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Tim Dunn (Texas)
| Tim Dunn | |
 | |
| Personal | |
| Profession | Oil and gas industry |
| Personal website | http://www.timdunn.org |
| High School | Big Spring High School (1974) |
| Bachelor's | Texas Tech University (1978) |
Tim Dunn is a businessman and philanthropist based in Midland, Texas. He is the CEO of CrownQuest Operating, LLC, an oil and gas company based in Midland. [1]
Dunn is involved with a variety of public policy organizations. He is the chairman of America First Works and the vice chairman of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The Texas Tribune called Dunn the most effective political donor in Texas.[2]
Early life and education
Timothy Marvin Dunn was born in 1955 in Big Spring, Texas, to Joe and Thelma Dunn. [3] The youngest of four boys, his father was an insurance salesman for the Howard County Farm Bureau. In his youth, Dunn was an Eagle Scout, participated in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and played guitar in a band. He graduated from Big Spring High School in 1974 and earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1978. During his time at Texas Tech, he met his future wife, Terri, whom he married on May 14, 1977.[4]
Career
Dunn began his career as an engineer at ExxonMobil from 1978 to 1980.[5] He then transitioned to banking, working at First City National Bank in Midland, Texas, where he served as senior vice president and manager of oil and gas lending by 1987. From 1987 to 1995, he served as an executive at Parker & Parsley Petroleum, eventually becoming chief financial officer and overseeing securities transactions.[5] In 1996, Dunn co-founded CrownQuest Operating, an oil and gas company based in Midland, where he serves as CEO. CrownQuest became one of the largest privately-owned oil companies, according to Forbes, producing 140,000 barrels per day, and was the eighth-largest oil producer in Texas in 2022.[6][7] [8] In 2023, Occidental Petroleum acquired CrownRock, a joint venture involving CrownQuest, for $12 billion. [9]
Public policy
Dunn is a prominent figure in Texas politics, known for his financial contributions to conservative causes. Since 2000, he has donated approximately $30 million to Texas political campaigns and political action committees, making him one of the state’s largest individual donors.[10] [11]
In 2023, Dunn contributed $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc., a Super PAC that supports Donald Trump. Since 2021, Dunn has been a board member of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group formed by former Trump administration officials to promote an America First policy agenda. Dunn serves as chairman of AFPI partner group America First Works.[12]
Dunn helped to found the Center for Effective Criminal Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, of which he is vice chairman. The Center for Effective Criminal Justice initiated the national Right on Crime movement. The Right on Crime movement focuses on advancing statutory and administrative reforms designed to move Texas' criminal justice policies toward a focus on crime reduction and restoring victims and communities damaged by crime. [13] [14] [15]
Dunn is a founding board member of Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose stated mission is to "elevate awareness and provide resources, advocacy, and education to grassroots organizations and individuals exercising their rights to govern themselves." CSG spearheads the Convention of States project, a national effort geared toward equipping citizens to call for an Article V Convention to propose Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.[16][17]
Dunn founded Empower Texans in 2006 and has contributed to the Texas Scorecard, a related media outlet focused on Texas politics.[18][19]
Dunn is a board member of the Lucy Burns Institute, which sponsors Ballotpedia.
As of July 2025, Dunn also serves on the boards of directors of the First Liberty Institute, the Grace School of Theology, and Transparency USA.
Personal
Dunn is a member of Midland Bible Church.[18]. He co-founded and serves on the board of the Midland Classical Academy, a private Christian school with 750 students.[20][18]
In 2018, Dunn published a book, Yellow Balloons: Power for Living Life Above the Circumstances, which was inspired by the death of his granddaughter in 2015.[21]
Dunn and his wife, Terri, have six children and 20 grandchildren. One of his sons, David Dunn, is a Christian singer-songwriter.[1]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term Tim + Dunn + Texas
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Linkedin "accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "In Tim Dunn, Far Right Has Big Spender Who Gets Results," May 11, 2014
- ↑ Good Returns "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Texas Monthly "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tim Dunn Official Website "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Forbes "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Texas Monthly "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Forbes "Profile on Tim Dunn" Accessed July 2025
- ↑ Texas Tribune "Tim Dunn/Occidental Petroleum Sale," December 11, 2023
- ↑ The Guardian "Tim Dunn article," July 11, 2024
- ↑ Pro Publica "Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks, Texas," Accessed July 2025
- ↑ NY Times "Texas politics billionaire," October 2, 2024
- ↑ Washington Monthly "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Star Telegram, "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Linkedin "Tim Dunn profile," accessed July 2025
- ↑ Convention of the States "About" Accessed July 2025
- ↑ DeSmog "Tim Dunn, Convention of States," October 23, 2024
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 The Guardian "Tim Dunn, Texas," Accessed July 2025
- ↑ The Batt "Accessed July 2025"
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedForbes - ↑ Yellow Balloons
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