Eugene McDermott Foundation

The Eugene McDermott Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation based in Dallas, Texas. The organization has given to left-leaning organizations, including affiliates of the abortion network Planned Parenthood and the left-of-center Texas state-level policy group Center for Public Policy Priorities.

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Formation:

1955

President:

Mary McDermott Cook

Location: Dallas, TX View on map
Tax ID: 23-7237919
Most Recent Filing: 2025
Budget (2025): Assets: $204,713,403 Revenue: $21,345,393 Expenses: $56,627,094

Contents

    Texas Instruments industrialist and philanthropist Eugene McDermott created the Eugene McDermott Foundation by in 1955 and achieved tax-exempt status in 1972. The organization, which is now headed by Eugene McDermott’s daughter, Mary McDermott Cook, aims at supporting educational and civic ventures, and including social and community projects. 1

    History

    Eugene McDermott was an engineer for Goodyear, a Navy and a civilian scientist, a philanthropist, and an oil industrialist. McDermott and his research partner, John C. Karcher founded Geophysical Service, Inc., known today as Texas Instruments. The company served as a research endeavor for the oil industry and eventually gain great success. 2

    Thereafter, while in Dallas, Texas, he founded the Eugene McDermott Foundation in 1955 in an aim to continue to finance various educational, scientific, civic, and social endeavors. 1 He went on to serve in various academic committees, performing various duties, including at MIT and Harvard University. After being a part of various geological and academic societies, he continued to maintain the Eugene McDermott Foundation. He served as president of the Eugene McDermott Foundation until 1972. Eugene McDermott’s only daughter, Mary McDermott Cook, became president of the organization and currently serves as its president. 2

    Notable Grants

    The Eugene McDermott Foundation makes grants to organizations throughout the city of Dallas and the state of Texas. The Eugene McDermott Foundation has given a significant amount of money to academic institutions in the form of various endowments and scholarships, including the University of Dallas, Hockaday School, Southern Methodist University, St. Mark’s School of Texas, Stanford University, Dallas Public Library, the Dallas Symphony Opera, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Zoological Society, and various other academic and community organizations.

    The Foundation has provided contributions to advocacy organizations, including $1,000,000 in 2010 in support for the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation and six-figure grants to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas. 3 The Foundation has also funded the liberal state-level think tank Center for Public Policy Priorities4 and Teach for America, a teacher training and advocacy group. 5

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2025 $204,713,403 $21,345,393 $56,627,094 View
    2024 $249,573,652 $16,997,683 $62,050,172 View
    2023 $265,714,865 $12,213,061 $21,859,397 View
    2022 $265,723,749 $97,884,779 $17,798,491 View
    2021 $205,043,778 $7,070,570 $16,370,337 View

    Prior year filings: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Patricia BrownAssistant Sec$34,000

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $10,000
    • Number of Grants: 1
    • Number of Funders: 1

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $269,193,840
    • Number of Grants: 2,064
    • Number of Recipients: 536

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $10,000,0002024 Dallas Museum ArtFor Reimagining the DMA
    $10,000,0002024 Dallas Zoo Management IncFor new exhibit
    $9,000,0002024 Dallas Symphony AssociationFor Annual Fund Operations & Endowment Grant
    $7,000,0002025 The Dallas OperaTo help Meet ODonnell Foundation Matching Grant
    $5,000,0002025 Health Equity Foundation of Greater TexasFor Operations
    $5,000,0002025 NORTH TEXAS PUBLIC BROADCASTING INCFor The Future of KERA
    $5,000,0002025 Southern Gateway Public Green FoundationFor Construction of Park
    $4,000,0002024 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterFor TI Biomedical Engineering & Science Building
    $4,000,0002024 University of Texas at DallasFor TI Biomedical Engineering & Science Building
    $3,000,0002025 Resource Center of Dallas, Inc.To Change Landscape ofHealthcare for LGBTQIA
    $3,000,0002024 United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Inc.For Programs
    $2,000,0002025 United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Inc.For Social Innovation Lab & DataCapacity Bldg
    $2,000,0002023 Dallas Symphony AssociationFor Endowment Campaign Matching Grant
    $2,000,0002022 Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region IncFor operations
    $2,000,0002021 SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATIONFor Peter ODonnell Jr Brain Institute
    $2,000,0002020 Dallas Museum ArtDirector Chair
    $1,500,0002025 The Compass School of TexasFor Curriculum Development
    $1,500,0002024 Fair Park FirstFor Rebirth of Magnolia Lounge
    $1,500,0002024 Trinity River Audubon CenterFor Refurbishing exhibits and Operations
    $1,500,0002022 Dallas Zoological SocietyFor Challenge Grant for Parking Garage
    $1,300,0002024 Wildflower Donor IncFor Renovations Redesign and Maintenance
    $1,200,0002024 University of Texas at DallasFor McDermott Suite Renovation
    $1,000,0002025 Children's Medical Center of DallasFor New Pediatric Campus
    $1,000,0002025 Communities Foundation of TexasFor Texas African American Museum Fund
    $1,000,0002025 Dallas County MHMRFor General Support

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

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    References

    1. Handbook of Texas Online, Art Leatherwood, “EUGENE MCDERMOTT FOUNDATION,” accessed December 09, 2019,http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vre03.
    2. Handbook of Texas Online, Joan Jenkins Perez, “MCDERMOTT, EUGENE,” accessed December 09, 2019. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc40.
    3. BIG Online: US Foundation Summary. Accessed December 9, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/EUGENE%20MCDERMOTT%20FOUNDATION-237237919.HTML.
    4. Eugene McDermott Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2018. Part XV Line 3.
    5. Eugene McDermott Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2017. Part XV Line 3.