Bobby B. Lyle

Making Kindness a Way of Life.

by Coke Buchanan

With the sale of his company, Lyco Energy, Bobby B. Lyle, is quiet about what is next for him on the business front. But he is crystal clear about continuing his lifelong passion —bringing kindness to others in big, broad strokes.

As an oil and gas man, Lyle knows the value of taking risks and venturing into new territory. He was also involved in developing the Dallas Galleria, 1-800-Flowers and Cheddars Restaurant. His business acumen and willingness to serve his community have created innovative programs promoting efficiency and dynamic leadership in everything he touches.

Lyle’s 40 years of leadership with SMU as dean, board of trustees, executive board member, and president of the Alumni Association, earned him the SMU Distinguished Alumni award. Apart from the pleasure of donating millions of dollars to the University, Lyle relishes the successes of programs he helped initiate to enhance the quality of education for thousands.

During the late 1960s, Lyle helped establish an avant garde minority entrepreneurship program. In 1970, he and C. Jackson Grayson Jr., dean of SMU’s business school, led a strategic initiative that elevated their small, unknown business school to international recognition. They led SMU in pioneering an intense twelve-month MBA program, involving students in university governance, establishing annual faculty planning and accountability programs, conducting national recruiting, and bringing the first black students into the MBA program. “That same year, Ray Hunt and I started the school of business associate board that today involves 250 Dallas businesspeople who serve as mentors to the School’s MBA students.”

Plans to develop SMU’s school of engineering into one of the finest in the country gained momentum with Lyle’s recent $1.4 million gift to fund a new program in engineering leadership and entrepreneurship. He also contributed $300,000 toward construction of the new J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building and $1.4 million to the Cox School of Business, which will include an endowed professorship in entrepreneurial studies bearing Lyle’s name.

Lyle is also involved with other innovative programs at SMU. The Institute for the Study of Earth and Man is working with community and university research groups to examine alternative energy sources. The Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, where Lyle serves as vice chair, creates awareness of ethics in personal and business affairs. He also serves as vice chair of the Maguire Energy Institute and on the Advisory Board of the Hart Global Leaders Forum. In addition, he serves on the University’s audit committee and its buildings and grounds committee.

Outside SMU, Lyle is inspired to give to efficient missions that significantly impact the community. “The Salvation Army in Dallas is a great example,” he says. “The Army gives back to the community 89 cents of each dollar it receives.”

As the Salvation Army’s planning committee chairperson, Lyle promotes efficiency and leadership as critical to success.

He introduced a strategic plan to bring seasoned executives with business experience and formal management education into the organization. Championing the idea were Salvation Army Area Commander Major Bill Mockabee and his wife Debra, inspiring Lyle to bestow $1 million to help fund the initiative, naming the gift in their honor.

Communities Foundation of Texas contributed $3.5 million toward implementing the strategic plan, which Lyle hopes will become a model for other Salvation Army commands. As a new member of The Salvation Army National Advisory Board, he may be in a position to influence that decision. The Boy Scouts has also brought Lyle tremendous joy over the last 18 years. “You can see the difference scouting makes on a day-to-day basis. We work with approximately 75,000 kids each year in Circle Ten Council.” Lyle’s recent $1 million gift to Circle Ten Council, in honor of former Scout executive Billy Gamble, is intended to help perpetuate the character-building programs of Scouting.

Lyle’s most recent involvement is with The Texas Trees Foundation, a remarkable program  edicated to reforesting communities and public spaces. “Through the grace of Texas Instruments, TXU, Esurance and the Meadows Foundation, we developed two Urban Tree Farms with the capacity to grow up to 16,000 trees yearly to help offset the area’s average loss of 20,000 trees. By selling the trees at a modest price, we hope to be self-sufficient in three years, an unusual accomplishment for a not-for-profit organization,” Lyle says proudly. Fatherless at the age of three months, Lyle’s inspiration for being involved is the memory of his mother Lucille’s hard work, great compassion, and tenacity. “She always looked at the bright side of life and was ready to help someone in need. “Give from your heart. Do it until it feels good, and don’t wait on someone else to do it. A gift of time and talent is as important as financial support. Everyone has something to
give. No gift is too small.”