Dwight Schar
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Founder, Chair and CEO
Palm Beach, US
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
Dwight Schar is a pioneer of the homebuilding industry and an active philanthropist with a particular interest in higher education and healthcare.
Mr. Schar is the now-retired founder, CEO, and executive chairman of the board of NVR, Inc., one of the leading homebuilding companies in the United States. Through shifting away from development projects and through focusing on its homebuilding and mortgage banking operations, NVR, Inc. is credited with changing the face of the homebuilding industry in the United States.
Early in his homebuilding career, Mr. Schar served as head of Mid-Atlantic homebuilding operations for Ryan Homes. Two years after leaving Ryan Homes, he founded Northern Virginia Land and Homes Co., the earliest version of NVR. The company experienced rapid growth under Mr. Schar’s leadership, and only seven years later NVR acquired Ryan Homes. It now encompasses NVHomes, Ryan Homes, NVR Mortgage, Heartland Homes, Rymark Homes, and Fox Ridge Homes.
Over the years, Mr. Schar has donated money to various educational institutions and healthcare organizations. Ashland University benefitted from contributions to education, nursing, and athletic programs, while Elon University’s convocation center is named after the Schar family gifted the money to fund it and the School of Communications. The Inova Schar Cancer Institute and the Inova Schar Heart and Vascular Institute were named in recognition of the donations given by the Schars to the healthcare provider, totaling over $126 million.
Politically, Dwight Schar supports the Republican Party and was the national finance chair for the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007.
Mr. Schar was formerly a co-owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders. He has also held board membership for Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates, First American Bank, the NVBIA, Bell Atlantic Company of Virginia, and United Way of the Capital Area.
The Record
Background
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1980 — 2022
Founder, Chair and CEO
NVR, Inc.
NVR, Inc. is a leading home construction business in the US also providing mortgage banking and title services. The firm now contains NVHomes, Ryan Homes, NVR Mortgage, Heartland Homes, Rymark Homes, and Fox Ridge Homes.
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1968 — 1977
Various
Ryan Homes
Early in his homebuilding career, Dwight was responsible for running Ryan Homes’ Mid-Atlantic homebuilding operations. He was appointed as VP and Group Manager, a position he occupied from 1973 to 1977, when he left the business to start his own company.
In The News
Newsfeed
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1 November 2024 · Lifestyles Magazine
$126 million to date has been gifted to health system by Dwight and Martha Schar Article
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8 December 2023 · PR Newswire
NVR, Inc. Announces Founder Dwight C. Schar Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award
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29 May 2023
Inova receives $75 million from Schars for cardiovascular care
Read more
Formative Years
Education
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Ashland University
Bachelor of Arts
Areas Of Focus