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Cary Maguire Passes Away, Leaving Legacy of Scholarship in Ethics

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Cary Maguire, businessman, philanthropist, and benefactor of the Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History at the Kluge Center, passed away at age 93 on August 10, 2021, at his home in Dallas.

Born in 1928, Maguire spent much of his career as an executive in the oil industry, establishing the Maguire Oil Company and the Maguire Energy Company.

His extensive philanthropic work focused on scholarship and ethics. The Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History supports exploration of the history of America with special attention to the ethical dimensions of domestic economic, political, and social policies. The appointed scholar conducts research on the ethical issues associated with leadership in the United States or on the ethical implications of significant issues, events, and movements in American history. Maguire also served on the James Madison Council at the Library of Congress. The Maguire chairholders have included some of the leading scholars in the humanities, who have conducted research in the Library’s vast collections. All chairholders have contributed to the intellectual life of the Library with lectures and panel discussions.

Outside of the Library, Maguire was closely involved with Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where he sat on the Board of Trustees from 1976 to 2000. Maguire funded the Cary M. Maguire Chair and founded the Maguire Center for Ethics and the Maguire Energy Institute at SMU, and served on their advisory boards.

Maguire’s wife of 52 years, Ann Thompson Maguire, passed away in 2013. He is survived by their three children and six grandchildren.

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