SMU has some good news to announce this morning. The school has received $1.5 million to fund an endowed chair in the Meadows School’s Division of Art History. The money is a gift from the Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education out of Fort Worth. Marguerite Kleinheinz is a recent SMU graduate.

“Our art history faculty are doing remarkable new things that will change the way art is studied,” Meadows Dean José Bowen said in a news release. “With this exceptionally generous gift, we will be able to recruit and retain outstanding professors and continue to enhance our reputation as one of the very best art history departments in the country.”

You can read the news release below:

DALLAS (SMU) — A $1.5 million gift from the Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education will establish an endowed chair in the Division of Art History at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.

“We are deeply grateful to the Kleinheinz Family Endowment for its generosity and visionary support,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “This gift will enable Meadows School of the Arts to add further strength to the faculty and academic offerings in one of the school’s leading departments. The gift supports a major goal of SMU’s Second Century Campaign to endow 100 faculty positions and brings the current total to 86.”

The Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education is a private charitable foundation supported through generous contributions from Marsha and John B. Kleinheinz of Fort Worth. Their daughter, Marguerite, graduated from Meadows School of the Arts in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in art history.

“We are very impressed with Marguerite’s experience at the Meadows School and SMU.  Meadows Dean José Bowen has made great progress during his tenure,” said Marsha Kleinheinz, president of the Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education.  “We want to support the future of the University that is so important to our family.”

John B. Kleinheinz, a Stanford University graduate, started his career as an investment banker engaged in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions for Nomura Securities and Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, New York and London. In 1996 he established Kleinheinz Capital Partners, Inc., a private investment management firm in Fort Worth.

Marsha Kleinheinz earned a B.B.A. degree from SMU in 1983. She is currently involved in several charitable organizations, including Gill Children’s Services, The Warm Place, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Van Cliburn Foundation, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Performing Arts of Fort Worth and North Texas Public Broadcasting. Marsha and John Kleinheinz have three children.

“Our art history faculty are doing remarkable new things that will change the way art is studied,” said Meadows Dean José Bowen. “With this exceptionally generous gift, we will be able to recruit and retain outstanding professors and continue to enhance our reputation as one of the very best art history departments in the country.”

SMU Provost Paul W. Ludden added, “The Kleinheinz Family Endowed Chair in Art History will help to ensure the continued development of the Art History Division as one of SMU’s strongest academic units. It will enhance the entire University as a center of excellence for historical studies.”

The $1.5 million gift from the Kleinheinz Family Endowment counts toward the $750 million goal of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which to date has raised more than $653 million to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. The campaign coincides with SMU’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915.

The Meadows School of the Arts, formally established at SMU in 1969, is one of the foremost arts education institutions in the United States. The Meadows School comprises 10 academic divisions: the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Art (including the Center of Creative Computation), Art History, Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship, Communication Studies, Dance, Film and Media Arts, Journalism, Music and Theatre. The Division of Art History offers B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.

The mission of the Meadows School is to educate visionary artists, scholars and arts and communications professionals prepared to create sustainable and transformative impact. It is also committed to providing an ongoing opportunity for all SMU students to grow in the understanding and appreciation of the arts. The Meadows School is a leader in developing innovative outreach and community engagement programs, challenging its students to make a difference locally and globally by developing connections between arts entrepreneurship and social change.