- The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Announces 2007 Class of Fellows - Former Perot Systems Chairman and
CEO Morton Meyerson Inducted into
American Academy of Arts and Sciences - Everything I Thought I Knew about
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- The Mort: Mort Meyerson gets Recruited
Early Years
Morton was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1938. He played football, wearing number 72 like his father, at Paschal High School. After graduating from Paschal in 1956, Morton left Fort Worth to attend college at The University of Texas in Austin. While in college, Morton was active in the student choir, fraternity life, student government and intramural football. He also found time to become a licensed pilot. In 1961, Morton graduated, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Philosophy. In 2005, Morton was a recipient of The University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Beginning in 1961, Morton served as an active duty officer in the U.S. Army. And, from 1963 through 1969, Morton served in the active reserves.
Business
Morton began his business career in 1963 at Bell Helicopter. In 1966, he joined Electronic Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EDS) as a systems engineer trainee, ultimately becoming President and Vice Chairman and managing 45,000 employees. In 1984, Morton played a significant role in the sale of EDS to General Motors for $2.5 billion, becoming the top technology officer at General Motors. Two years after the sale to General Motors, after growing EDS revenue four-fold, Morton retired. From 1971 through 1974, during his tenure at EDS and at the age of 33, Morton was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of duPont Glore Forgan, a Wall Street brokerage firm.
From 1986 through 1992, Morton pursued private investment opportunities with Richard Rainwater. In 1992, at the request of Ross Perot, Morton re–joined the corporate world as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Perot Systems Corporation (NYSE: PER), retiring again in 1998.
Currently, Morton is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of 2M Companies, Inc. Morton formed 2M in 1985 as a family office. Since that time, Morton has been actively engaged in investment activities through 2M and its affiliates. Morton’s investment interests are diverse and have included financing, developing and managing real estate transactions, equity and debt financing for early–stage technology companies, restaurants and retail operations, and trading public equities.
Recently, Morton was elected into The American Academy of Arts & Sciences 2007 Class of Fellows. The Academy honors distinguished scientists, scholars and leaders in public affairs, business and the arts.
From time to time, Morton has served on public and private company boards. Currently, Morton is active on the following boards:
- Chairman—E2M Partners, a value–added real estate investment management firm
- Chairman—Alsbridge Inc., a global outsourcing, shared services and offshoring advisory firm
- Chairman—CebaTech Inc., a software to silicon company
- Director—ChaCha Search, Inc., a provider of human powered mobile search technology
Tzedakah
The members of Morton’s family have a firm belief in the Jewish philosophy of “Tzedakah”—the Hebrew word for the just and righteous giving required by the Jewish religion. Morton and his family work toward Tzedakah through The Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation. Morton devotes substantial time, effort and resources to the Foundation and is also an avid student of Judaism and Jewish history.
Community Activity and Affiliations
Morton currently serves on the board of the Dallas Symphony Association. And, in prior years, Morton has been involved with a variety of organizations, including:
- Vice Chairman—The National Park Foundation
- Chairman—Dallas Symphony Association New Building Committee
- Chairman, Texas—National Research Laboratory Super Conducting Super Collider Project Commission
- Member—Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College
- Director—Japan Society USA
- Director—Dallas Museum of Art
- Director—Harry Ransom Center for Humanities Studies at The University of Texas at Austin
- Second Bass Singer—The Morris Beachy Singers and The Dallas Symphony Chorus
Family
Morton was blessed with three children - Leslie, David and Marti. Leslie and her husband, Rob, and Marti and her husband, Jamie, each have three children. Morton enjoys spending as much time as possible with his six amazing grandchildren. Morton's son, David, is deceased but his spirit is carried on by Morton and his family.
