Carolyn perot rathjen biography

The Perot Family Scholarship is awarded annually in perpetuity to a deserving son or daughter of a United States Army soldier or to the spouse of an active duty enlisted soldier to assist in his or her pursuit of higher education. The scholarship was created as a result of the Perot family’s generous donation to the Army Scholarship Foundation.

“The Perot family recognizes and salutes the contributions and sacrifices of military family members to our nation and to our Army. We want to do our part in assisting organizations that support Army families. The greatest gift that we can provide for the next generation of Army family members is the gift of education, and we hope that this scholarship will assist these military family members in achieving their educational goals and building for their future,” said Darcy Anderson, spokesperson for the family and Vice Chairman of the Hillwood Corporation, a Perot family enterprise. “Ross Perot and Ross Perot, Junior and the entire Perot family are staunch advocates for our serivcemembers, and this is one way of thanking our soldiers and their families for their service on our behalf.”

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has received a historic $15 million donation from The Perot Foundation, the largest single investment in the 98-year history of our organization. The donation will enable United Way to accelerate our work with community impact partners to drive measurable progress toward the Aspire United 2030 community goals focused on improving access to education, income and health—the building blocks of opportunity.

“This extraordinary investment will be catalytic for our community, not only for the size of the commitment but equally important for how United Way is structured to leverage it,” said Jennifer Sampson, McDermott-Templeton president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “With carefully researched goals for our region and strategic partners who are deeply invested in achieving them, we are uniquely positioned to create transformative change across our North Texas communities.”

The Perot gift will accelerate impact with 144 community impact partners, which range from long-standing proven impact providers to grassroots organizations bringing bold new strategies to our community’s most pervasive challenges in education, income and health. We selected these community impact partners because of their track record of creating measurable impact toward our Aspire United 2030 community goals.

Achieving these community goals for North Texas will mean more students graduating high school on a path to success in college or career, more families achieving financial stability and more North Texans having the access and resources to live longer, healthier lives.

“United, we can do more,” Sampson said. “With this investment we are harnessing the power of many to directly address systemic barriers and advance racial equity that will change lives for generations to come.”

The United Way model of working together around a shared set of community goals is what fuels the progress toward a North Texas where everyone has the access an

DALLAS (TNS) — Ross Perot, self-made billionaire, renowned patriot and two-time independent candidate for U.S. president, has died after a five-month battle with leukemia.

He was 89.

The pioneer of the computer services industry, who founded Electronic Data Systems Corp. in 1962 and Perot Systems Corp. 26 years later, was just 5-foot-6, but his presence filled a room.

“Describe my father?” Ross Perot Jr., his only son and CEO of the Perot Group, asked rhetorically in an interview. “Obviously a great family man, wonderful father. But at the end of the day, he was a wonderful humanitarian.

“Every day he came to work trying to figure out how he could help somebody.”

Perot was diagnosed with leukemia in February. A massive secondary infection the next month nearly killed him, according to the family.

In true Perot fashion, he fought back, showing up at the office most days in his dark suit with the omnipresent American flag on his lapel.

Perot entertained a steady stream of well-wishers at Perot headquarters on Turtle Creek Boulevard and spent Easter with his family at their compound in Bermuda.

He celebrated his 89th birthday in June with a family lunch at his office and a dinner at the home of his daughter, Carolyn Perot Rathjen.

One of his recent visitors was Morton H. Meyerson, the former EDS and Perot Systems president and CEO. Perot named Dallas’ symphony hall after Meyerson when Perot donated $10 million toward its construction in 1984.

“Ross was the unusual combination of his father, who was a powerful, big, burly cotton trader — a hard-ass, practical, cut-deals person — and a mother who was a little-bitty woman who was sweet, warm, wonderful,” Meyerson said. “Ross was tough, smart, practical, loved to negotiate. But he had a warm and kind heart, too.”

In recent years, Perot Sr.’s memory was dimming, but he and Margot, his wife of more than 60 years, maintained a steady social calendar.

Nancy Perot said