O’Donnell Foundation

The Dallas Opera Gets $25M From O’Donnell Foundation, Raised Record $54.5M in 2025

by | Jan 22, 2026
The challenge grant by the Dallas-based O'Donnell Foundation was earned after The Dallas Opera raised $29.5 million in 2025 from well over 100 donors, marking the largest campaign in the company's history.
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O’Donnell Foundation Commits Up to $60M+ for SMU Energy Program, Academy Honors Fund
by | Dec 10, 2025
The investment will establish a new Energy Science, Innovation, and Enterprise program and boost SMU’s reach in recruiting top students and faculty, the university said. One key goal: connecting talent directly with the companies and industries shaping the future.
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Dallas County Promise Announces Education, Workforce Training Investments Topped by $60M from O’Donnell Foundation
by | Dec 6, 2024
The Dallas County Promise—powered by Dallas College and the Commit Partnership—said the O’Donnell Foundation investment is "one of the largest education investments supporting economically disadvantaged students in North Texas history."
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UTSW Professor to Receive O’Donnell Award in Biological Sciences
by | Jan 15, 2024
Molecular biologist Vincent Tagliabracci, who was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator in 2021, will be honored by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology for his groundbreaking work on so-called zombie enzymes.
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12 Acres of Creativity: UT Dallas Breaks Ground on a $158M Cultural Arts District

by | May 12, 2022
The Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum will feature three new buildings: a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art; a performance hall; and a second museum focused on traditional arts of the Americas. The project's designer, global architectural firm Morphosis, designed the Perot Museum in downtown Dallas.
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UT Southwestern’s New School of Public Health Lands $100M Gift—One of the Largest for a Public School of Its Kind
by | Mar 2, 2022
The University’s newest school in more than 50 years will be named after Peter O’Donnell Jr., the late local investor and visionary philanthropist. The School of Public Health will be "research-intensive,' says Interim Dean Celette Sugg Skinner.

The school plans to welcome its first class of Master of Public Health students in the fall of 2023, followed by classes for Ph.D. students in the fall of 2024.
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Rocket taking off
SMU STEM Academy Launches DISD Teachers to New Heights
by | Jun 26, 2017
This summer, Dallas ISD teachers are going to school — learning ways to increase student interest in STEM subjects.
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