Eugene McDermott

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Eugene McDermott (1899-1973) was a co-founder of Texas Instruments.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1919 with an M. E. degree. He received a masters in physics from Columbia University. His early work in petroleum exploration led to multiple papers and five patents. Along with Cecil Howard Green, H. B. Peacock, and J. E. Jonsson, he co-founded Texas Instruments in 1951. He was the Chairman of TI from 1951-1957, was Chairman of the Executive Committee of Board of Directors from 1957-1964 and was a Director until his death in 1973. During this period of time, Texas Instruments rose to be one of the world's largest corporations.

A scientist and businessman, he was particularly interested in improving education, which he called "biological humanics." Along with Cecil Green, he was a co-founder of St. Mark's School of Texas in 1950; their endowment included the donation of a planetarium, observatory, and math-science quadrangle. He was also a major donor to many universities and served on the boards of SMU, MIT, and Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He was also co-founder of what is now the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). He was actively involved in the arts, serving not only on the Boards of the Dallas Library, The Dallas Museum of Art, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, but also helping conceive of the Margo Jones Theatre, an early experiment in theatre-in-the-round.