Morton Meyerson

Morton Herbert Meyerson is an American computer industry executive who held positions in the Ross Perot-founded Electronic Data Systems and subsequently at Perot Systems and General Motors.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Ross Perot ^[4][1][7] paid $10 million for naming rights to Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center,^[8][9] home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.^[10]

Early life and education

Meyerson was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1938.^[11] His mother was a pianist and actively volunteered at the Fort Worth VA Hospital.^[9][8] His father owned Meyerson insurance agency. When he was 10, Morton's brother Sandy died from cancer.^[3]

Meyerson attended Paschal High School, where he played football, sang in the choir, and was senior class president.^[12] He then graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and philosophy.^[11] At UT, he was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu, Texas Cowboys, the UT chorus, and student government.^[13]In 1991, he was a recipient of the Pro Bene Meritus Award presented by the UT College of Liberal Arts and in 2005 he was a recipient of The University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award. ^{[14][15] [16]}After college, Meyerson served as an officer in the United States Army with an occupational specialty involving automatic data processing. ^[17][18] Meyerson served in the active reserves from 1963 through 1969.^[19]

Career

Meyerson began working for Bell Helicopter in 1963. He then worked at Electronic Data Systems, Inc. from 1966 to 1971, leaving the company as President and Vice Chair leading over 50,000 employees.^[11][20] During Meyerson's CEO tenure, EDS grew from a $200 million consulting business into a $4.7 billion large-scale systems consulting enterprise generating over $190 million in earnings.^[17][21] In 1967, Morton H. Meyerson proposed a business model that would later become known as “outsourcing,” which led to major business growth for EDS. In 2013 Morton was inducted into The Outsourcing Hall of Fame of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.^[22]

He was CEO of duPont Glore Forgan, a Wall Street brokerage firm, from 1971 through 1974.^[23][24]

In 1984, he became the chief technology officer at General Motors. He retired in 1986 to pursue foundation work and mentoring entrepreneurs.^[11] During this period, Meyerson mentored Michael Dell during the early years of Dell Computer.^[11][25] He also mentored Mark Cuban as a principal investor in Broadcast.com.^[18][26]

In 1992, Morton re-joined the corporate world as Chair and CEO of Perot Systems. He retired from Perot Systems in 1998.^[24] He has since been chairman of 2M Companies, Inc. and of The Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation. ^{[11] [20]}

He serves on the board of the Dallas Symphony Association and is Vice Chairman Emeritus of the National Park Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and over his career he has served on many governing boards, including as chairman of the Texas Super Conducting Super Collider Project.^{[20] [27][28]} In 2021, he was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.^[29][30][31]

References

1. Allen R. Myerson (September 12, 1996). "Chief of Perot Systems Steps Aside as Part of Expansion". The New York Times.
2. "David Nathan Meyerson (1967 - 1998)".
3. The Alcalde. November 2005. p. 52. Meyerson was born in 1938 in Fort Worth.
4. Allen R. Myerson (February 22, 1998). "Perot's Return to Business: The Vote's Not In". The New York Times.
5. "Morton – The Meyerson Family Foundations".
6. "MEYERSON, MICHAEL S thru MEYERSON, PEARL R". MEYERSON, MORTON H, born ABT 1939, and his bride MARLENE
7. "Ross Perot's business lieutenant since the 1970's"
8. Allen R. Myerson (October 11, 1998). "Yes, but Can He Whistle Dixie?". The New York Times.
9. "The Mort, The making of The Meyerson". D Magazine. March 2000.
10. Donal Henahan (September 12, 1989). "The Acoustics of Dallas's New Concert Hall". The New York Times.
11. "Foundations".
12. "Morton Meyerson". 2M. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
13. "From Systems to Symphonies with Morton Meyerson". AFIPO. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
14. "Distinguished alumnus". Communications Society. 10 (2): 5. May 1973. doi:10.1109/mcomd.1973.1145840. ISSN 0094-5579.
15. "Morton H. Meyerson | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. 2024-04-15. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
16. "Morton Meyerson Talk: My Life as a Jew: The ways in which Jewish life influenced his career in business and philanthropy"". liberalarts.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
17. "Morton H. Meyerson - Leadership - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
18. Moye, J. Todd; Meyerson, Morton H. (2021-03-02). "Oral History Interview with Morton H. Meyerson, March 2-April 26, 2021". The Portal to Texas History. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
19. "IAOP - The Outsourcing Hall of Fame". www.iaop.org. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
20. "Morton H. Meyerson – Texas Business Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2024-04-15.
21. "Meet The Fellows". towerfellows.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
22. "Morton H. Meyerson | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. 2024-04-15. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
23. "IAOP - The Outsourcing Hall of Fame". www.iaop.org. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
24. "Discussion with Morton Meyerson". Montana State University. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
25. "Morton H. Meyerson – Texas Business Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2024-04-15.
26. "Even the top dogs have bad days at the office". Billings Gazette. 2001-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
27. "Morton H. Meyerson | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. 2024-04-15. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
28. "Public Talk by Mr. Morton Meyerson, CEO, 2M Companies". liberalarts.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
29. aframnews (2021-11-15). "Houston businessman inducted into Texas Business Hall of Fame". African American News and Issues. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
30. "Mark Cuban among 4 Dallas-Fort Worth tycoons inducted into Texas Business Hall of Fame - CultureMap Dallas". austin.culturemap.com. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
31. "Meyerson, Cuban, Stephenson Named to Texas Business HOF - People Newspapers". 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2024-04-15.