SMU engineering school gets $10.1M gift

Southern Methodist University's School of Engineering said Thursday it received a $10.1 million donation from the W.W. Caruth Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas.

The private university in Dallas said $5.1 million of the money will go toward establishing and endowing the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education at SMU, and $5 million will go toward a new building to house it.

The institute promotes engineering and technology education in students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, in 2002, helped establish the Institute for Engineering Education through a federal grant.

"The hard reality is that we are falling behind in the pace of discovery and, ultimately, in our ability to compete in a world driven by innovation," School of Engineering Dean Geoffrey C. Orsak said in a statement on SMU's Web site Thursday. "We expect the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education to help overcome this deficit as it becomes a national center of excellence in researching, developing and delivering innovative K-16 engineering education programs."

The Caruth Foundation supports education, scientific research, medical advancement and public safety initiatives. It was established by W.W. Caruth Jr., who died in 1990, developed and managed the family's prolific real estate holdings in the Dallas area for more than four decades. His father, W. W. Caruth Sr., donated farmland in 1911 that provided the original land for the SMU campus.

Web site: www.smu.edu