Local business tycoon Gerald Smith, Chairman and CEO of Smith Graham & Co., an investment management firm based here in Houston, was recently inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. “I was quite humble when I first found out about this,” says Smith Houstonia. “If you are familiar with the Business Hall of Fame you know that when you were inducted you will be called a legend and it really speaks for the caliber of people who got in on it. It’s a who-is-who of business as well Philanthropy in Texas. I felt humbled and honored to be accepted. “
News of Smith’s inclusion comes shortly after the City of Houston recognized Gerald B. Smith and Anita Webber Smith Day for their exceptional community and philanthropic commitment. As an entrepreneur, Smith has been in the investment business for over 45 years and founded SGIA 31 years ago. The company holds the title of one of the largest minority-owned investment management firms in the country and one of the largest investment management firms based in Houston. He has served a variety of institutional clients, “including public funds, corporations, foundations, along with Taft-Hartley plans and currently manages over $ 6 billion in fixed income, mortgage and real estate debt, and institutional equity investments,” a press release said .
Of six newcomers, Smith was the only black person to receive the cherished honor that year. “I think the Texas Business Hall Of Fame has been around for 37 years. Only three African Americans were enrolled in that period, and I’m actually the third in these three decades, ”explains Smith. “Even if I feel like I’m not the first, we have to change the status quo.”
In addition to his extensive career, Smith has held board positions at companies such as New York Life Insurance and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and is chairman of the Texas Southern University Foundation. A proud graduate of TSU and an advocate of education, Smith also received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, where he helped found the Gerald B. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to provide a platform for young people of color to develop viable opportunities in the professional corporate division.
“I think that’s the great thing about the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation because part of that whole aspect of induction is that they raise money for their scholarship program where they have students who started their own businesses and they do Providing grants and funding to help them in their business, Smith said. “Of the approximately 50 grant recipients introduced during this event, nearly 50 percent were either women or people of color. That, as you know, gives me a lot of encouragement that the numbers are going to change because you really focus on changing the status quo over the long term. “
Smith was inducted with five other awardees, including Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban, Patrón Tequila co-founder John Paul DeJoria, private investors John Goff and Morton Meyerson, and former AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson.
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