2014
Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler
A native Dallasite and graduate of Southern Methodist University, Ruth has devoted her life to philanthropic and charitable interests and a variety of business activities. Her great interests have been SMU, the Salvation Army and United Way. She has served as chair of the Communities Foundation of Texas and on the board of trustees for Zale-Lipshy Hospital, and more prominently a trustee of SMU since 1968 where she was the first woman to chair their Board of Trustees. Mrs. Altshuler was the first woman to serve on the Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board, and their first woman chair, and is a lifetime member of the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army. She was the first woman to be elected to the board of Goodwill Industries and served as vice president of the Goodwill Foundation. She is one of the few recipients in the United States of the Order of Distinguished Honorary Service, presented to her by the General of The Salvation Army Board in London.
In 1991 the Texas House of Representatives honored Mrs. Altshuler with a resolution commending her service to Dallas and the State of Texas. Some of Mrs. Altshuler's most notable honors include the Linz Award; The first from Dallas to receive The International Junior League Mary Harriman Award; Voted the #1 Philanthropist in the Nation by the National Society of Fundraising Executives; Selected Outstanding Trustee in the Nation by the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities; and recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award from the Smithsonian. She was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Library of Congress Trust and appointed by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the U.S. Commission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2004.
A native Dallasite and graduate of Southern Methodist University, Ruth has devoted her life to philanthropic and charitable interests and a variety of business activities. Her great interests have been SMU, the Salvation Army and United Way. She has served as chair of the Communities Foundation of Texas and on the board of trustees for Zale-Lipshy Hospital, and more prominently a trustee of SMU since 1968 where she was the first woman to chair their Board of Trustees. Mrs. Altshuler was the first woman to serve on the Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board, and their first woman chair, and is a lifetime member of the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army. She was the first woman to be elected to the board of Goodwill Industries and served as vice president of the Goodwill Foundation. She is one of the few recipients in the United States of the Order of Distinguished Honorary Service, presented to her by the General of The Salvation Army Board in London.
In 1991 the Texas House of Representatives honored Mrs. Altshuler with a resolution commending her service to Dallas and the State of Texas. Some of Mrs. Altshuler's most notable honors include the Linz Award; The first from Dallas to receive The International Junior League Mary Harriman Award; Voted the #1 Philanthropist in the Nation by the National Society of Fundraising Executives; Selected Outstanding Trustee in the Nation by the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities; and recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award from the Smithsonian. She was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Library of Congress Trust and appointed by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the U.S. Commission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2004.