Dallas, Texas (SMU) – A $5 million gift from entrepreneurs Elisabeth Martin Armstrong and William D. Armstrong will further academic and research excellence in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences by endowing the school’s dean position.
With over 300 full-time faculty members and 1,500 courses spread across 16 academic departments, Dedman College is the oldest academic school at SMU, dating to the University’s opening in 1915.
Thomas DiPiero, who has been leading Dedman College as dean since 2014, now becomes the Elisabeth Martin Armstrong Dean. The Armstrongs, who met at SMU and graduated from Dedman College in 1982 with degrees in geology, are co-owners of Armstrong Oil and Gas and Epoch Estate Wines.
“Leadership is crucial to the ways the University empowers our students as they pursue their academic goals,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “By endowing the Dedman College dean position, the Armstrongs will equip its leadership with the financial resources necessary to help meet the ever-evolving needs of the academic landscape for generations to come.”
The Armstrongs’ gift to Dedman College will also support one of the major goals of SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow, the University’s multiyear $1.5 billion campaign for impact, by enriching teaching and research, as well as furthering SMU’s strategic plan to increase its number of endowed faculty positions in the coming years.
“Dedman College played a pivotal role in how Bill and I met and in our professional success,” said Liz Armstrong. “We are incredibly proud to support and strengthen the future of humanities and sciences education at SMU, and we are excited about the lifelong impact that this gift will have on students and faculty research.”
“We are honored to forever be connected to Dedman College’s future,” said Bill Armstrong, CEO of Armstrong Oil and Gas. “The teaching and research being conducted and the lessons being taught at Dedman College have effects far beyond Dallas. We are excited to see our investment support innovation and excellence in the years to come.”
Recipients of SMU’s 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award, the University’s highest honor, the Armstrongs have long been avid SMU supporters, making many generous contributions to academic, athletic and student-life initiatives over the years.
In September 2022, they committed $15 million to support the Garry Weber End Zone complex, the expansion and improvement project at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium, home to Mustang football. A 2018 gift from the Armstrongs established the Armstrong Fieldhouse within the SMU Indoor Performance Center, providing student-athletes with state-of-the-art training and practice facilities. In 2011, the couple helped create a new home for SMU student residents by committing the leading gift to a new Residential Commons complex. Supporting SMU as far away as New Mexico, the Armstrongs also committed funds to construct the Casita Armstrong student residence at the SMU-in-Taos campus, where they attended geology field camp as undergraduate students.
Read more about the Armstrongs and their endowment of the Dedman College deanship here.