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It is the mission of the Texas Institute Foundation to improve the lives of the citizens of North Texas and the world by creating a more environmentally sustainable planet and to improve students' math and science skills by helping provide the ideas, inspiration, and resources.
The Texas Institute Foundation will give to 501(c)(3) organizations, individuals, universities, schools, and public agencies that advance these goals through education, scientific research, and technological development.
Jonathan Shapiro, founder of The Texas Institute, created the Texas Institute Foundation in 2009. The Institute seeks to use private funds for the public good, giving back to North Texas and being better stewards of the resources we have.
Why We Are Here
Foundations can uniquely affect social, scientific, cultural, and environmental change. We believe that a foundation can complement government efforts in significant ways - combining the ingenuity and innovation of the free market with unrestricted charitable resources to meet significant needs.
We want to keep our resources right here in North Texas where we can affect change and contribute to a more sustainable planet in a way that improves the environment while creating jobs and growing businesses in our region.
Make a Lasting Difference: How You Can Help
The success of the Texas Institute relies on the support of communities, businesses, and people like you. Science guides our work to ensure the health and survival of the natural world that sustains us all. Thank you for joining with us to achieve more lasting results now and for future generations.
A planned gift may help you give more to the Texas Institute than you thought possible while still providing you or someone you designate with favorable financial and/or tax benefits. You might consider a:
- Bequest: Name the Texas Institute in your will or estate plans
- Charitable Gift Annuity: Make a gift that gives you income
- Retirement Plan: Name the Texas Institute a beneficiary
- Real Estate Donation
- Stock Donation
Science Education
The Texas Institute wants to help address one of this nation’s greatest economic and intellectual threats - the declining number of students who are prepared to take rigorous college courses in math and science and be ready to excel in their related careers. Math and Science are now, and will increasingly be, the universal languages of the global marketplace. It is imperative that America maintains a leadership position in technology, medicine, and scientific innovation. To be truly successful, our country must ensure that all students have access to careers in the promising fields of science, technology, and engineering.
Environmental Sustainability
Working to reduce humanity's ecological footprint, the amount of land and natural resources needed to supply our food, water, and timber, and to absorb our CO2 emissions, we are specifically focusing on five priority areas that we believe need addressing most urgently:
- Carbon
(Energy use, impact of forest loss, and the need for better policies on climate change)
- Farming
(Food, fiber, grazing, aquaculture, and biofuels)
- Fishing
(Over-fishing, illegal & unregulated fishing, and by catch)
- Forestry
(Timber, paper, pulp, and fuel wood)
- Water
(Dams, irrigation, and drinking supplies)
| Mark Armentrout, Texas Institute Foundation Chairman
Mark Armentrout is currently a Board Member of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a position he has held since 2003. From 2005 through 2008, Mark served as Board Chair of ERCOT.
From 2000 through 2006 he was an information technology executive vice president for MBNA, the world’s largest independent credit card company, which is now part of Bank of America.
Prior to joining MBNA, Mr. Armentrout spent 24 years with Atlantic Richfield Company, ARCO, the nation’s sixth largest integrated oil and gas company that was acquired by British Petroleum in 2000. In his last position with ARCO, he was CIO, manager of information technology services for exploration and production, responsible for ARCO’s exploration and production information technology staffs in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Earlier in his career, he held regional CIO positions with ARCO in Anchorage, Houston, and Plano, TX. He also managed an information technology research department in ARCO's research lab specializing in advanced computing, visualization and artificial intelligence.
He began his career as a technical programmer working on systems for the Prudhoe Bay field on the North Slope of Alaska in 1976.
He also serves the community on a number of boards including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Collin County and the University of North Texas Information Technology and Decision Sciences Department. He is also Board Chair of Serenity High School, a school devoted to students recovering from substance abuse. He is a former Board Member and Executive Director of the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary.
While in Alaska in the 1990s, Mr. Armentrout was instrumental in working with government, native, and industrial groups to bring the Internet to education in the Alaskan bush, primarily through the Alaska Education Summit. He is a member of IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society.
Mr. Armentrout has a bachelor’s degree in computer science, graduating summa cum laude, and a master’s degree in political science with a major in philosophy from Texas A&M University at Commerce.
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| Robert Helms, PhD
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas
Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
Dr. Bob Helms is a nationally prominent executive in the semiconductor industry, professor emeritus at Stanford University, and formerly dean of The University of Texas at Dallas' (UTD) Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, one of the fastest-growing and most innovative schools of its kind in the nation.
Most recently, Helms was president and chief executive officer of International SEMATECH (ISMT), the Austin, Texas-based consortium of semiconductor manufacturers whose member companies include AMD, Intel, IBM, Motorola and Texas Instruments (TI), representing 40 percent of the worldwide market share in computer chips.
Prior to that, he was corporate vice president and director of Silicon Technology Research at TI in Dallas. Helms also served for 20 years as a professor at Stanford University, his alma mater, where he led research efforts in semiconductor processing and new materials, with a focus on environmentally benign manufacturing.
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George Michael, Consultant
George Michael is an independent consultant, advising companies in corporate and market strategy and business development.
Previously, George worked on the agency side of the advertising and public relations business. He started Michael & Partners, a public relations agency, in 1998. The agency grew to be among the top ten in D/FW before he sold it to the employees in 2004; it now operates under the name HCK2. Before that, George started MBRK in 1983, growing the agency to be among the top ten in D/FW advertising with more than 50 people, and selling the company in 1997. MBRK is part of Publicis, the third largest agency in the world. Prior to MBRK, he held the position of General Manager at Temerlin-McClain (then Bozell & Jacobs and the largest agency in the southwest).
Over his career, he has assisted more than 200 of the Fortune 1000 companies spanning numerous industries. These include American Airlines, Bank of America, Dr Pepper, EDS, Ernst & Young, Frito-Lay, Fujitsu, Johnson & Johnson, Marriott Corporation, Mary Kay, Nationwide Insurance, NEC, Neiman Marcus, St. Jude Medical, Strasburger & Price, and Zale Corporation.
George has served as adjunct professor at Loyola, Northwestern, and Southern Methodist Universities, and review editor of the Journal of Marketing Research. He has been a contributor to the Handbook of Modern Marketing and authored a number of articles in management and marketing journals.
George holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in marketing and a bachelor’s degree in engineering, all from Northwestern University. The American Marketing Association recognized his dissertation as outstanding in their review.
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| Jonathan Shapiro
Mr. Shapiro is a twenty-five year veteran of the technology industry. Before starting Texas Institute for Sustainable Technology Research, Shapiro founded and was CEO of Alliance Systems, a technology company focused on the communications and computing markets.
Mr. Shapiro served in management positions at IBM, ROLM Telecommunication, Intervoice, and Octel Communications. He was also a co-founder of Open+Voice, a software development company. Mr. Shapiro is a recognized industry figure in the telecommunications and computer community and a business graduate of Hofstra University in New York.
Mr. Shapiro was Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Three time finalist in Technology Category 1999, 2000, 2001, Deloitte & Touche Fast Tech 50 finalist 1998, 2000 2001, 2002 and 2003, and SMU-Cox Dallas 100 three time finalist 1999, 2000, 2004. He won the Dallas Business Journal Pacesetter Award 1999, 2000, MIT Enterprise Forum Award 2003, and the Collin County Celebration of Enterprise Award 2003.
He is affiliated with Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center, Board of Directors, the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, Dallas Chamber of Commerce Sustainable Energy Committee, Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University, and Rocky Mountain Institute.
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Community Involvement
Since its inception, The Texas Institute has been a contributing corporate citizen with a commitment to better the communities where our employees live and work. The Texas Institute supports education, charities, and service groups through the Texas Institute Foundation.
Science Education
Through a partnership with The Science and Engineering Education Center (SEEC) and the University of Texas at Dallas, the Texas Institute works with SEEC to be a valued community resource and national leader in advancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. We work to create inspiration and personal engagement with STEM subjects and to build functional, integrated knowledge at the K to 12 school level.
Environmental Conservation and Education
Through our partnership, the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (a consortium includes the Corps, the University of North Texas, the City of Lewisville, the Lewisville Independent School District, and Texas A&M University), our mission is to preserve and restore our native ecosystems and to provide and promote environmental education and scientific research.
The Science and Engineering Education Center at the University of Texas at Dallas
“IDEAS - Innovation Driven Engineering And Science™”
Vision
A community inspired and enriched by personal engagement with science and engineering, and empowered by functional, integrated knowledge of these subjects.
Mission
Working with the university and the community, the UTD Science and Engineering Education Center (SEEC) will create, develop, implement, and support innovative and effective Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educational outreach programs. The SEEC vision of creating broad-based inspiration, engagement, and functional, integrated knowledge in these areas leads to programmatic emphasis on:
- Informal science education (free-choice learning)
- Project-based (inquiry-based) learning
- Systems thinking
Approach
The SEEC will reach out to a broad spectrum of students and educators, as well as support life-long learning for all ages. The SEEC will be a results-oriented center, with its programs supported by associated education research of the highest quality.
Many SEEC programs will take advantage of modern educational technologies such as robotics, computer modeling, and computer-assisted learning. Developing the full educational potential of such technologies is an important SEEC goal, but they will always be viewed and applied within a larger educational context. Whether teaching fundamental concepts, or providing intellectual preparation for the complexity of real-world tasks, the SEEC approach will always be inextricably connected to genuine engagement with the learning process and with the real world around us.
To carry out its mission, the SEEC will develop highly productive and mutually beneficial partnerships, both within and outside of UT Dallas. Such partnerships will include PK-12 schools, science museums, science centers, public libraries, corporations, foundations, and other public and private institutions, along with students and faculty at UTD and other colleges and universities.
The success of The Texas Institute relies on the support of communities, businesses, and people like you. Science guides our work to ensure the health and survival of the natural world that sustains us all. Thank you for joining with us to achieve more lasting results now and for future generations.
A planned gift may help you give more to The Institute than you thought possible while still providing you or someone you designate with favorable financial and/or tax benefits. You might consider a:
- Bequest: Name the Institute in your will or estate plans
- Charitable Gift Annuity: Make a gift that gives you income
- Retirement Plan: Name the Institute a beneficiary
- Real Estate Donation
- Stock Donations
The Texas Institute Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Tax EIN is: 26-3638933
To donate by mail, please send your check to:
The Texas Institute Foundation
1709 Triple Crown Ln
Plano, Texas 75093-4508
To donate by credit card simply:
- Click the Donate button below
- Specify the amount of your generous donation
- Complete the credit card information on the left hand side of the page
Thank you very much.
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