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Founded | August 22, 1942 |
---|---|
Founder | William Lewis Moody Jr. Libbie Rice Shearn Moody |
Type | Grant making private foundation (IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3) |
Focus | Arts, education, environment, public green spaces, health, and social services |
Location |
|
Area served | Texas |
Method | Endowment |
Key people | Chairman - Frances Moody-Dahlberg |
Endowment | $1.8 billion USD [2] |
Website | www.moodyf.org |
The Moody Foundation is a charitable foundation incorporated in Texas and based in the island city of Galveston. It was chartered in 1942 by William Lewis Moody Jr. and his wife Libbie Rice Shearn Moody "to benefit, in perpetuity, present and future generations of Texans." The Foundation focuses the majority of its funding on programs involving education, social services, children's needs, and community development. [3]
For more than 75 years, the Moody Foundation has supported projects and programs that better communities in the state of Texas. [4] Since then, the Foundation has awarded over $1.5 billion and over 4,000 grants to organizations across the state that have educated, healed, nurtured and inspired generations of Texans. Grants are made through its Galveston, Texas headquarters and through a field office located in Dallas. In terms of assets, it is one of the largest foundations in Texas, and among the top 100 largest charitable foundations in the United States. [2]
The Foundation's main source of revenue consists of dividends from stock held in the American National Insurance Company, the majority of which is controlled by both the Moody Foundation and the Libbie Shearn Moody Trust. The trust department of the Moody National Bank administers the finances of both the Foundation and the Trust. [5] [6] [7]
The Foundation commits the majority of its grants and funding to the Foundation-initiated projects of Moody GardensMoody Gardens, the Transitional Learning Center, the Moody Scholars Program and the Generation Moody Education Initiative. Over the years, it has expanded the scope of its grants to include projects across Texas. [3] [8]
Moody Gardens is an educational & tourist complex located in the foundation's home city of Galveston, Texas. It is owned, through a complex agreement, by the City of Galveston but funded, operated, and supported by the foundation. As of 2005, the foundation had expended almost $300 million USD towards the construction, expansion, and maintenance of the facility. [9]
Moody Gardens features three main attractions: the Aquarium Pyramid, which is one of the largest in the world and holds many species of fish and other sealife; the Rainforest Pyramid, which contains tropical fauna and flora; and the Discovery Pyramid, which focuses on science-oriented exhibits and activities. Another major attraction is Palm Beach, a landscaped white-sand beach with freshwater lagoons and offering children's activities. Moody Gardens also has a RideFilm Theater with motion-based pod seating, a 3-D IMAX theater, a paddlewheel cruise boat, a hotel and a convention center.
The Transitional Learning Center (TLC) is a facility that specializes solely in post-acute brain injury rehabilitation. It was started by the Foundation in 1982, in response to a brain injury suffered by a son of trustee Robert L. Moody. The center provides survivors of acute brain injury with rehabilitation services needed to help patients overcome their injuries and regain independence.
In addition to providing medical treatment and support, TLC is involved with extensive brain research programs and offers educational training programs for the medical field. [10]
In 2005 the Foundation expended $38.1 million USD towards supporting and expanding the Transitional Learning Center and its programs. [11]
The Moody Scholars Program was initiated by the Moody Foundation in 1969 to provide financial assistance to qualified high school students in their pursuit of an undergraduate degree in the state of Texas. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $15 million in scholarships to more than 5,000 Texas students to attend college via the Moody Scholars program.
Generation Moody Education Initiative, an initiative led by the Moody Foundation, launched in early 2018 to create an educational attainment program for young students in the Galveston area. It unites Galveston's schools – both public and private – and the broader education community. With a vision of fostering educational growth to create an educational attainment program, Generation Moody offers grants to local programs focused on raising student achievement. Since early 2018, the Moody Foundation has awarded more than $28 million to local educational organizations aimed at increasing student success. Such organizations have helped students gain access to enriching after-school programs, develop technological literacy, bolster professional development and much more.
The initiative aims to provide evidence-based professional development, increase parent engagement, and increase academic enrichment through summer/after school programs and purposeful field trips. In addition, the organization has come up with factors to support their mission: add or expand on programs involving STEM, IT, and robotics as well as increasing local business involvement through job shadowing and guest speakers.
The Generation Moody Education Initiative also connects longstanding Moody Foundation projects such as the Moody Scholars program (c. 1969) and more recent endeavors like the Moody Early Childhood Education Center with new support for after-school, summer school and family literacy programs, new professional development initiatives as well as some targeted facility maintenance and upgrades.
In 2007, Moody Gardens, Inc. signed an agreement with the City of Galveston to completely rebuild the city's municipal golf course with a contribution from the Moody Foundation. It reopened in June 2008 under the moniker Moody Gardens Golf Course. It underwent a $17 million comprehensive renovation, including the addition of new turf grass, green complexes, elevations, irrigation, drainage, cart paths, greens and a full clubhouse renovation. [12]
The new course was designed by Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design and was constructed to keep historical features of the course while improving certain holes and course flow. The par 72 course measures 6,900 yards from the back tees, with 5 sets of tees to accommodate all playing abilities. [12]
On November 7, 2013, a ceremony was held to celebrate the donation of $50 million from the Moody Foundation to the University of Texas at Austin College of Communication, changing its name to the Moody College of Communication and funding many new projects and college objectives. This is the largest donation in the college's history. [13] [14]
The Moody Pedestrian Bridge is one of a kind Inverted Fink Truss bridge completed in 2016. The bridge connects two buildings as part of the Moody College of Communication in University of Texas at Austin. It crosses over West Dean Keeton Street, a busy street that traverses the campus. It was funded by the Moody Foundation. [15] [16]
Galveston is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 211.31 square miles (547.3 km2), with a population of 53,695 at the 2020 census, is the county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the county. It is also within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Moody Gardens is an educational tourist destination, with a golf course and hotel in Galveston, Texas, which opened in 1986. The non-profit destination was established by The Moody Foundation.
The University of Houston is a public research university in Houston, Texas. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in the first decades of the 20th century. In 1934, HJC was restructured as a four-year degree-granting institution and renamed as the University of Houston. In 1977, it became the founding member of the University of Houston System. Today, Houston is the fourth-largest university in Texas, awarding 11,156 degrees in 2023. As of 2024, it has a worldwide alumni base of 331,672.
The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a public academic health science center in Galveston, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the oldest medical school in Texas, and has about 11,000 employees. As of April 2024, it had an endowment of $763 million.
Bottega University is a for-profit, accredited distance learning university headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
The Five Colleges of Ohio, Inc. is an American academic and administrative consortium of five private liberal arts colleges in the state of Ohio. It is a nonprofit educational consortium established in 1995 to promote the broad educational and cultural objectives of its member institutions.
Northland College is a private college in Ashland, Wisconsin. It enrolls over 200 full-time undergraduates and employs 60 faculty members and 99 staff members. Northland College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Education City is an educational and research hub located in Al Rayyan Municipality in the Doha Metropolitan Area of Qatar. Developed by the Qatar Foundation, it was established by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser to advance education, research, and innovation in the region. spanning 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) property houses various educational facilities, including satellite campuses of eight international universities. Beyond higher education, Education City features research centers, cultural institutions, and community spaces, symbolizing Qatar’s vision of becoming a knowledge-based society while fostering cross-cultural exchange and sustainable development.
Moody National Bank (MNB) is a nationally chartered bank, founded in 1907, that is based in Galveston, Texas.
The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The college is home to top-ranked programs in advertising and public relations, communication studies, communication and leadership, speech, language and hearing sciences, journalism, and radio-television-film. The Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. It offers seven undergraduate degrees, including those in Journalism, Advertising, and Radio-Television-Film, and 17 graduate programs. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Dealey Center for New Media, which opened in November 2012.
O'Connell College Preparatory School is a 4-year coeducational parochial/private high school in Galveston, Texas, United States that offers university-preparatory programs. It was founded in 1968 as a consolidation of Galveston Island's three existing Catholic high schools: Kirwin High School and Dominican High School and Ursuline Academy and is the only Roman Catholic high school in Galveston County.
An open textbook is a textbook licensed under an open license, and made available online to be freely used by students, teachers and members of the public. Many open textbooks are distributed in either print, e-book, or audio formats that may be downloaded or purchased at little or no cost.
William Lewis Moody Jr. was an American financier and entrepreneur from Galveston, Texas, who founded a private bank, an insurance company, and one of the largest charitable foundations in the United States. Moody was active in the day-to-day operations of his companies until two days before his death.
Shearn Moody Jr. was an American financier, entrepreneur, and philanthropist from Galveston, Texas. He was heir to a financial empire as well as a convicted felon and originator of the Moody Gardens resort complex. Moody was the grandson of insurance and financial tycoon William Lewis Moody Jr.
Mary Elizabeth Moody Northen was an American financier and philanthropist from Galveston, Texas. She was the daughter of financial and insurance tycoon William Lewis Moody, Jr. and aunt of businessman Shearn Moody, Jr.
The Transitional Learning Center(TLC) is a post-acute brain injury rehabilitation facility headquartered in the island city of Galveston, Texas. It was started by the non-profit Moody Foundation in 1982, in response to a brain injury suffered by a son of trustee Robert L. Moody. The center provides survivors of acute brain injury with rehabilitation services needed to help patients overcome their injuries and regain independence. In order to provide additional space for post-acute brain injury rehabilitation, in 2008 the center opened a branch facility in Lubbock, Texas, to help serve needs of people throughout the southwest United States. TLC Director of Neuropsychology, Dr. Dennis Zgaljardic, is a past president of the Houston Neuropsychological Society.
The Sealy & Smith Foundation is a charitable foundation incorporated in Texas and based in the island city of Galveston. It was established in 1922 by John Sealy, II and his sister Jennie Sealy Smith with a charter stating a mission to:
"support of a charitable undertaking in the City of Galveston, Texas, for the construction, remodeling, enlarging, equipping, and furnishing of the John Sealy Hospital, and other hospital building or buildings in the City of Galveston in connection with the John Sealy Hospital in said city, and endowment thereof, for the use of the people of said City of Galveston and providing them with the necessary medical care and attention therein."
The Moody Mansion, also known as the Willis-Moody Mansion, is a historic residential building in Galveston, Texas located at 2618 Broadway Avenue. The thirty-one room Romanesque mansion was completed in 1895. The home is named for William Lewis Moody, Jr., an American financier and entrepreneur in the cotton business who bought the home from Galveston socialite Narcissa Willis. The mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1994. Tours are offered, and the facilities can be rented out for weddings and other events.
Moody Towers are twin 18-story high-rise residence halls located in the Wheeler District on the campus of the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, United States. It was named for William Lewis Moody, Jr. and his wife Libbie Shearn Moody of Galveston, Texas, and houses 1,100 students. The towers also house the largest dining hall on the campus.
The Moody Pedestrian Bridge is a pedestrian bridge in Austin, Texas on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It connects two buildings within the Moody College of Communication across a street.