Fort Worth Couple Announce Major Gift to Baylor Law School

by Alan Hunt

WACO, Texas -- Fort Worth residents Gerald Haddock and his wife, the Hon. Diane Haddock, an Associate Judge of the 233rd State District Court of Tarrant County, Texas, have announced a $1 million gift to Baylor Law School's current $35 million Building & Endowment Campaign.
The gift will underwrite the courtyard in Baylor's planned new Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center. The courtyard, offering an imposing entrance to the 125,000-square-foot law center, will be known as the "Gerald and Diane Haddock Entry Courtyard."
Scheduled for completion in Fall, 2001, the planned $28 million law center will provide Baylor with one of the nation's finest law school facilities. The building, which will be located adjacent to Fort Fisher on the banks of the Brazos River, will include classrooms, courtrooms, the law library, computer labs, seminar and meeting rooms, faculty and administrative offices, and common areas.
Mr. and Mrs. Haddock, along with members of their family and friends, will be the guests of honor at a noon luncheon at the Hughes-Dillard Alumni Center on the Baylor campus on Tuesday, Dec. 14, hosted by Baylor President Robert B. Sloan, Jr. and by Brad Toben, the dean of Baylor Law School.
Toben said Gerald and Diane Haddock have served with distinction in both the legal profession and in the corporate arena. "We regard their many achievements with enormous pride," he said. "We are proud to count Gerald and Diane among our most loyal friends and supporters. Their exceptional success in their professional lives and their devotion to their community and to education serve as an inspiration to us all."
Haddock graduated, cum laude, from Baylor Law School in 1971 and received a business degree from Baylor's Hankamer School of Business in 1969. He later received a master of laws degree in taxation from New York University.
From 1972 through 1994, Haddock worked extensively in structuring and negotiating corporate and real estate transactions, and he has been a longtime business partner with investor Richard Rainwater.
In 1994, Haddock was one of the founders of Crescent Real Estate Equities, now one of the largest publicly held real estate investment trusts in the U.S.
From 1996 through 1999, Haddock served as president and chief executive officer of Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (NYSE: CEI) and Crescent Operating, Inc. (NSDQ: COPI), having formerly served as president and chief operating officer since 1994.
During this time, Realty Stock Review awarded Haddock the Outstanding CEO of the Year Award three years in a row: 1996, 1997 and 1998. In March 1998, Commercial Property News honored Haddock with the 1998 REIT Executive of the Year Award at the 10th annual Commercial Property World conference in New York.
Haddock served from 1981-82 as chair of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Texas and from 1989 to 1998 served as general counsel for the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. Haddock currently serves on the board of directors of ENSCO International, Inc. (NYSE) and on the National Board of Tax Advisors of the New York University Graduate Tax Program.
Haddock is the proud father of two sons, Russell and Nicholas. Russell is a graduate of Baylor University and resides in The Woodlands, Texas, with his wife, Sarah, and Gerald Haddock's first granddaughter, Ashlyn Elizabeth. Nicholas is currently a junior at University of Texas at Austin studying finance while also fulfilling the requirements for entry into medical school.
Diane Haddock, as an Associate Judge of the 233rd District Court, hears more than 2,500 cases per year dealing with family issues such as divorce, adoptions, child support and custody. Judge Haddock is a community advocate, who in the past, along with her husband Gerald, has supported the institution of the family through her work with the YMCA Amaka Child Care Center, Leader Kids of Fort Worth, Meals on Wheels, the James L. West Presbyterian Special Care Center and the Crime Prevention Resource Center.
Judge Haddock received her law degree from Texas Tech University in 1990 and served as an editor of the Texas Tech Law Review while completing her studies. In addition to her doctor of jurisprudence, she holds a bachelor of science in psychology, as well as extensive banking experience through years in banking management.
Before taking the bench in January 1999, Judge Haddock was the principal of Haddock Law Firm in Fort Worth, where she focused her practice primarily on family law and banking and corporate transactions.
However, Judge Haddock says one of her greatest privileges is being the mother of Kami Owens, who is currently a freshman at Baylor majoring in biology.