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2018 December 2018 News

Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 to deliver December Commencement address

Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 is president and CEO of DFI Management, Ltd., and the general partner of Putterboy, Ltd., the owner of the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina. He is chair of the SMU Board of Trustees.

At SMU, Dedman is continuing the historic leadership and vision of his parents, Nancy Dedman ’50 and the late Robert H. Dedman, Sr. ’53 LLM, who served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1976 to 2002 and as its chair from 1992 to 1996. Their major gifts to SMU have had a sweeping impact, including in the areas of humanities and sciences, law and lifetime sports.

Watch the ceremony live, beginning at 9:30 a.m., at smu.edu/live.

Read more at SMU Enrollment Services.

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2018 December 2018 News

Cox reveals the Dallas area’s fastest-growing entrepreneurial companies

Revolution Retail Systems, a Carrollton-based cash automation and recycling tech provider, is the fastest-growing entrepreneurial company in the Dallas area, according to the SMU Cox School of Business’s Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship.
“Revolution has increased sales almost tenfold over the last three years, evidence of the rapid growth that made it the No. 1 company this year,” said Simon Mak, associate director of the Caruth Institute. “Often, the privately held corporations, proprietorships and partnerships we honor through Dallas 100™ don’t get a lot of recognition and yet, like Revolution, they contribute greatly to our economy.”
Mak is pictured above with Mark Levenick, president and CEO of Revolution Retail Systems.
The Institute’s annual Dallas 100™, a celebration of the fastest-growing, privately-held businesses in the Dallas area, revealed the area’s top entrepreneurial companies in rank order from 100 to one before a crowd of about 1,000 people on November 1.
The Caruth Institute, working with the accounting firm BKD LLP CPAs and Advisors examined sales from hundreds of companies for 2015 to 2017, the last year for which complete data is available. The winners represent a wide swath of Dallas-area businesses. The winning companies collectively generated $3.3 billion in sales in 2017, according to Jerry White, the Linda A. and Kenneth R. Morris Endowed Director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at SMU Cox. Collectively, the companies grew at an average annual growth rate of 87 percent from 2015 to 2017. Together, they created 11,096 jobs in that same period.
Read more at SMU Cox.

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2018 December 2018 News

Studying public policy and medicine goes hand in hand

Biological sciences major Noelle Kendall ’19 combines her interest in medicine with public policy as a Highland Capital Management Tower Scholar at SMU. “Medicine/science and public policy seem to be two very different fields, and they are, but each one heavily affects the other,” she says. “I think it is important that these two worlds find a connection so that they can better understand each other. This understanding would lead to more comprehensive science policy and a scientific community that understands and works with its government for safe, efficient progress.”
Read more at SMU Tower Center.

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December 2018 News

Marine vet marches toward a costume design career

At the end of her first year in SMU’s M.F.A. program in theatre design, Yvonne Johnston earned a career-influencing costume design internship with the Television Academy in Los Angeles. “It was the most epic experience of my life,” she says.
That’s saying a lot.
A Marine veteran, Johnston was in boot camp when the 9/11 attacks occurred. It wasn’t long before she was an ammunition technician providing supplies to soldiers in Kuwait.
Toward the end of her almost five years of service, she was back in the U.S. giving birth to her first son. Taking stock of her future, she tapped into resources provided by the Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment to earn her undergraduate degree.
She enrolled in the University of North Texas’ competitive fashion design program in 2006, but had difficulties transitioning out of the military. She not only had to readjust to civilian life, but also to life as a brand-new mother. It took her six years to finish her B.F.A. degree in fashion design, and points to the discipline she gained in the Marines with helping her persevere.
After working in the local fashion industry, where her credits include designing a shirt for Big Tex, the 55-foot animatronic cowboy who greets visitors to the State Fair of Texas, she was accepted into the Meadows School of the Arts’ M.F.A. program.
Johnson has worked as an assistant costume designer on Dallas Theater Center’s production of A Winter’s Tale. Her most recent work was designing costumes for A Lie of the Mind, presented by the Meadows Theatre Division.
“It’s a demanding program,” she says. “Me, I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m worn down, but I love it. I’m getting to better myself, I’m getting to do something fun. I’ve been where I’m not doing anything fun – like getting shot at in the desert – so I’m like, this is nothing. I get to meet new people and interact with them, and have these ideas, and I get to be creative!”
Read more at SMU Meadows.

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December 2018 News

Double-double record holder Ira Terrell ’76 to be honored

SMU will honor the jersey of the Mustang legend during a halftime ceremony on January 12 at Moody Coliseum. Ira Terrell ’76 wore No. 32 during his Mustang basketball career, 1972–76.

His jersey will join those of Mustang basketball legends Jim Krebs ’57, Jon Koncak ’85 and Gene Phillips ’71 in being recognized by SMU. Terrell was inducted into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Terrell was the 1976 Southwest Conference Player of the Year and was a three-time All-SWC first team honoree. He is the only Mustang to average a double-double for three seasons. He finished his career as the SMU leader and now ranks second all-time in rebounds (1,077).
Read more at SMU Athletics.

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2018 December 2018 News

No. 2 Mustangs finish fall season undefeated

Remaining undefeated throughout the fall, the No. 2 Mustangs enjoyed an 8-6 away victory against No. 8 Delaware State on November 16.
Led by a dominant 3-1 performance by SMU’s reining squad, the Mustangs compiled a conference win over the Hornets that culminated in a perfect 6-0 season, so far. SMU is the only team in the UEC with no losses and one of only two teams in the entire NCEA that remains undefeated.
The Mustangs swept Most Outstanding Player honors at the meet with Devin Seek in equitation over fences, Vivian Yowan in equitation on the flat (her third consecutive Hunter Seat MOP), Megan Waldron in horsemanship and Aubrey Alderman in reining, earning top recognition out of all the riders.
Read more at SMU Athletics.

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2018 Alumni December 2018 News

ICYMI: In Case You Missed It

Enjoy this roundup of interesting stories and videos highlighting some of the people and events making news on the Hilltop.