Former Alcon CEO honored for philanthropy, community good deeds

In 1961, pharmaceutical firm Alcon offered Ed Schollmaier a promotion he felt he couldn’t turn down, even if it meant moving to the company’s Fort Worth headquarters.

“My wife’s reaction was, ‘Do I need to go, too?’ ” Schollmaier recalls. More than five decades later, Schollmaier calls Fort Worth home and “a place we wanted to be.”

At that time, Schollmaier, who grew up in Cincinnati, was in sales with Alcon in Pittsburgh, and moving to small town Fort Worth just didn’t seem so glamorous. But the couple came anyway — and never left.

Schollmaier, 82, joined Alcon after earning an MBA from Harvard and went on to become president and chief executive, growing the company into a global, multibillion-dollar venture. He retired in 1998. The company has been owned by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis since 2011.

Along the way, Schollmaier and his late wife, Rae, became philanthropists and longtime arts patrons. Their good deeds ranged from supporting the opera stage to basketball courts, classrooms and college campuses, including TCU and Texas Wesleyan University.

For his efforts, Schollmaier is receiving the 2015 Golden Deeds Award from the Exchange Club of Fort Worth on Tuesday. Since 1924, the club has honored individuals as Fort Worth’s outstanding citizens 86 times. The Schollmaier Foundation to date has given away $30 million, with about half of that to TCU.

Schollmaier said he is deeply touched to receive the award, saying, “I consider it a distinct honor.”

Kenneth Barr, Exchange Club president, said Schollmaier had a remarkable business career and fits in well among the list of Golden Deeds honorees.

Schollmaier, Barr said, “truly made a difference in the lives of our community. He and Rae were very involved in the arts and in our community. They have been incredibly generous to many different organizations.”

Philanthropy started with Schollmaier in high school. As a freshman, he was teamed with the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart on a United Way project, the Exchange Club said. And as Alcon’s head, the company was a top United Way supporter.

Among their recent donations, the Schollmaiers gave $10 million toward the new basketball arena at TCU, now named in their honor. Schollmaier has served as a TCU trustee for more than two decades, and still heads the building and grounds committee. The campus largely looks the way it does today because of Schollmaier, said TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini.

“It’s Ed and Rae,” Boschini said. “They both have had a significant and lasting impact on TCU, and it’s more than just their money.”

Boschini called Schollmaier a visionary, a leader and an “out-of-the-box kind of guy” who keeps him on his toes. Schollmaier’s support is unwavering, he said.

“He makes me think about this campus in ways I never would have thought of,” Boschini said. “Ed is always encouraging me to reach higher. He applauds good work, but points out where things can be done better. He has an insatiable curiosity.”

At Texas Wesleyan, Schollmaier recently supported the school’s Rosedale Renaissance project aimed at revitalizing southeast Fort Worth. The couple made the naming gift for the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Science and Technology Building, which opened in 2007, and he has served on the President’s Council and Eunice West Society. In 2012, Texas Wesleyan awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree.

Rae Schollmaier loved opera, and the couple saw some 300 operas worldwide, Schollmaier said.

He has served on the board of Performing Arts Fort Worth, which owns and operates Bass Performance Hall, since 1999.

President and CEO Dione Kennedy said the Schollmaiers have been generous supporters since Bass Performance Hall opened, giving significant dollars to support capital, operating, education and endowment efforts.

“But perhaps even more important is the contribution of Ed’s time and expertise to the board,” Kennedy said. “His savvy business acumen has been a guiding force in our organization for two decades. Currently, he is leading the effort to raise permanent endowment funds for the organization that will ensure that Bass Performance Hall and the Maddox-Muse Center are viable and sustainable for future generations.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Former Alcon CEO honored for philanthropy, community good deeds."