop. such a small scale is via still pictures.
SMU graduate student Hang Zhao Wise’s team’s new computational
and undergraduates Keola Ching ’22, routines give researchers a look at
Kyra Rozanitis ’22, Justin Chung ’22, for grants or have a team of graduate how these proteins actually move
Patrick Isaac ’23, Zuhair Almahayni students assisting him with research. in the cell, not only taking off the
’23 and Bela Pathak ’25 are the current But, he says, “If I don’t do research, metaphorical mechanic’s blindfold,
members of the Drug Discovery at I stop breathing.” So this structural but also giving them a video that
SMU lab group. biochemist found a way – through shows exactly what movements are
SMU’s support for research helped computers. happening at a molecular level so they
Wise develop his area of expertise Despite a heavy teaching load, Wise can seek the most effective way to
started an evening computational target a disease.
Lead inventor John Wise (center) and a team of research program. With the SMU Part of his work, Wise says, “is
professors and graduate students developed Office of Information Technology’s bringing these snapshots alive.”
ChemGen computational routines.
RESEA RCH WITH IMPACT 19Biomechanics society
honors Peter Weyand
Renowned biomechanist and human performance scholar Peter Weyand received the Jim Hay Memorial Award for
Research in Sports and Exercise from the American Society of Biomechanics during its annual conference in August.
T
he award recognizes “originality, Education and Human Development. “Running Fast vs. Running Far,” an
quality and depth of He joined SMU in 2008. interactive experience published on
biomechanics research that addresses His scholarly work focuses The New York Times website in July,
fundamental research questions on mechanics, metabolism and brought three elite runners to SMU for
relevant to extraordinary demands performance at the whole-body testing in the lab on the world’s fastest
imposed in sport and exercise.” level. He directs the SMU Locomotor treadmill and analysis by Weyand.
Weyand, a biomechanist and Laboratory and has done extensive As Weyand explained in the feature,
physiologist, holds the Glenn analysis of many top runners, “how much force runners deliver into
Simmons Endowed Professorship of including Usain Bolt, the retired the ground with their legs is the single
Applied Physiology and Biomechanics Jamaican athlete widely considered to event that determines a runner’s
in the Department of Applied be the world’s greatest sprinter. velocity.”
Physiology and Wellness in SMU’s The award topped off an eventful In May, Weyand’s work assisted
Annette Caldwell Simmons School of spring and summer for the researcher. the governing bodies of track and
field athletes to make an equitable
participation ruling prior to
Olympic competition in Tokyo. The
World Athletics panel ruled that
sprinter Blake Leeper could not
use unnaturally long, blade-like
prostheses in competition because
they gave him “an overall competitive
advantage.”
The ruling followed testing by
Weyand and University of Montana
professor Matt Bundle on Leeper and
his running specific prostheses at
the SMU Locomotor Laboratory in
February and March. The researchers
provided a detailed explanation of
why, all other things being equal,
increased leg length leads to increased
running speed.
Peter Weyand directs research at the SMU Locomotor Laboratory, home of the world’s fastest treadmill.
His biomechanics research has received national recognition for its “originality, quality and depth.”
20 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021SMU astrophysicist’s
‘extreme’ research
earns NASA grant
Astrophysicist Krista Lynne Smith will use a
grant from NASA to study some of the most
extreme objects in the universe: galaxies that
feature a supermassive black hole that greedily
feeds on a disklike flow of gas.
T
he two-year award of $215,000 will allow Smith to
analyze data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite – known as TESS – to answer a variety of questions
about active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the gas that fuels
them. TESS is an optical telescope that collects light curves
on everything in its field of view, every half hour, in an
attempt to find new planets outside of our solar system.
Learning more about AGN could shed new light on
supermassive black holes, the most powerfully persistent
sources of energy in the universe. Smith, an assistant
professor of physics in Dedman College of Humanities
and Sciences, and her team are part of a worldwide effort
deploying instruments on Earth and in space to unlock new
information about how the universe works.
Smith has already used TESS data to study other high-
energy objects in space. For example, the light curve data
helped Smith and her team spot a gamma-ray burst, one of
the brightest explosions in the universe.
Celebrating 51 years of research with impact
SMU Geothermal Laboratory got a Texas-size salute this year for its more than
five decades of research and outreach to advance the understanding of
geothermal resources throughout the Unites States. The Texas House passed HR Bill 2077
during the regular session of the 87th Legislature to congratulate the lab on its legacy of
research on geothermal energy – the heat produced inside Earth. The lab was established at
SMU in 1970 by David Blackwell, professor emeritus of earth sciences in Dedman College of
Humanities and Sciences, whose pioneering work included the first geothermal map of North
America. Today, Professor Matt Hornbach and the lab team continue to build on that foundation.
The lab has received research grants from the Department of Energy, the National Science
Foundation, the Texas State Energy Conservation Office and Google.org, among others.
RESEA RCH WITH IMPACT 21ALZHEIMER’S BREAKTHROUGH
A new SMU study shows how a “good” protein has the ability to remove a toxin from the brain that’s
associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
by Monifa Thomas-Nguyen “Amyloid-ß is maybe five times impossible,” says McCormick, who
bigger than the small, drug-like received his PhD in molecular and cell
T
he finding could lead to new molecules that P-glycoproteins are well biology from SMU.
treatments for the disease that known to move. It would be like taking SMU researchers might never have
affects nearly 6 million Americans. New York pizza and trying to stuff that investigated the link between P-gp
That hope motivated lead researchers whole slice in your mouth and swallow and amyloid-ß proteins if not for
James W. McCormick ’17 and Lauren it,” says John Wise, associate professor McCormick’s dogged pursuit of the
Ammerman ’21 to pursue the research of biochemistry and senior author of connection. He devoted hours of his
as SMU graduate students after the study. own time to use a computer-generated
they both lost a grandmother to the The fact that P-gp appears to be able model of P-glycoprotein that he and
disease. to do just that “greatly expands the Wise created.
In the Alzheimer’s brain, abnormal possible range of things that P-gp can McCormick completed the
levels of amyloid-ß proteins clump transport, which opens the possibility computational work with the help of
together to form plaques that collect that it may interact with other his fiancee, Ammerman, who received
between neurons and can disrupt factors that were previously thought her PhD in biology from SMU.
cell function. This is believed to be
one of the key factors that triggers
memory loss, confusion and other
common symptoms associated with
Alzheimer’s disease.
The team used computer
simulations and cell studies to confirm
the ability of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)
to expel this Alzheimer’s-related
protein. Similar to how a sump pump
in your house removes water from
the basement, P-gp swallows harmful
drugs or toxins within the cell and then
spits them back outside the cell.
Amyloid-ß’s large size created
questions about whether
P-glycoprotein could actually inhale it
and pump it back out.
For Lauren Ammerman ’21 and James W.
McCormick ’17, who are getting married in
November, Alzheimer’s disease research was
personal. Both lost a grandmother to the
brain disease.
22 SMU MAGAZINE FA LL 2021TOP
20%
National universities ranked in
U.S. News & World Report 2022
Top STEM rankings
SMU programs in Dedman
College of Humanities and
Sciences and Lyle School of
Engineering are represented
A dino discovery with teeth in Diverse: Issues in Higher
Education’s prestigious Top
Producers of Minority STEM
The discovery of the first juvenile dromaeosaurid lower jawbone on the North
Slope of Alaska supports a growing theory that some Cretaceous Arctic Graduates:
dinosaurs did not migrate with the seasons but were year-round residents,
14
according to new research by SMU paleontologist Anthony Fiorillo.
No.
D
romaeosaurids are a group of spent his summer camping on the
predatory dinosaurs closely riverbanks and mountainsides of
Mathematics and statistics,
related to birds. Researchers Alaska, searching for fossils.
topping Harvard at No. 17
have tended to believe that Although his fieldwork
this group of dinosaurs was derailed last year,
42
migrated through the he picked it up again
area but did not make this summer. The
their homes there. Washington Post
No.
Baby dinosaur bones documented his eight-
don't preserve well in the day trek with colleagues
(tied with Harvard)
fossil record because they from Alaska and Japan on
Computer and information sciences,
are small and delicate, which the hunt for dinosaur footprints master’s degree
makes this discovery of a baby’s that could help explain how “they
jawbone particularly unique, Fiorillo were living, breeding, doing things
45
says. But don’t be fooled by their fine that dinosaurs did to be successful,”
bone structure. Velociraptors, the Fiorillo explained in the article.
dinosaurs that terrorized the kids No.
in the famed Jurassic Park kitchen
scene, are members of this same Rendering by artist Andrey Atuchin of a Engineering, master’s degree
sharp-toothed family, he says. juvenile dromaeosaurid 70 million years ago
on the Prince Creek Formation in northern
For the last 22 years, Fiorillo has Alaska.
RESEA RCH WITH IMPACT 23You can also read
