SMU alumnus donates $1.5M to shed light on children's legal issues

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Billy Colegrove

Business leader Jack Knox donated $1.5 million to SMU's Dedman School of Law for an endowed chair in children's legal rights. Knox is general partner of Six Flags Over Texas Fund Ltd., a private limited investment group overseeing real estate assets of Six Flags Over Texas. He also is owner of Café Pacific Restaurants Inc., parent company of the popular restaurant, which has been based in Dallas’ Highland Park Village for 34 years.

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Korri Kezar

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Southern Methodist University alumnus Jack Knox has donated $1.5 million to establish the Jack Knox Chair at the university's Dedman School of Law.

The chair position will serve as an endowed professorship focusing on teaching, researching and publishing on the legal issues surrounding children's welfare and legal rights.

"Jack Knox's gift will enable the law school to further its teaching and scholarship on children's rights," said SMU judge James Noel Dean and professor of law Jennifer M. Collins. "Endowment gifts like this provide critical support for our commitment to excellence in the classroom and continued cutting-edge, impactful work by our faculty."

Knox graduated from SMU with an English degree in 1960 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1963. In 2011, Dedman honored Knox with the Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Achievement, the highest honor bestowed by the school.

He now serves as a general partner of Six Flags Over Texas Fund, a private investment group that oversees Six Flags Over Texas' real estate interests. He is also involved in several groups that help children and founded the Fund for Sick Children, which supplies medicine and equipment to hospitals and doctors in third-world countries.

"It's an honor to help my alma mater empower the next generation of legal professionals by providing them with a strong understanding of what the issues are and the knowledge and drive to develop better laws and policies to protect children's welfare and rights," Knox said.

Korri covers banking, finance and nonprofits for the Dallas Business Journal. Subscribe to our email newsletters.