By: Nevaeh Richardson
A shining example of Black excellence, Gerald Smith can give classes on entrepreneurship and wealth management. This investment manager, chairman and CEO of investment management firm Smith Graham & Co. is one of six new inductees into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
SGIA is one of the nation’s largest minority-owned investment management firms and one of the largest investment management firms based in Houston.
Smith wears many hats. According to his bio on the Hall of Fame website, Smith is a board member of New York Life Insurance and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and chairman of the Texas Southern University Foundation. He is a proud graduate of TSU with a BBA in Finance, while also receiving an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater where he established the Gerald B. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to help young Black and Brown people better compete in today’s business environment.
Smith has received numerous awards for his entrepreneurial success and community service. Recently, the City of Houston proclaimed Gerald B. Smith and Anita Webber Smith Day for their community service and philanthropic giving.
The sole person of color on this year’s list, Smith joins Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban, Austin Billionaire John Paul DeJoria, Fort Worth private investor John Goff, Dallas private investor Morton Meyerson, and Dallas executive Randall Stephenson.
