SMU alumni and supporters were major players in planning for Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium February 6. And SMU alumnus Ted Thompson ’75 is executive vice president and general manager of the champion Green Bay Packers. The Packers captured their fourth Super Bowl title with a 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bill Lively ’65 leads the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
Alumnus Bill Lively ’65 served as president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. Joining him was law alumna Kit Sawers ’93, the committee’s vice president of special events, who previously coordinated SMU’s Athletic Forum/Doak Walker Award and Tate Distinguished Lecture Series.
Gene and Jerry Jones are SMU donors and parents. Gene serves on the SMU Board of Trustees and Jerry owns Cowboys Stadium. Gene also serves on SMU’s Second Century Campaign committees and several school and libraries’ executive boards. Daughter Charlotte Jones Anderson is on the Tate Board and son (John) Stephen Jones is on the SMU Athletic Forum Board. Son Jerral Wayne “Jerry” Jones, Jr. ’95 received his J.D. from SMU.
The late Lamar Hunt ’56, left, with Gene and Jerry Jones.
SMU’s Super Bowl connections date to its beginning in 1967 – SMU alumnus and former trustee Lamar Hunt Sr. ’56 coined the term when he was chair of the Kansas City Chiefs. Son Clark ’87, an SMU trustee, now chairs the board of the Chiefs. He also serves on SMU’s Second Century Campaign Executive Committee, Athletics Campaign Committee and Cox School of Business Executive Board.
Emmanuel Sanders ’09, who helped the Mustangs win the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in 2009, was part of Super Bowl XLV history as a player for American Football Conference (AFC) champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. As conference champions, the Steelers received the Lamar Hunt Trophy. Hunt founded the AFC in 1970.
For Bill Lively, starting his career as a band director was good training for coordinating one of the world’s biggest sporting events. It will require perfect timing, knowing the score – and practice, practice, practice. Except that now, “there are a lot more players in this band,” he jokes, including the host committee’s dozens of staffers and thousands of volunteers for the game and surrounding events.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in music from Meadows School of the Arts in 1965, Lively returned to SMU in 1973 as assistant Mustang Band director. He served 25 years in a variety of roles, most recently as vice president for development and external affairs. After leaving SMU in 2000, he spent eight years as founding president and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. SMU honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.
“At SMU I learned how important it is to recruit and work with remarkable volunteers,” he says. “If you get great people and let them lead where they have the capacity, you can do anything in this city.”
When his host committee duties end, Lively will transition to another high-profile post: president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Lively hopes that the North Texas region’s first Super Bowl creates a sense of harmony, leaving the region “more united than at the beginning of this exercise.“
Spoken like a true bandleader.
– Whit Sheppard ’88