Dallas Morning News
Originally Posted: September 15, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK — Dallas businessman Jorge Baldor said he wants to create a “why not me” effect among a new generation of Hispanics who will take public office and reshape public policy.
Toward that mission, the 59-year-old Cuban-born son of a carpenter and teacher is giving $900,000 over five years to Southern Methodist University for a Latino-focused think tank. The venture will be an academic partnership with SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and the Latino Center for Leadership Development, a group Baldor created and funded about a year ago.
“America is in the midst of a fundamental, Latino-driven demographic shift,” Baldor said Tuesday in making the announcement at SMU. Already, four out of 10 Texans are Hispanic. Latinos will represent about 30 percent of the nation by 2050, said Baldor, citing the Pew Research Center. READ MORE