The Texas A&M Foundation Magazine | Spring 2012
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THE TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION MAGAZINE | S P R I N G 2 0 1 2 PresiDent’s letter is Your Class in the top 20? everal years ago, i visited with an old friend and former commandant at the u.s. air Force academy, Gen. Pat Gamble ’67. Pat lamented the absence of a class system at the air Force academy, which he said led to a “me first at all costs” environment. he said the heavy competition and elevation through the cadet ranks was based purely on individual achievement relative to others. our chat made me realize what a profound influence the class system has on texas a&M. the experience of being differentiated by class has been powerful throughout most of our history. in addition to achievement and elevation through cadet ranks, the class system provided the opportunity for emergent leaders— your classmates bestowed the mantle of leadership based on your innate qualities and ability to have them follow you with no prescribed authority. our class system has also created rivalry between classes, building a “we” above “me” attitude among aggies. With time the rivalry fades to some degree, but we never lose it. it certainly has not faded within the Class of ’67, and i take pride in doing my part to egg on the rivalry—both with other classes and among my classmates—in regards to giving back to texas a&M. the Class of ’67 is nowhere close to the most philanthropic class. Many of us arrived on campus as the sons of sharecroppers and refinery workers. We were here because it was cheap and you could get an ag or engineering degree and perhaps a job to improve your lot. until the fall 1965 semester (our junior year), partici- pation in the Corps of Cadets was mandatory. Maj. Gen. earl rudder ’32 was in the midst of making massive changes; a&M became a university instead of a college; women and african-americans were allowed admission; and khaki became one of many shades of clothing as the ranks of non-regs increased. and we all faced an unpopular war in vietnam. so it is remarkable to me that, so far, seven of my classmates—and some of their wives—have given back in the form of estate gifts, including: Paul Bilger; Zou and Boyd Cherry; vicki and Carl luckenbach; Janan and Dale reding; hal schade; and two couples that prefer to remain anonymous. My wife Jo ann and i have also committed a major gift for texas a&M through our will. these gifts place the Class of ’67 among the top 20 most generous a&M classes for planned gifts. visit give.am/ClassChallenge to see how your class com- pares with others regarding planned gifts for texas a&M. i write this not to elevate the Class of ’67, but rather to issue a modest chal- lenge to my classmates and to other classes (especially the Class of ’66): reflect on your a&M experience and how it has made your hard-earned success possible. then plan a future investment in texas a&M that will change young lives and ultimately improve our society . even after you’re gone. eddie j. davis ’67 president texas a &m foundation Texas A&M’s Huffines Institute supports research through grants, fellowships and grant mentorship to educate the next generation of researchers and practitioners in sports medicine and health. » p.20 Contents FEATURES 16 Student Impact: COMPETITIVEEDGE A scholarship program inspired by Craig Since 1992, Craig C. Brown ‘75 has built on the philanthropic tradition begun by his late father, C. Brown ’75 is catapulting A&M into the Galen, and provided four-year scholarships to top ranks for national Merit Scholars. high-achieving A&M freshmen. » p.16 20 College Impact: SCIENCEINMOTION Comedian Steve Martin is just one of Groundbreaking research at A&M’s J. l. many entertainers who have delighted students and area residents thanks to Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine and MSC OPAS, a division of Texas A&M Human Performance transcends age and University’s Memorial Student Center. fitness level. » p.24 24 Spirit Impact: AGGIEALLEGRO vOlUMe XIII nO . 2|S P r I n G 2 01 2 A long-time collaboration between Texas Spirit is published three times a year by the Texas A&M and the Brazos valley community is A&M Foun dation, which manages major gifts at the heart of MSC OPAS’ success. and endowments for the benefit of academic programs, scholarships and student activities at Texas A&M University. Please direct inquiries to the Marketing Office, Texas A&M Foun dation, 28 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, TX Faculty Impact: 77840- 2811, call (800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-8161, GEOTECHNICALGENIUS or e-mail [email protected]. Information in this magazine is for educational purposes only A faculty chair in memory of renowned and should be examined by independent legal counsel due to possible differences in local laws civil engineering professor Spencer J. and individual needs. Buchanan Sr. ’26 is turning research on giving.tamu.edu terrorist barriers into reality. giving.tamu.edu/Blog giving.tamu.edu/SpiritMagazine facebook.com/TexasAMFoundation youtube.com/AggieSpiritandMind twitter.com/TXAMFoundation copyright © 2012 texas a &m foundation e D I TO r Sondra White ’87 MAnAGInG eDITOr Megan Kasperbauer ArT DIreCTIOn & D e S I G n Geer Design, Inc. PHOTOGrAPHY errol Anderson (p. 20-21) DEPARTMENTS Gabriel Chmielewski ’06 (inside back cover, bottom) Michelle Gordon (p. 3) robb Kendrick (cover; p. 22, bottom; 24-25; 27) James W. lyle (p. 4; 13; 14-15) Katherine Prem ’05 (p. 6, top) 3 THELEGACY Josiah Pugh (p. 32, 34-35) Dr. raffaella righetti (p. 9, top) Through their estate plan, Steve and linda Texas A&M Division of Marketing Phillips create endowments to benefit & Communications (p. 6, bottom) engineering and education students. rodrigo Torres (p. 9, bottom) Treasure Photography (p. 1, right; 16; 4 LETTERS 18; 19) larry Wadsworth (p. 8, top) 6 ONCAMPUS This Aggie ring belongs to Lt. Col. Charles L. IllUSTrATIOn Two A&M facilities take on lifesaving Jackson ’61, who resigned from the Corps of regan Dunnick (p. 38) challenges: the Mary Kay O’Connor Cadets his freshman year. “Obviously my non-reg status did not affect my lifelong P r I n T I n G Process Safety Center and the Diagnostic loyalty to Texas A&M,” he said. » p.12 Chas. P. Young Printing Imaging and Cancer Treatment Center. BOArD OF TrUSTeeS 8 LABWORK John Bethancourt ’74 Chairman Dr. Michael Waters resets the calendar richard Kardys ’67 on prehistoric humans in north America; Chairman-elect an engineer refines a way to quickly and Mel Glasscock ’59 Charles Gregory ’64 noninvasively diagnose breast cancer. George Hickox ’80 10 NEWGIFTS Tom Saylak ’82 van Taylor ’71 An Aggie honors his math teacher with a scholarship; the non-Aggie parents of e X e C U T I v e S ed Davis ’67 two Singing Cadets give to the Memorial President Student Center. Jim Palincsar Senior vice President for Development 12 ONEVOICE Doyle Thompson life at Texas A&M during the ’50s and ’60s vice President and Controller left a positive mark on this non-reg who liska lusk vice President and General Counsel went on to a successful Air Force career. Janet Handley ’76 by lt. Col. Charles l. Jackson ’61 vice President for Investments Kathy McCoy ’80 14 VIEWPOINT Director of Marketing See a third-deck view of more than 2,000 cadets forming the famed “Block T” during halftime of the A&M vs. Kansas football game. Contents 34 OPPORTUNITY A faculty fellowship helps Dr. erin McTigue change young lives through reading. 36 @F O U N D AT I O N It’s smaller and better than ever: the COver PHOTO Foundation website now fits your mobile As doctoral student Ghassan Akrouch device just right. looks on, Dr. Jean-Louis Briaud, holder of the Spencer J. Buchanan Chair in 38 POSTSCRIPT Civil Engineering and a professor of The last ride of the Green Hornet geotechnical engineering, checks the by Dennis Davenport erosion rate of a soil sample from the New Orleans levees. 39 C O N TA C T U S 2 TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION Three generations of Phillipses bleed maroon. From left are Allison Cartwright ’03, Steve and Linda Phillips with their granddaughter Paige Cartwright (Class of 2024), and Julie Stanford ’05. TheLegacy teve Phillips’ passion for Texas A&M University is matched only by his abhor- rence of ignorance and wast- ed dreams. Both emotions are the Fighting Ignorance With Scholarships inspi ration for a bequest to the Texas A&M Foundation that will fund three tion,” he said. “We hope our gift sends their children and their own achieve- endowed scholarships for future a message to people like us—people ment in getting them through Texas Aggies he and his wife linda will of modest means who are not A&M A&M. “We’re not rich, but we are never meet. graduates—that you can make a dif- retired, in our early 60s and financial- “I read an article in Texas Aggie ference by investing in the education ly independent,” Steve Phillips said. magazine about an older couple, nei- of Texas A&M students. They are bril- “We’ve been frugal: While all of our ther of whom were former students, liant, honest and respectful, and there friends were buying mansions and who donated money to Texas A&M,” is no comparable college atmosphere.” fancy cars, we lived in the same house Steve Phillips said.