Roy M. Huffington (’38), who invested his faith and funds in SMU for the long term, died July 11 at the age of 90. Over many years of support for the University, Huffington had given SMU a total of more than $31 million, including a recent gift of more than $10 million to endow the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences. At a memorial service for the SMU community in September, his daughter, Terry Huffington Dittman, revealed the motivation behind her father’s generosity.

“Upon my father’s death, our family received calls and letters from people expressing their condolences and talking about how my father made a difference in their lives. They talked about a lot of his characteristics – that he was kind, gracious, honorable, energetic, charismatic, inspirational, visionary, knowledgeable and brilliant, and that he was a respected geologist and true icon in his industry. And yet most frequently what came out was that he was an incredibly generous man. He gave not for public recognition but because he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. He gave the three Ws – wealth, wisdom and work. His involvement with SMU is a great example of this core value. He loved this University, and thanks to it, he not only discovered a field of study that became his passion, but his eyes were opened to opportunities that he never would have considered before coming here. His gifts to SMU were the largest he ever gave to a single institution. He had such belief in this institution’s future – what it offers students today and can offer them in the future – that he wanted to give something that said, ’I believe SMU will be around a long time and I want to invest in it for its long term, even when I’m not here.’ ”