Robert Rowling — owns the 90th-most expensive home in Dallas; is personally worth $4.9 billion — has donated $25 million to UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business. The gift will be earmarked for the construction of the 458,000-square-foot Robert B. Rowling Hall, which will house the graduate programs of the business school.
“My family and I are passionate about the state of Texas, the University of Texas and creating educational opportunities in our state. Texas is the best place in the country to do business, and we hope this gift will encourage the best and the brightest to come to Austin to get their MBAs and be part of the phenomenon that is Texas,” Rowling said in a statement.
Rowling is the owner and chairman of TRT Holdings, which owns Omni Hotels & Resorts, Gold’s Gym , Tana Exploration Company and various other assets. In 2005, he was inducted into the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame. Robert and his wife Terry, as well as their son Blake, are graduates of the school.
“Bob Rowling already has served his alma mater at the highest level of volunteer leadership, and with this gift, he and Terry enter the pantheon of the university’s most historically significant supporters,” UT-Austin President Bill Powers said in a statement. “This building itself will embody many traits that are key to business success — flexibility, common areas for interaction, and the ability to take advantage of evolving technology. And we are proud to have Bob Rowling’s name on it.”
