Thomas W. Luce III, the Dallas attorney who passed away on July 25, was an institutionalist. He believed in them. He created them. Many of them, too.
Here’s a list of just some of the institutions the reformer founded: Just for the Kids, the National Math and Science Initiative, the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, the National Center for Education Accountability, and Texas 2036. He likewise served on a number of boards and commissions, from the Texas Legislature’s Sunset Commission to the Superconducting Supercollider, to a temporary role as chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. More recently, he had been interim CEO of Biotech Initiatives of LHP Philanthropies.
Determined and visionary, the Texan showed that institutions don’t just exist on their own. They require an individual or individuals to create, shape, and guide them.
We hear about the importance of citizens keeping our republic alive. Tom engaged in republic-building, without ever being elected to office. Yes, the Dallas native ran for governor of Texas in 1990 (he lost) and served in President George W. Bush’s education department. But the SMU graduate’s contribution to strengthening his community, state, and nation came largely through his intellect, persuasiveness, passion and humor.
Those qualities and that spirit are how we build and strengthen our democracy. Citizens step forward, care for their nation, and work through institutions to find solutions.
In Tom’s case, he had a particular passion for Texas. In 1984, the Republican served as chief of staff of the Texas Legislature’s Select Committee on Public Education. Ross Perot, Sr. then was spearheading an effort to improve academic achievement across Texas. Luce, whose law firm represented Perot, got involved and was instrumental in shepherding through the Legislature the unheralded “no pass, no play” reform that Perot championed. In short, students had to pass their courses to play sports.
Perhaps the reform’s major consequence is it elevated educational standards across Texas. Later came numerous initiatives centered around school accountability, many of which involved Tom as a major player.
The reforms focused on classroom results, including helping students receive the instruction they need to meet the state’s academic standards. The approach became central to education policy in Texas and then to President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act.
Upon his death, President Bush credited his friend, who received the Bush Center’s Trailblazer Citation in 2025, for helping students succeed, especially in Texas. “Without Tom, Texas would not be the powerhouse that it is,” the president said in a statement.
President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush with Tom Luce, founder of Texas 2036, at the awarding of the George W. Bush Institute Trailblazer Citation. (Grant Miller / George W. Bush Presidential Center)
Luce’s creation of Texas 2036 especially wed together his policy north stars: Improving Texas through data-driven decisions that help find common ground. The state’s third century begins in 2036, and Tom wanted to make darn sure Texas was planning ahead for its arrival.
My own relationship with Tom began when I joined the Dallas Morning News in 1991 as an editorial writer. My editor told me I needed to meet Tom Luce. She said something like, “He reads.” The point being, he had a deep curiosity.
Indeed, he did. His library was filled with books on a wide range of subjects, and he voraciously consumed newspapers and other sources of public affairs. I frequently heard from him early in the morning about something I had written.
A genuine humility resided alongside his determination. I recall attending a pivotal tax reform hearing in Austin when George W. Bush was governor. The room was packed, SRO. I was standing at the back when Tom came in. Seeing no place to sit, he plopped down on the floor and sat cross-legged. I thought if the man who once led a House committee on school reform, managed Perot’s maiden 1992 presidential bid, and ran for governor himself can sit on the floor of a hearing cross-legged, so can I. So, I plopped down next to him, and we sat cross-legged and compared notes through a very tedious session.
That is who Tom Luce was. Unpretentious, public servant, citizen. May those three elements guide the rest of us in improving our common life and shared democracy.
