Robert Hyer Thomas ’53 (back row, third from right) was joined by his wife, Gail Griffin Thomas ’58 (to his right), and members of their extended family at the renaming of the street after his grandfather and SMU founder, Robert S. Hyer.
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A Hyer Honor
Hilltop Lane has been renamed Robert S. Hyer Lane in honor of SMU’s first president.
Hilltop Lane has been renamed Robert S. Hyer Lane, in honor of SMU’s first president. The street runs in front of Hyer Hall and DeGolyer Library. Hyer, former president of Southwestern University in Georgetown, was a key player in SMU’s founding in 1911. Several of Hyer’s descendents, including his grandson, Robert Hyer Thomas ’53, attended the unveiling in April. In a tribute to Hyer, President R. Gerald Turner said, “Robert Hyer was rightfully proud of what he had done in helping to create the University, but he also challenged others not to be content with the present. The present should be used, he argued, to build the future.”