Forrest E. and Sally Houglund

Investing in Excellence

by Coke Buchanan

After fifty years of marriage, Kansas University alumni and sweethearts Forrest and Sally Hoglund are still moving forward.
What began with giving to their church, small gifts to their college, and providing a few scholarships has evolved into the dispensing of goodwill in priceless measure.

Desiring strong leadership for a gigantic capital campaign, Kansas University (KU) came to Texas for their leaders – Forrest and Sally Hoglund. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Foundation and the Houston Museum of Natural Science didn’t have to go so far. Neither has the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas.

With more than thirty years in executive management with Exxon, Texas Oil & Gas, and EOG Resources, and currently serving as the Chairman for Forest Oil and SeaOne Maritime Corporation, Forrest thrives on running major projects. Teaming with his wife, he knows the formula for successfully chairing mega-campaigns. “The key is choosing programs of excellence and recruiting inspired advocates.”

Even though the KU First Campaign started the week before 9/11, they surpassed the five-year goal of $500 million, with $653 million raised.

The Hoglund name evokes a feeling of grand generosity at KU. Honoring their personal gifts, a brain-imaging center, engineering lab, and ballpark bear the Hoglund name.

At Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, scientists research developmental disabilities, autism, strokes, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Created through a $4 million gift from the Hoglunds as part of a $7 million pledge, the Center is one of only three facilities of its kind in the nation with magneto encephalography providing the capability to safely scan the brain of a fetus in utero, allowing scientists to study the earliest signs of childhood neurological disorders.

Sally and Forrest were separately honored with KU’s Fred Ellsworth Medallion. Forrest received the school’s 2005 Distinguished Service Citation and the 1992 Distinguished
Engineering Alumni Award, while Sally earned recognition as a Distinguished Alumni of the College of Liberal Arts and is co-chair of Women Philanthropists for KU.

As chairman of the Museum of Nature & Science Leadership Council, Forrest will spearhead the capital campaign for the museum situated near the Arts District and
adjacent to Victory Park in downtown Dallas. With its architectural prominence and dynamic exhibits, the museum will be a treasure for North Texas – an inspirational and
vibrant destination. “We have raised $30 million toward our $155 million goal,” Hoglund says. “From dinosaurs to DNA – science, nature, hands-on activities, education, and multimedia exhibits – the facility will explode with excitement!” The Hoglunds are catalysts for change. Through the Hoglund Foundation, they work with daughters Kelly Compton, Kristan Robinson, and Shelly Dee to understand the community needs of Houston and Dallas, and promote interests and entities in education, health science and services, social services, and children’s health and development.

“Philanthropy has always been a priority for our family. We learned from our parents’ example the value of helping others. The Hoglund Foundation has given us the opportunity to work closely with our parents and to teach our children the value of service to others,” says Kelly Compton, executive director, expressing her feelings and those of her sisters. “It has been very rewarding to have all three generations work closely together with the Foundation.”

The Foundation supports individual initiative and enjoys investing in innovative, collaborative, and soundly managed programs. Houston-based Reasoning Mind is an example.

With its ingenious fifth-grade Web-based math program, it is trying to improve the academic performance of American students, now ranked a disappointing 28th in the world.

Currently under beta testing with 1,500 Houston students, the breakthrough program is improving student achievement with “very positive” results.

Foster care is another issue the Hoglunds have embraced. “Our foster care system desperately needs help,” Sally says. “Texas is overburdened. There are not enough caseworkers to find homes for the growing number of children who are wards of the state. CASA, a foster care support organization we help fund, takes kids through the legal process. These kids need someone who cares that they exist.”

Sally also loves supporting the Chiapas Project, a Dallasbased women’s initiative that provides microfinancing to help women in Mexico’s poorest state crawl out of grinding poverty. “With their craft skills and a small amount of financing, they can make a dramatic impact in their community,” Sally says. In Dallas, she also supports the Family Place, Easter Seals, Senior Source, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Arthritis Foundation. In Houston, she serves on the advisory boards of the Woman’s Fund and the Woman’s Home and has chaired events for Texas Children’s Cancer Center and American Cancer Society.

“We are lucky to live in this great country and feel that giving back is an obligation,” Sally and Forrest say. “The greatest decision we made was to bring our daughters into the Foundation and share the reward of helping others.”