David Gilbert Booth (born 1946) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the executive chairman of

Dimensional Fund Advisors Dimensional Fund Advisors, L.P. (branded Dimensional abbreviated DFA) is a private investment firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. Dimensional was founded in Chicago in 1981 by David Booth, Rex Sinquefield and Larry Klotz. The company has affil ...

, which he co-founded with

Rex Sinquefield Rex Andrew Sinquefield (; born September 7, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who has been called an "index-fund pioneer" for creating the first passively managed index fund open to the general public Sinquefield was ...

Career

Booth graduated from Lawrence High School in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2020 census ...

and then received a B.A. in economics in 1968 and an M.S. in business in 1969 from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, also located in Lawrence. He then enrolled at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...

Graduate School of Business in 1969 as a doctoral student, leaving in 1971 with an M.B.A. degree. He was a research assistant to

Eugene Fama Eugene Francis "Gene" Fama (; born February 14, 1939) is an American economist, best known for his empirical work on portfolio theory, asset pricing, and the efficient-market hypothesis. He is currently Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Servi ...

, and he met his future business partner,

, at the school. He has published research articles including "Diversification Returns and Asset Contributions" with

. The article won the 1992 Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence from the

Financial Analysts Journal The ''Financial Analysts Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering investment management, published by Routledge on behalf of the CFA Institute. It was established in 1945 and , the editor-in-chief is William N. Goetzmann. ...

. David Booth has served on institutional boards, including as a governor of the Kravis Leadership Institute and the UCLA Foundation; as a trustee of the American Academy in Rome and the Paintings Conservation Council of the J. Paul Getty Trust; as a trustee of the University of Chicago; as a member of the board of directors of Georgetown University; and as a trustee of the University of Kansas Endowment Association. According to ''Forbes'', he had a net worth of $2 billion in August 2021.Forbes: The World's billionaires: David Booth
31 January 2021

Philanthropy

David Booth and his ex-wife, Suzanne Deal Booth, focused their philanthropy efforts on educational institutions and

art restoration The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property, cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including Collection (artwork), artworks, Architectural conservation, architecture, Archae ...

projects. In 1998 Suzanne Booth created the Friends of Heritage Preservation, which acts as a rapid response team for art preservation initiatives, whose area of focus ranges from entire historical sites to single works of art.The 50 Top American Givers

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

, accessed December 22, 2010. In 1999, the Booths gave $10 million for construction of the Charles M. Harper Center building on the University of Chicago campus. The Booths gave $9 million to the

in 2004 to fund the Booth Family Hall of Athletics attached to Allen Fieldhouse. The Booth family pledged $300 million in November 2008 to the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, where he earned an MBA in 1971. He is a trustee of the university, and the Graduate School of Business is now named The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The gift of cash and stock is being spread over a period of years, and is dedicated to furthering the school's publications, international presence, research centers, and faculty professional development. In 2010, the Booths acquired Dr.

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

's original 1891 copy of the 13 basic rules at auction for $3.8 million (laying out a total of $4,338,500 for the rules, auction house fees, and

buyer's premium In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the ...

) with the intention of donating them to his alma mater the

. Kansas University is known as the Cradle of Basketball because Naismith and his protégé Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, the Father of Basketball Coaching, coached at KU and helped it mature into the sport as it is known today. The purchase price set a world record for sports memorabilia. The purchase of this historical artifact was documented in the 2012

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...

'' 30 for 30'' film ''There's No Place Like Home''. The Booth Center for Special Collections at Georgetown's

Lauinger Library The Joseph Mark Lauinger Library is the main library of Georgetown University and the center of the seven-library Georgetown library system that includes 3.5 million volumes. It holds 1.7 million volumes on six floors and has accommodations for ...

, which contains a number of archival documents related to Georgetown as well as an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, and art, was funded by a $3 million donation from the Booths. In September 2017, Booth announced a donation of over $50 million to renovate the University of Kansas football team's stadium. The school renamed the stadium in his honor for the donation. In 2019, Booth pledged a $10 million gift to

The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

to support construction of the

Giant Magellan Telescope The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) is a ground-based extremely large telescope under construction, as part of the US Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP), . It will consist of seven 8.4 m (27.6 ft) diameter primary segments, tha ...

References

External links

Chicago Booth School of BusinessDimensional Fund AdvisorsDavid Booth Interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, David G. 1946 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century philanthropists American billionaires American financial analysts American financial company founders American financiers American investors American philanthropists Businesspeople from Kansas Georgetown University people Giving Pledgers People from Lawrence, Kansas University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni University of Chicago people University of Kansas alumni