Mr. William Edwards was a rancher his entire life. He moved to West Texas in 1905 with 1,500 head of sheep and bought some land in Terrell and Pecos counties. Fifty years later, Edwards had built a ranching empire out of nothing more than old-fashioned hard work.
Edwards lived a routine life, waking up at 5:30 every morning, working out on the field until 1:00 p.m. and going to bed early each night. He never married, but instead dedicated his life to his work.
Edwards became friends with Don Morris, president of ACU, and B Sherrod, president of the ACU Board of Trustees, and soon after became one of the university's greatest donors. Edwards never visited Abilene and never saw the university. He chose to give his land to ACU because, "it looks to (him) as if they have a program which will produce good citizens."
When he passed in 1954, Edwards left Abilene Christian University 41,839 acres of ranch land valued at $1,110,000. This gift made Edwards the largest financial benefactor in ACU's history at the time. The university continues to gain revenue from this land. ACU leases the surface of the land to a nearby landowner to raise sheep and cattle and ACU profits from the oil and gas that it owns the rights to.
The university honored his many gifts by naming a dormitory on campus in his name
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