Former regent contributes $8 million to UNT campaign

E. Bruce and Virginia Owens Street of Graham have given the UNT College of Education a deferred gift currently valued at $8 million.

Bruce Street served the UNT System as a member of the Board of Regents for almost 20 years. He held many key positions, including vice chair, secretary, chair of the facilities committee and member of the executive committee. He also helped create the UNT Foundation, a critical tool to support the university through the stewardship and acquisition of financial resources.

"Bruce Street's many years of service to the UNT System have advanced education throughout the state, heightening the public recognition and reputation of our institutions," says UNT System Chancellor Alfred F. Hurley. "He has adopted UNT as his own. I am profoundly moved and deeply grateful for his dedication to this university system and to the education of all Texans."

The couple's gift will support the College of Education's elementary education program. "Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Street's generosity will enrich our elementary education program so that it continues to prepare the highest quality teachers and continues to extend support to them after graduation," says Jean Keller, dean of the college. "The funds will be used to give education majors who will work with young children the teaching and technological skills they need to educate diverse learners and to create learning communities with an emphasis on student outcomes."

Bruce Street's lifelong volunteer and philanthropic activities demonstrate an enthusiastic commitment to education and a strong desire to help young people. He has sought and rewarded top-quality public school teachers and administrators, personally and financially supported programs that created groundbreaking educational technology and encouraged preventive medicine and sound health practices. He also has independently pursued knowledge and understanding of education theory and practice. Street is a strong advocate and supporter of the Texas Business and Education Coalition, which brings business and education leaders together in a long-term effort to improve the performance of the Texas public school system.

A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Street began his career as a navy lieutenant. After World War II, he pursued oil and gas investments in Graham, where he and his wife raised a son and daughter. He was a partner in Street Investment Co. and a cofounder and director of Breck Operating Corp. He served as mayor of Graham and has given time and effort to a number of business and civic organizations.

Street is a founder of the Bertha Foundation to further educational betterment at the local level and the Graham Community Trust Fund to support betterment of Graham. He and his wife sponsor the prestigious Roger J. Williams Award in Preventive Nutrition, named in honor of the late pioneer in nutrition research. The award is given periodically by the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth and has attracted the successful candidacy of faculty from Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley.

The Graham Chamber of Commerce named Street its Outstanding Citizen in 1956, and the Texas Chamber of Commerce named him Outstanding West Texan in 1989. He holds the 1981 Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine Founders Medal, the highest honor from the UNT Health Science Center. UNT awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Educational Leadership in 1991.

"Bruce and Virginia have an instinctive drive to make a difference, which is an inspiration to others," Hurley says. "Just as their previous gifts have set a pace, this recent gift has laid the groundwork for other large gifts to the university from alumni and friends in the future. They make a passionate statement about the importance of education."

BY LAURA SHORT lshort@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Solidarity leader and former president of Poland to speak at UNT April 16
• Commission on the Status of Women conference at UNT in early March
• Rec center construction to start in March
• UNT law conference to address issues affecting higher education in Texas
• UNT student named finalist for Truman Scholarship
• Columnist to sign book copies at UNT Feb. 26
• Program features research
• A real sweet deal: Hershey's candy bar nets UNT staff member a new Jeep Liberty
• Faculty Senate reconvenes for first semester meeting

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