Thomas W. Luce III | |
---|---|
Assistant Secretary of Education | |
In office 2005–2006 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Personal details | |
Born | Dallas,Texas,U.S. |
Thomas W. Luce III is an American lawyer,government official,non-profit executive,and former advisor to H. Ross Perot. He is CEO of Biotech Initiatives at Lyda Hill Philanthropies. [1]
Thomas W. Luce III was born in Dallas,Texas,where he was raised by a single mother. [2] He attended public schools in Highland Park Independent School District. [3]
He received an athletic scholarship to Virginia Military Institute but transferred to Southern Methodist University where he earned a B.B.A. in 1962 and a J.D. from the Dedman School of Law in 1966. [2] [4]
In 1982,Ross Perot Jr. and co-pilot Jay Coburn completed the first round-the-world flight in a helicopter,the Spirit of Texas. Tom Luce helped facilitate the achievement by arranging for a container ship to carry a shipping container filled with jet fuel into the middle of the Pacific Ocean to serve as a refueling station. [5]
In 1984,Luce handled negotiations for a purchase of a 700-year-old copy of Magna Carta by Ross Perot. [6] He brought the document to the United States wrapped in brown shipping paper and stowed in the coat closet across from his seat on a commercial American Airlines flight. [7]
Luce ran for Governor of Texas as one of several Republicans looking to succeed outgoing Governor Bill Clements. [8] He placed third in the Republican primary with 115,835 votes. [9]
A long-time advisor to Perot,Luce was the chairman of his campaign for President of the United States in 1992. [2] [10]
President Bush nominated Luce to the position of assistant secretary for the Office of Planning,Evaluation and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education on May 20,2005,and the U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment to this position on July 1,2005. [11]
Luce was appointed to major posts by Texas governors five times,including as chief justice pro tempore of the Supreme Court of Texas,as well as posts on the Sunset Advisory Commission and the Superconducting Super Collider Commission. [12] In 2012,Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Joe Straus appointed Luce to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee. [13]
In addition to his legal career and public service,Luce has founded and led a number of nonprofit organizations including the National Math and Science Initiative and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. [14] [15]
Most recently,Luce founded the state policy think tank Texas 2036,"a nonpartisan 501c3 nonprofit that hopes to use data and research to drive the planning and policy Texans will need to address challenges impacting [the] state's future." [16]
In 2012, U.S. News &World Report inducted Luce into the U.S. News STEM Leadership Hall of Fame. [17]
Luce was recognized and honored by Republican Congressman Lamar Smith on the floor of the United States House of Representatives in 2012 "for his years of leadership and contributions to improving our public schools,strengthening higher education and supporting business and economic growth," and in 2015 by Democratic Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson for his role in education reform in Texas. [18] [19]
In 2015,Sarah Fullinwider Perot and Ross Perot Jr. donated $1.75 million to endow the Thomas W. Luce,III Centennial Dedman Law Scholars Program at SMU. [20]
In 2018,he was awarded the 2018 Linz Award,an annual honor recognizing enduring civic or humanitarian efforts benefiting Dallas. [21]
In 2021,Luce was inducted into the Dallas Business Hall of Fame. [22]
Henry Ross Perot Sr. was an American business magnate,politician,and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an independent campaign in the 1992 U.S. presidential election and a third-party campaign in the 1996 U.S. presidential election as the nominee of the Reform Party,which was formed by grassroots supporters of Perot's 1992 campaign. Although he failed to carry a single state in either election,both campaigns were the second and third strongest presidential showings by a third party or independent candidate in U.S. history.
The Reform Party of the United States of America (RPUSA),generally known as the Reform Party USA or the Reform Party,is a centrist political party in the United States,founded in 1995 by Ross Perot.
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a private research university in University Park,Texas,with a satellite campus in Taos County,New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17,1911,by the Methodist Episcopal Church,South—now part of the United Methodist Church—in partnership with Dallas civic leaders. However,it is nonsectarian in its teaching and enrolls students of all religious affiliations. It is classified among "R-2:Doctoral Universities –High Research Activity".
Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery located at 7405 West Northwest Highway in North Dallas,Texas,United States. It is owned by Service Corporation International. Among the notable persons interred here are:
Margaret M. LaMontagne Spellings is an American government and non-profit executive who serves as president and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. She previously served as the eighth United States secretary of education from 2005 to 2009. After leaving the government,Spellings served as president of the University of North Carolina System,overseeing the seventeen campus system from 2016 to 2019. She then served as president and CEO of Texas 2036 from 2019 to 2023.
Dan Goeb Patrick is an American radio talk show host,television broadcaster,and politician. He has been serving as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Texas since January 2015,under Governor Greg Abbott.
Henry Ross Perot Jr. is an American businessman and real estate developer who is best known for his development of Alliance,Texas,an inland port near Dallas–Fort Worth,and making the first circumnavigation of the world in a helicopter at the age of 23.
The 1994 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 8,1994,to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Democratic Governor Ann Richards was defeated in her bid for re-election by Republican nominee and future President George W. Bush,the son of former President George H. W. Bush.
In 1992,Ross Perot ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for President of the United States. Perot was a Texas industrialist who had never served as a public official,but he had experience as the head of several successful corporations and had been involved in public affairs for the previous three decades. Grass-root organizations sprang up in every state to help Perot achieve ballot access following his announcement on the February 20,1992,edition of Larry King Live. James Stockdale,a retired Navy vice admiral,was Perot's running mate.
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a natural history and science museum in Dallas,Texas in Victory Park. The museum was named in honor of Margot and Ross Perot. The current chief executive officer of the museum is Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver.
The 1990 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 6,1990,to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor Bill Clements did not run for re-election,so the election pitted Democrat Ann Richards against Republican Clayton Williams. Richards narrowly defeated Williams on Election Day,winning 49.5% of the vote to Williams' 46.9%. As of 2024,this is also the most recent time the Democratic candidate has carried Collingsworth,Childress,Wilbarger,Wichita,Archer,Throckmorton,Montague,Wise,Tarrant,Grayson,Lamar,Hopkins,Titus,Bowie,Harrison,Panola,Shelby,Jasper,Hardin,Angelina,Polk,Houston,Madison,Walker,Kaufman,Navarro,Henderson,Hill,McLennan,Williamson,Burleson,Waller,and Refugio counties. As of 2024,this is the last time a Democrat or a woman was elected Governor of Texas,as well as the most recent Texas gubernatorial election in which both major parties' nominees have since died.
Norm Hitzges is an American author and sports talk radio host. He is a member of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
Trevor D. Rees-Jones is an American attorney,billionaire businessman,and philanthropist from Texas. He is the founder and chairman of Chief Oil and Gas. He has a net worth of approximately $4.4 billion.
The Spirit of Texas,a Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II,is the first helicopter to complete a round-the world flight.
Anthony Ricardo Fiorillo is Executive Director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History &Science,as well as a senior fellow at the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University. For many years he was vice president of research &collections and chief curator at the Perot Museum of Nature &Science. A native of Connecticut,he received his bachelor's at the University of Connecticut,his master's at the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in Vertebrate Paleontology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Peter J. O'Donnell Jr. was an American businessman,securities investor and philanthropist. From 1962 to 1969,he was the Texas Republican state chair. In 1963,he was also the national chair of the Draft Goldwater Committee.
Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler was an American philanthropist living in Dallas,Texas. The Dallas Morning News wrote that she helped raise tens of millions of dollars for charity. Altshuler was the first woman to serve or chair several boards,including the Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board,the board of Goodwill Industries,and the chair of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University. She was also inducted into the Texas Woman's Hall of Fame.
Eastern Air Express is an American charter airline headquartered in Fort Worth,Texas and based at Fort Worth Alliance Airport. It was formerly a subsidiary of The Perot Group,which is controlled by Ross Perot,Jr.
Texas 2036 is a nonpartisan public policy think tank founded by Dallas attorney Tom Luce. Former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings joined the organization in 2019 and served as president and CEO until 2023. Former president of Rice University David Leebron was selected to succeed Spellings. The organization has offices in Dallas and Austin,Texas.