Walter William and Ella Fondren donated the funds to build Fondren Library, the first air-conditioned building on campus. Mr Fondren served as a Trustee on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1921 until his death in 1939. Mrs. Fondren served on the Board from 1939 until 1976. The couple were life-long Methodists and, they gave the university endowment funds to support the Fondren Lectures In Religious Thought and a scholarship. Fondren Library opened in 1940.
