THE TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION MAGAZINE | FALL 2009 PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Foundation Steers Steady Course
In September the Texas A&M Foundation celebrated its 56th birthday and 10th anniversary in the Jon L. Hagler Center. It was a delight to see more than 400 of you—our former students and friends—at our pregame celebration Sept. 5. Much has changed since we moved into our new building in 1999. Many of you recall when the corner of Houston and what used to be “Jersey” Street was the University Police station. A few of you might remember even further back, when this spot was the location of an old county project house built in the late 1930s. There is a certain elegant symbolism in the fact that the campus home to major-gift philanthropy—the Hagler Center—sits on the site of a fundamental act of charity: folks back home helping poor kids go to college. Ten years ago the Foundation employed 72 people and managed assets of $537.9 million. Today we have 95 on our staff and oversee $1.2 billion in assets for Texas A&M. Back then we didn’t have an Internet and fans were just good Ags at Kyle Field, not people following our Facebook page. I’m privileged to say that my position and title have not changed since 1993. Bob Rutledge, my predecessor, directed the Foundation for 12 years before me. I hope you agree that this stable leadership, along with your generous gifts, has contributed to our success. Leadership change at A&M has been much in the news. The chart that accompanies this letter compares tenure among leaders of five A&M entities since the beginning of our modern era. You could say that these are not comparable, given that two are public, administered by the State of Texas, and the others are privately governed. But that’s my point: By design, the Foundation and its pri- vate partners are independent, financially sound and constant in the sea of change that seems to dominate society today. This autonomy and continuity give us the opportunity to avoid the vagaries and personnel turnover associated with today’s public governance so your gifts can best serve the students, faculty and programs of Texas A&M. We are here for the long run. We are here to facilitate permanent and stable support for A&M. And we have you to thank for it. As a footnote I’d like to mention that we included our 2009 annual report at the back of this issue of Spirit, beginning on Page 47. It saves us a little money versus a separate publication and, with its larger circulation, allows us to share our results with more of our friends. As always, we welcome your feedback.
eddie j. davis ’67 president texas a&m foundation 1959 Rudder 1959 2. TheTexas 1. Attimesthesemen werebothTexas 1963 1 1963 Weirus Luedecke A
& 1967 1967 Hopkins M Foundation,established in1953,becameanindependentorganization in1981. >
1971 1971 Williams TEXAS A&MLEADERSHIPTENURE Williams Williams A 1 &
M 1975 1975 president andchancellor. Wells Sampson Brister Hubert > Miller >
1979 > 1979 > 2 Green Matson Rutledge Vandiver Hansen
1983 Adkisson 1983 Eller > > 1987 Richardson 1987 Hiler Mobley Mobley > Gage
1991 > 1991 > > Shannon Davis Thompson 1995 Bowen 1995 Texas 12 The Association of Former Students Texas Texas th ManFoundation Cocanougher A A A & & & Marks M M M 1999 1999 Foundation University University System Graves Garner McTeer McKinney > 2003 Gates 2003 Davis Murano > > > Loftin
2007 > 2007 >
2011 2011
Rebecca Buckley ’12 juggles raising her son with going to school. Thanks to one Texas family’s financial support, this single mother can focus on her dream of becoming a veterinarian. » p.34
FEATURES 18 Faculty Impact: WHERE PHILANTHROPY MEETS POLITICS CARPOOL members Cinco Coates ’10 and Kim Private support helps a professor in the Ashworth ’10 offer safe rides home as part of the organization’s mission.» p.22 Bush School of Government and Public Service with his research and publishing. 22 Spirit Impact: Teacher Colleen Holmes and Patricia Oliver ’11 participate in aggieTEACH, SAFE- RIDE SUPERHEROES a collaborative program guiding CARPOOL is a student-run nonprofit policymakers across Texas and the organization that gives Aggies free rides United States toward a brighter home on weekends and reduces drunken global future for math and science education. » p.28 driving. 28 College Impact: TRAILBLAZING FOR TEACHERS Two colleges collaborate on the VOLUME XI NO. 1|FALL 2009 Spirit is published three times a year by the Texas aggieTEACH program, which produces A&M Foundation, which manages major gifts superior math and science teachers. and endowments for the benefit of academic programs, scholarships and student activities at Texas A&M University. Please direct inquiries to 34 the Marketing Office, Texas A&M Foundation, 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, TX Student Impact: 77840-2811, call (800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-8161, DOUBLE DUTY MOMS or e-mail [email protected]. Information - in this magazine is for educational purposes A scholarship established by the only and should be examined by independent legal counsel due to possible differences in local Hammaker family assists single parents laws and individual needs. studying veterinary medicine. giving.tamu.edu www.facebook.com/TexasAMFoundation www.texags.com www.youtube.com/aggiespiritandmind
copyright © 2009 texas a&m foundation
SPIRIT MAGAZINE | FALL 2009 3 EDITOR Sondra White ’87
MANAGING EDITOR Mary Vinnedge ’75
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Kathy McCoy ’80
WEB COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST Rachel Dohmann ’07
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST Alice Bassett
STUDENT INTERNS Lianna Grissom ’11 Nichelle Jaeger ’12 DEPARTMENTS
ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Geer Design, Inc.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS– ANNUAL REPORT 5 THE LEGACY Shana Hutchins ’93 An Austin entrepreneur shows his gratitude Kara Bounds Socol Exa York for life-altering Aggie experiences.
PHOTOGRAPHY 6 LETTERS/ CORRECTIONS Dan Bryant (p. 51) Gabriel Chmielewski (pp. 36-37) 8 ON CAMPUS Cushing Memorial Library Archives (p. 12) Dr. Norman E. Borlaug is remembered, Department of Choral Activities (p. 13) Robb Kendrick (cover; pp. 3, middle; and the College of Geosciences has a new 8, bottom; 15, top; 20; 28-29; 31; 47) petroleum center. Urs Kreuter (p. 10) Justin Lange (p. 52) 10 LAB WORK John R. Lewis (p. 13, bottom; 50) Aggies study ecosystems in Africa; stateside, Jim Lyle (pp. 3, bottom; 19-20; 23-24; 27; research includes launching a satellite, 38-40; 44) Jane Martin (p. 15) studying algae as an energy source and more. NASA (p. 11) Buzz Refugio (p. 9, top) 12 NEW GIFTS Guillermo Sosa (p. 3, 34) Donors support the Operation Spirit and J. Griffis Smith (pp. 5, 48, 53) MindSM scholarship initiative. Rylan Barnes ’04 credits his Aggie computer TAMU Marketing & Communications engineering coursework with giving him the necessary skills to create a prize-winning cell- (inside back cover) 14 ONE VOICE phone application, ShopSavvy. » p.44 Glenn Vigus (p. 9) Students in performance studies enjoy Matt Zeringue (pp. 16-17) enrichment programs financed by ILLUSTRATIONS benefactors. Todd Christensen ’09 (p. 11) Perkins + Will Architects (p. 42) by Judith Hamera
PRINTING 16 VIEWPOINT Grover Printing Aggies win hybrid race-car contest.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Tom Saylak ’82 38 OPPORTUNITY Chairman Texas A&M’s libraries add a 4 millionth Bob Surovik ’58 volume published in 1617. Chairman-elect John Bethancourt ’74 41 @FOUNDATION Mel Glasscock ’59 Find out about happenings at the Charles Gregory ’64 Richard Kardys ’67 Hagler Center. COVER PHOTO Ray Rothrock ’77 Future math teacher Patricia Oliver ’11 44 POSTSCRIPT accumulates extra classroom experience OFFICERS The Tools to Do It Right Ed Davis ’67 through aggieTEACH. This program, a President by Rylan Barnes ’04 collaboration between the College of Jim Palincsar Science and the College of Education and CONTACT Senior Vice President for Development 45 Human Development, has led Texas’ Doyle Thompson Stay in touch with the Texas A&M math and science teacher production Vice President and Controller Foundation. for the past three years.The goal of Liska Lusk aggieTEACH is to restore American Vice President and General Counsel 47 2009 ANNUAL REPORT superiority in technical fields.
4 TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION Aggie Intervention A series of Aggie experiences lifted a small-town boy from oil field worker to successful entrepreneur.
As a high school senior, Lee Walker ’63 Center. “Little did I know I was enter- was working in the oil patch in Three ing this force field of Stark,” he said. Rivers, Texas, when Aggie basketball Stark was a father figure, opening coach Shelby Metcalf showed up and Walker’s mind to the world. While asked, “Would you like to go to A&M enrolled at A&M, he studied in on a basketball scholarship?” Yugoslavia, Sweden and Africa. “I was very tall, and I was a good Walker later attended Harvard student, so I fit the bill,” Walker said. Business School. He was president of To discuss how a planned gift to “We went to a basketball court and I the startup company that became Dell the Texas A&M Foundation might played one-on-one with Shelby Metcalf. Computer Corp. He is now a Univer- benefit you and your family, I was an awkward teenager, and my sity of Texas professor teaching the contact Glenn Pittsford ’72 in feet and hands were still slick from honors course Pathways to Civic the Office of Gift Planning at the oil patch, but I played OK and he Engagement. “At Texas A&M, I learned [email protected] or (800) recruited me.” community and place. I didn’t learn 392-3310. We will describe how Were it not for his height, smarts that at Harvard Business School. such plans work and provide and that meeting, Walker may have “My wonderful father gave me my personalized illustrations. We stayed in Three Rivers all his life. life. But Wayne was like an interven- also consult with you and your During his senior year at A&M, tion. I want to keep their gifts alive,” advisers throughout the process Walker’s father died. In that same Walker said. To do so, he is building as you consider and implement month he met J. Wayne Stark, first the J. Wayne Stark/Dallas Walker a charitable gift. director of the Memorial Student Leadership Endowment—honoring both men—to offer future Aggies a global perspective. Walker is funding Lee Walker ’63 shares a few of the gifts he has received with future Aggies. his gift through a bequest to the Texas A&M Foundation. “There is a sense of closure from making an inventory of the gifts you have received during your life and sorting them out in your will. It’s not an obligation, but an opportunity,” Walker said. “I figured out how to take that gift from Wayne and keep it alive. That is the core of philanthropy.” Walker advises others to think deeply about gifts they received, including an Aggie education, and how to keep those gifts alive. “None of us got where we are by ourselves.” —by alice bassett
SPIRIT MAGAZINE | FALL 2009 5 COVER STORY REAPS BENEFITS Class of ’45, but because of World War II FOR TEXAS A&M HOLISTIC GARDEN didn’t get my degree until 47 years later! I thought you might want to know that It took lots of night school to make it the cover story in the summer issue pro- happen, but what a thrill! duced several positive developments for You’ve made me so happy with this the Holistic Garden and its programs. magazine. Thank you. In addition, several former students —edwin l. glazener m.d. ’45 got back in touch after reading the article, San Diego and I wanted to share comments from
three of them with you: ONLINE SPIRIT NEEDS WORK ◊ “I just got a hold of the latest Spirit Just want to let you know I enjoyed the magazine and was delighted to see your last issue of Spirit magazine … but with program as the cover story. You should be one complaint. The online PDF file layout proud of your hard work in the gardens makes it very hard to read the stories. and the good relationships you have I have a computer monitor with reso- created with students and others over the lution set to 1280 by 1024. I can read the years. I am glad to say that I was a part of articles only at the 100 percent setting. that at one time.” At the lower setting of 75 percent, I have ◊ “What a great article on the Holistic a hard time seeing the text clearly. Due Garden in TAMU’s Spirit magazine. Bravo to the vertical column and the side-by-side and congratulations are in order. Never page layout, I have to constantly scroll underestimate the power of a garden. up/down and left/right to read. I know Come and visit.” sometimes the layout of a printed magazine
◊ “Congrats on the article in the A&M does not translate easily to online access Foundation magazine. I am sure it will without a lot of rework. I hope something help spread the word of the Holistic can be done to improve the readability Gardens to a lot more people.” of the online magazine to make it more enjoyable. I sincerely appreciate the hard work and Thank you for your time. Gig ’em. thought that went into the article and video. —larry chan ’83 San Diego —dr. joe novak Senior Lecturer, Horticultural Science Editor’s note: We agree and are looking into some page-turning software that we CALIFORNIA AG ENAMORED think our readers will love. Thank you WITH SPIRIT MAGAZINE for your feedback. I have a friend who attended college in Iowa, and he always sends me copies of $25 WENT A LONG WAY BACK THEN his alumni magazine. I can’t wait to show In his “Postscript” column on Page 38 of him copies of our Spirit magazine—it’s so the summer 2009 issue, Bob Gallaway ’42 much nicer! I am overwhelmed at the says he was a “20-year-old valedictorian” of beauty and quality of this magazine, and his high school. That caught my attention I can’t wait to put it in the mailbox to my because high-school seniors are usually buddy. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I’m closer to 18 years old. Did Bob delay his
6 TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION Your Spirit publication is wonderful. It shows me that A&M has finally grown past its bias against sophistication. I just love it!!! —lindsay minter ’75, Abilene
high-school gradua- buddies tapped me on the shoulder and tion or did he delay broke in. All I could do was hand over my his entrance to Texas girl and smile as the band and all the ol’ A&M by a few years? Ags standing around laughed and enjoyed I’m just curious the stunt. about that. What could any self-respecting upper- I can very well classman do? As soon as the song was over, identify with Bob’s I pointed to the floor, forgetting for a Larry Rogers ’46 statement about get- moment that if one fish is pushing the ting a $25 scholarship. When I enrolled at floor, ALL fish push the floor. Yep, over A&M in 1942, it cost $25 per semester to 100 band Fish got up from the table and attend—$30 for room, board and a limit- started doing push-ups while band director ed amount of laundry. (And I rarely went Lt. Col. E.V. Adams ’29, seated at the over my laundry allotment.) So an addi- head table, inquired about who I was! tional $25 went a long way. I’ll never for- I was sure I would be on the way to get a quote from my dad about the cost of Vietnam as a private within days. So I went an A&M education: “Hell, keep him down over and “dropped handles” with the fish there at school! We can’t even keep him and forgot about it. The fact that Lex James Share Your Comments at home for that cheap!” My how times threw a winning touchdown to Hugh have changed. McElroy that night as time ran out helped We always enjoy receiving our ease my mind. readers’ reactions to Spirit. If —dr. larry rogers ’46 Despite becoming the only Aggie I any of the magazine’s content Dallas know of to ever put over 100 freshman moves you to write, please e-mail down for push-ups in public, I never heard us at [email protected] or Editor’s note: After high school and before another word about the public hazing. entering Texas A&M, Bob Gallaway send a note on the postage-paid spent some time with the Civilian —david r. calvert ’72 form on the back cover. Conservation Corps. Weatherford sondra white ’87 Editor HIGH- PROFILE PUSH IN LOUISIANA CORRECTION In 1971, at the Louisiana State University On Page 20 of the Summer 2009 issue of mary vinnedge ’75 Managing Editor football game in Baton Rouge, all 300-plus Spirit, my dog, Bronx, was referred to as members of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band being trained as a “service dog.” Although were eating lunch at the hotel serving as I trained Bronx to help me, he does not HQ for the weekend. Some of us serge- meet the legal definition of a “service dog.” butts had dates (mine, a Class of 1949’s I asked that he not be described as a service daughter who went to dog in the article, and this error got into LSU but had worn an print anyway. Aggie sweatshirt to —mark serle ’83 class all week—my kind College Station of girl!). We were danc- ing to a juke box as the band ate lunch. Suddenly, a fish sent by one of my BQ David Calvert ’72
SPIRIT MAGAZINE | FALL 2009 7 Norman Borlaug, the world peace,” the Nobel commit- Nobelist, Dies at 95 tee said in awarding the Peace Prize. Dr. Norman E. The family asked that donations Borlaug, the father be sent to the Borlaug International of the agricultural Scholars Fund, to which the Bill & movement termed Melinda Gates Foundation made a the Green Revolu- $1 million contribution in October Dr. Norman Borlaug tion—a fight against to honor and support Borlaug’s legacy. world hunger—died Sept. 12 and was The fund helps students from devel- honored in an Oct. 6 memorial service oping countries pursue graduate on campus. Borlaug, a distinguished studies or experiential learning activ- professor of international agriculture ities at Texas A&M or at other U.S. at Texas A&M, was 95. land-grant universities. To give online, Borlaug led development of hardy, visit givenow.tamu.edu and select “Col- high-yield wheat, corn and rice lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences” enabling global food production to and “Borlaug International Scholars” double from 1960 to 1990. He received from drop-down menus. For other a Nobel Prize in 1970, a Presidential gifts, contact the Texas A&M Founda- Medal of Freedom in 1977 and a Con- tion at (800) 392-3310. gressional Gold Medal in 2006. “More than any other single person of this Center Will Aid Aggies in Oil Careers The Berg-Hughes Center will prepare Aggie graduate students for solving age, he has helped provide bread for The Berg-Hughes Center for Petroleum America’s energy crisis. a hungry world (which may) also give and Sedimentary Systems, approved during the July Board of Regents’ meeting, will integrate the study of geology, geophysics and petroleum engineering so Aggies develop an interdisciplinary foundation for the petroleum industry. The center will unite faculty researchers with energy industry scientists and engineers in educating students in petroleum and sedimentary geology, geophysics and engineering. The Department of Geology & Geophysics will house the Berg-Hughes Center, which will be supported by the Colleges of Geosciences, Science and
8 TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION Michael Rendon ’09 (left) and Kyle Brieden ’11 take part in the March to the Brazos fundraiser.
the Dwight Look College of Engi- neering. Twenty-six faculty—geologists, geophysicists, marine geologists and geophysicists, and petroleum engi- neers—will participate in the center. Dr. Ernest A. Mancini will direct the Berg-Hughes Center. He formerly was director of the Center for Sedimentary Basin Studies and a dis- tinguished research professor of petroleum geology and stratigraphy at the University of Alabama. The center is named for the late John Kovach ’10. “There is no greater Dr. Robert R. Berg and for independ- feeling in the world than finishing a ent oilmen Dudley Hughes ’51; his long march with a motivating 100-yard College of Architecture Offers twin brother, Dan A. Hughes ’51; and sprint, all while whooping and hol- Undergrad Visualization Degree Dan’s son, Dan Allen Hughes ’80. lering with your best buddies.” Art meets engineering in the Department of Visualization’s new The oilmen established a $1 million Since the 1970s, Aggie cadets have undergraduate program. endowment for the center through the raised more than $1.8 million for the “We’re looking for students who Texas A&M Foundation, and the Dan March of Dimes. are simultaneously left- and right- A. Hughes endowed chair will be brain engaged,” department head Tim McLaughlin said. He believes awarded to the center director. Help Wanted: Skilled Managers a hybrid of the classic engineering Berg was a faculty member in for Nonprofit Organizations student and the classic art student— A&M’s Department of Geology and someone who is comfortable With the nonprofit sector expanding with the math and engineering 1967 1995 Geophysics from to . Ad- and baby boomers retiring, the need requirements and also can flourish mired by students and colleagues, he for talented leaders in this field out- in an artistic studio environment— will thrive in the new College of won awards for his contributions to strips the pool of qualified workers. geological principles and petroleum Architecture program. To begin meeting that need, the McLaughlin said undergraduates geoscience applications. George Bush School of Government will build a foundation in aesthetic and Public Service and Texas’ OneStar decision-making and technical problem-solving for careers in Cadets March to the Brazos Foundation held a May management graphic design, interactive media, In the Aggie spirit of giving back, training program for 28 up-and-coming visual effects and animation, and 1,700 Corps of Cadets members raised young leaders. To qualify, participants new media fine arts. $115,000 for the March of Dimes dur- needed a supervisor’s nomination and ing their March to the Brazos. Last May, also submitted an application and per- the cadets trekked 14 miles from the sonal statement. Corps Quadrangle to the bank of the The program combined leader- Brazos River for the 33rd annual march. ship self-assessment, coaching and Once the cadets reached the river, workshops conducted by Bush School they ate lunch, engaged in competi- faculty and staff. During a six-month tions such as wrestling, and transferred online follow-up, the Bush School was ranks for the 2009-10 academic year. providing online workshops and one- The march is especially significant for on-one coaching. At the VIST show last spring, Aggie freshman because when they return As part of the program, partici- undergraduate visualization students displayed clay sculptures, sketches they are no longer “fish.” pants identified a mentor or coach in and computer-generated images. It’s a big deal for juniors, too. their organization or professional net- “After the march was over, I knew that work, and that person also took part in I could wear my senior boots whenever a two-week online workshop to become and wherever I wanted to,” said cadet a more effective mentor.
SPIRIT MAGAZINE | FALL 2009 9 Aggies Venture to Wilds of Africa them with a much deeper under- Seventeen Aggies got an up-close and standing of Africa, its wildlife and its personal look at African rangelands people. and wildlife as part of a six-credit-hour “In Africa, it is important to think ecosystem management global-study about impoverished communities that course in the College of Agriculture coexist with or live near wildlife if con- and Life Sciences. From May 30 to servation is to be successful. It is crit- June 28, Aggies visited northeastern ical to simultaneously consider the South Africa, with a focus on semi-arid ecological and human dimensions of savannas, and northern Botswana, with conservation.” a focus on its wetlands and nearby For example, in South Africa’s conservation areas and communities. Kruger National Park and in Dr. Urs Kreuter, associate profes- Botswana’s Chobe National Park, sor in the Department of Ecosystem overabundant elephants threaten the Science and Management and Texas habitats of endangered species, such AgriLife Research Rangeland scientist, as black rhinos and ground hornbill, has led five of the seven study-abroad by knocking down trees. “Park man- classes in Africa since they began in agers have tried many methods to 2002. “For most students, this is their reduce elephant populations, includ- first experience of Africa’s tremendous ing birth control, but the only option Aggies set off to study bird diversity in the upper reaches of Botswana’s biological and cultural diversity,” seems to be highly unpopular culling.” Okavango Delta. Kreuter said. The experience provides While in Africa, students keep travel logs, present seminars and pro- duce group reports with case studies affecting biodiversity and tourism.