Gary Crum Receives SMU 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award

DALLAS, TX (10/29/2010)(readMedia)-- Businessman and philanthropist Gary Crum received Southern Methodist University's Distinguished Alumni Award on Thursday Oct. 21, 2010. The award is the highest honor the University bestows upon its graduates.

Crum is a founder and former director of AIM Management Group, Inc. Beginning in 1976, with three employees, two chairs, a table and a telephone, AIM grew into one of the country's leading investment management firms. After many acquisitions, the company remains among the world's largest independent global investment managers with more than 5,000 employees.

Crum earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from SMU's Cox School of Business in 1969, and was honored in 2001 with the school's Distinguished Alumni Award. He earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and was inducted into the McCombs School Hall of Fame in 2004. He is also the former chair of the McCombs School Advisory Council. Crum serves as a member of the SMU Board of Trustees and Cox's Executive Board.

In 2006, Crum provided the leadership gift for the 43,000-square-foot Crum Basketball Center, which opened in 2008. His other contributions to SMU include the Crum Auditorium in the Cox School's Collins Executive Education Center, and scholarship support for Cox.

Since retiring in 2003, Crum and his family foundation, the CFP Foundation, have promoted and shaped minority education in Houston and the State of Texas.

The 2010 SMU Distinguished Alumni recipients recognized with Crum include George W. Bramblett, Jr., and Stephen Mulholland. The Emerging Leader Award was presented to Tammy Nguyen Lee. Since 1951, the Distinguished Alumni Award has recognized extraordinary achievement, outstanding character and good citizenship among SMU graduates.

For more information, visit smu.edu/alumni/daa.

# # #

Editor's Note: Photos are available upon request