Education & The Arts

Both Sam and Charles have played leading roles in important initiatives benefiting education and the arts.

For example, Charles and Sam have provided scholarships and endowed professorships at their alma mater, Louisiana Tech University. They helped establish the F. Jay Taylor Eminent Scholar Chair in journalism and the Robert C. Snyder Endowed Professorship in English. Charles also played a central role in the campaign to establish the Charles Wyly Athletic Center, which opened in June 2001 on the campus.

Charles and Sam also support a number of academic programs at the elementary and secondary school levels. For example, Sam is now a principal in the K12 (www.k12.com) initiative, which is designed to bring academic resources to deserving young people across the country.

Both Charles and Sam have served in various leadership capacities and have spearheaded fundraising at academic institutions such as Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Dallas, and Princeton. Charles chaired the capital campaign for both St. Alcuin Montessori School and Lakehill Preparatory School, enabling both schools to secure their permanent campuses.

Charles, through his leadership as chairman of the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), helped secure the now $261 million Texas High School Project at CFT. This public-private partnership, which is focusing on economically disadvantaged urban school districts, includes the Texas Education Agency, the Office of the Governor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

More recently, Charles and his wife, Dee, have supported special events for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The Foundation supports more than 450 family literacy programs in 48 states.

The Wyly family has pledged more than $20 million in support of the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, a future 11-story theater venue that will serve as a gateway into the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. The project will play a leading role in giving Dallas one of the most preeminent arts districts in the country.