Tim Dunn (businessman)

Dunn grew up in Big Spring, Texas, the youngest of four boys. As an Eagle Scout, he graduated from Big Spring High School in 1974 and earned a degree in chemical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1978.[2]

Dunn began his career as an engineer at Exxon Production Research Company, where he worked from 1978 to 1980. He went on to work in banking at First City National Bank in Midland, where he stayed until 1987. During his time with First City, he was senior vice president and manager of oil and gas lending.[3] Dunn then served as an executive at Parker & Parsley Petroleum until 1995, where he became chief financial officer.[4] While at Parker & Parsley Petroleum, he oversaw securities transactions and became a supporter of tort reform.[2]

In 1996, Dunn founded his own oil and gas company which became known as CrownQuest Operating.[5] Dunn serves as CrownQuest's chief executive officer. In 2013, Dunn was named as top CEO of a large company by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association and Texas Monthly magazine.[6] Dunn is a billionaire.[1]

Dunn is influential in state and local politics in Texas[7] and has been called the most effective political donor in Texas.[8] A backer of conservative causes,[5] he has spent millions of dollars encouraging the Texas Republican Party and Texas Legislature to become more conservative.[5][7][9][10] In 2006, he formed the conservative advocacy group Empower Texans[11] and was the group's primary financial contributor.[12] Dunn serves on the board of the Community News Foundation, a media organization that publishes the Texas Scorecard.[13] Dunn is a founding board member of Citizens for Self-Governance, which spearheads the Convention of States project, a national effort seeking to call an Article V convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution.[2] He is also a member of the board of directors of the Lucy Burns Institute[14] and vice chairman of the board of directors at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.[9][10]

A 2022 report by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism found that Dunn had provided major funding to the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which spent over $5 million challenging Republican incumbents it viewed as insufficiently conservative.[15]

As of August 2022, Federal Election Commission data showed that Dunn had made more than 300 political donations since 2008.[1]

Dunn co-founded the Midland Classical Academy, a nonprofit Christian school, where he serves on the board of trustees.[7] The academy uses the Socratic method to teach a curriculum rooted in the development of western civilization.[19] Dunn serves on the board of directors of Grace School of Theology, a Christian seminary with a vision to become "A Seminary to the World," and the First Liberty Institute, a Christian legal defense organization.[5][20] He is the chairman of the Christian Advisory Board of the Israel Allies Foundation, a non-governmental organization formed in 2007 by Israeli rabbi and politician Binyamin Elon to encourage cooperation among faith-based supporters of Israel in parliaments and legislatures worldwide.[21] Dunn, who Forbes called "staunchly anti-abortion", funds adoption services and foster homes for over 300 children in West Texas.[1]

Dunn met his wife, Terri, while attending Texas Tech University and they married after his junior year of college.[2] They have six children and 19 grandchildren. Their two-year-old granddaughter, Moriah Wimberly, died in 2015.[22] In 2018, Dunn wrote a book about the experience of losing his granddaughter titled Yellow Balloons: Finding Power To Live Above Your Circumstances.[23][24] The Dunns reside in Midland, Texas, where they are members of Midland Bible Church. One of Dunn's sons is the Christian singer-songwriter David Dunn.[4]

• Official website