Don Glendenning

Don Glendenning grew up in Celina, Texas, which may be the fastest growing city in the country today, but was cozily about 1,200 people from Don’s birth until his departure for college. Don knew every citizen, all of their pets, and most of their livestock.

A failed athlete in a small-town athletic dynasty, Don played, with conviction, every sport . . . badly. Worse, he was “bookish.” Had humility not come naturally, it would have been thrust upon him.

College at Rice University was his then-personal ideal of limitless freedom. But not in the most customarily expected sense: He reveled in the heckle-free environment of the library, holing up there, until Midnight or later, including on Saturday nights, anytime he wanted . . . which was much of the time.

Wait-listed at Harvard Law, where he would have gone because his parents had heard of it, Don did not select a law school until right up to the acceptance deadline for Stanford Law. So, thanks to one fateful East Coast extended wait list and an acceptance on the other side of the continent, on his very first day at Stanford, Don met his lifelong best friend and the love of his life, Carol. Don remains deeply grateful to both Harvard and Stanford, and the couple is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their meeting this year with commemorative contributions to both institutions.

Joining, in 1979, the law firm now known as Troutman Pepper Locke, Don has found deep satisfaction in serving longstanding clients who also have become close friends, including a number of families for whom he has served two, and even three, generations. Listed in a number of recommended referral sources, the most prominent of which, “Chambers,” has referred to Don as “nothing short of phenomenal,” and as someone who often can craft “solutions that satisfy all parties.”

The key determinant for Don in joining the law firm he has long loved as his professional home, in addition to excellent client service and collegiality, was commitment to pro bono work for a broad range of charities, especially through the influence of his principal mentor, Barney Young, who not only introduced, but also volunteered, Don for a number of his first pro bono undertakings. The seeds of that early service to charitable organizations took root and grew exponentially over the years. Among the causes Don has served are: the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas; the Holocaust and Human Rights Museum; the Human Rights Campaign; the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce; CASA; Cafe Momentum; TexProtects; TRAC; the National Tree Trust; Texas Trees Foundation; Dedman College; Southwestern Medical District; the Dallas Theater Center; the Tower Center at SMU; The Dallas Opera; TACA; NCAR; KIPP; the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU; the McDermott Scholars of UTD; Thanksgiving Square; Harold Simmons Park; KERA; the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas . . . and so many more.

Some of the most satisfying of Don’s civic and charitable engagements have been those that were the most challenging. One such cause, known for its myriad complications, was the public-private partnership of the Dallas Zoological Society with our City of Dallas, a partnership that has elevated our Zoo from a troubling “at risk of loss of accreditation” status to its current universal recognition

as one of the best zoological parks in our nation. Another major undertaking was co-chairing with Nancy Halbreich the Campaign for the New Parkland Hospital, for which Don and Nancy, with a dedicated committee and staff leadership, raised more private dollars than had ever been raised before for an indigent care hospital. Another challenging and complicated project triumphantly produced the recent, magnificently successful combination of The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture into Southern Methodist University.

Above all, Don loves the amazingly deep friendships that both his legal practice and his philanthropic and civic involvements have brought him. Don insists that he remains a miserable athlete, a hopeless nerd, and pitiful at striking a life-work balance. But he clearly loves what he does, with whom he does it, and for whom he does it, whether practicing law or serving our community. We in Dallas who know him and who have been witness to his many victories for our City recognize Don as the barely disguised Olympian that he is.

Don is deeply grateful for so many people he loves, for so many causes that inspire and elate him, and for this remarkable City, which he believes is entering a Golden Age, that makes it all possible.