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.

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. ³ 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. ⁴

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. ⁵ The Foundation has also funded the liberal state-level think tank Center for Public Policy Priorities⁶ and Teach for America, a teacher training and advocacy group. ⁷

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2. Handbook of Texas Online, Joan Jenkins Perez, “MCDERMOTT, EUGENE,” accessed December 09, 2019. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc40.
3. Handbook of Texas Online, Art Leatherwood, “EUGENE MCDERMOTT FOUNDATION,” accessed December 09, 2019,http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vre03.
4. Handbook of Texas Online, Joan Jenkins Perez, “MCDERMOTT, EUGENE,” accessed December 09, 2019. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc40.
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6. Eugene McDermott Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2018. Part XV Line 3.
7. Eugene McDermott Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2017. Part XV Line 3.