Austin College Magazine

Austin College Magazine - March 2008
March 2008 Issue

 

'Roo Notes

Awards Gala Honors Five Alumni
B
ill Warren Co-Produces Documentary
Nurre Leads Alumni Board
Alumni College in Austin Goes “Green”
Language House Can Change a Life
Fedora ’85 Named Head Coach
Back to the Classroom
College Mourns Death of Lee Posey
Meet the Trustee
Alumni News:
   1950's and 1960's
   1970's
   1980's
   1990's
   2000's

Global Gold
Legends Weekend
Homecoming 2008

Awards Gala Honors Five Alumni

The 2008 Austin College Awards Gala on campus March 7
honored the recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards
and the Heywood C. Clemons Volunteer Service Awards.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI 2008

Selection as Distinguished Alumni is an elite honor and one of the most prestigious recognitions granted to alumni of Austin College. The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who achieve excellence or distinction in their professional, social, avocational, or humanitarian efforts; demonstrate leadership through community involvement and service to others; provide inspiration to the Austin College community by virtue of their leadership and values; exhibit support and advocacy for Austin College, its mission, and its students; and exemplify high ethical standards. First Decade Award recipients meet the criteria of Distinguished Alumni in the first 10 years after graduation. This award is given only as deserving alumni become known. All alumni in good standing may submit nominees for Distinguished Alumni honors. Nominations for the spring awards are considered by the Alumni Association Board when complete by July 1. See the details and nomination procedures.

Osler McCarthy
Distinguished Alumni Award
W. Osler McCarthy ’73
Austin, Texas
Staff Attorney for
Public Information
Texas Supreme Court
 

Jeannine Hatt Phelps
Distinguished Alumni Award
Jeannine Hatt Phelps '72
Denison, Texas
Pediatrician,
Texoma Care Pediatrics
Board member and former board chair, International Child Care

Jennifer Deng-Pickett
First Decade Award
Jennifer J. Deng-Pickett ’99
Silver Springs, Maryland
Director,
Washington, D.C.,
Language Access Coalition
 

Heywood C. Clemons Volunteer Service Awards

The Clemons Award recognizes long-term service of alumni and friends of the College who serve in the spirit of former Board of Trustees Chair Heywood C. Clemons of Fort Worth, Texas. John Bentham and Sarah Gunderson have served the College for several years through involvement on the Alumni Association Board and have assisted the Office of Admission with a variety of recruitment events in their areas.

Sarah Gunderson ’81
Dallas, Texas
Vice President,
Operational Systems
Equity Residential

Sarah Gunderson & John Bentham

John D. Bentham ’93
Las Vegas, Nevada
Producer, IvoryStar Productions
Owner, Promotions in Print

WebXtra

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Bill Warren
Bill Warren

Bill Warren Co-Produces Environmental Documentary

Bill Warren, Class of 1974 and a member of the Austin College Board of Trustees, co-produced the film, The Unforeseen, and arranged an Austin College premiere of the film in November 2007. The campus event was arranged through the College’s Center for Environmental Studies.

The film details the development and preservation of the City of Austin, and some of the environmental issues faced by citizens in the growth of the city. Warren said one of his major concerns is the state of our environment, and he hopes this film will help other people take an active role in protecting it.

Screened at Sundance, San Francisco, and various other film festivals, The Unforeseen also was on the agenda at the Hamptons Film Festival in New York in October 2007, with Warren leading a discussion about the film. Warren, along with Austin College Professor of Biology George Diggs and film director Laura Dunn offered a discussion of the film at the “Alumni College in Austin” Feb. 26 at the Austin City Hall. The Unforeseen opened Feb. 29 in New York.  

Warren, of Dallas, is a member of the College’s Board of Trustees.

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Michael Nurre
Mike Nurre

Nurre Leads Alumni Board

Mike Nurre ’67 took over duties as president of the Austin College Alumni Association Board in January 2008. He has been a member of the Alumni Board for the past four years.

A principal of Michael T. Nurre & Co., L.L.C., an investment banking firm, Nurre lives in Dallas and is active in several financial organizations, his church, and a non-partisan community affairs group.

Nurre said the Alumni Association Board looks to focus on promoting the alumni to Austin College, its administration, faculty, staff, and the current student body and on increasing annual fund participation among alumni. 

The Alumni Board is responsible for selecting Distinguished Alumni and First Decade Award honorees as well as the 20-plus recipients of John D. Moseley Alumni Scholarships. The board organized and sponsored the 2007 Alumni College on campus and Homecoming on the Green events.

Alumni interested in serving on the Alumni Association Board should contact Victoria Martinsen, director of Alumni and Parent Relations at (903) 813-2381 or vmartinsen@austincollege.edu

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Andy Greene & Caroline
Andy Greene ’96 and Melanie Bickley Greene ’94 attended the gathering in Austin. Andy and their daughter, Caroline, 4, were all smiles for the camera.

Alumni College in Austin Goes “Green” — Not Just a Color

Approximately 65 alumni, parents, and friends from the Austin area gathered in Austin’s City Hall Atrium in February when Austin College hosted Alumni College in Austin, “Not Just a Color — A Way of Life,” focusing on the film The Unforeseen. Bill Warren ’74, co-producer; film director Laura Dunn; and Austin College Professor of Biology George Diggs offered a discussion of the documentary and the environmental issues chronicled in the film. The panel was moderated by Stephanie McDonald ’97 of Austin, who helped coordinate the event. 

The Honorable Will Wynn, mayor of Austin, at far right, spoke to alumni, parents, and friends about the environmental path the City of Austin has taken. With him, left to right, are his brother and their parents Charlotte O’Hagan Wynn ’51 and Roger Wynn ’49.

Alumni College in Austin

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Alumni Profile:
Language House Can Change a Life

Ed StempleEd Stemple ’83 can attest to the influence of Austin College’s language house program from its beginning. Stemple moved into the language house in the spring of 1981, only one semester after the program’s inception. At the time, the language house was Thompson House, a Victorian-styled home on the corner of Grand Avenue and Brockett Street that now serves as the Temple Center for Teaching and Learning.

Languages rotated in and out of the house each term. In the fall of 1980, the program started with German House. In the spring of 1981, it was Stemple’s turn to move into French House. “I have fond memories of that semester, which had a big influence on my life,” said Stemple, whose French House term readied him for study abroad at the Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. “It helped prepare me for a junior year in France, entrance into Thunderbird for graduate school, and a job in international relief and development.  Language house can change a life.” Stemple, his wife, Jan, and their two sons live in Redmond, Wash., where he plans the marketing and communications for AT&T’s 67 million wireless phone customers.

The friendships Stemple made with French students in Montpellier, the French language, and even French culture have lasted a lifetime. Stemple returned to Montpellier in 2000 and stayed with the same friends he met at the university cafeteria in 1981. “I still speak, read, and write French,” he said. “To this day, I love French wines, cheeses, and foods. Seeing one new culture in enough depth to reveal its glory opened my mind to realize every culture has depth and greatness to be discovered and appreciated.”

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Robert Lehr '58
Robert Lehr '58


 

Shirley Laseter'69
Shirley Laseter '69

Alumni News

58
Robert Lehr retired from Southern Illinois Medical School after 25 years of teaching, but is now teaching two classes at colleges in Vermont. He also does consultation for head trauma rehabilitation and is scheduled to make several presentations for international audiences.

63
Glen Stanbaugh, chair emeritus and chief medical officer of the Texas Renal Coalition (TRC) and a retired Lubbock nephrologist, has worked daily since his retirement to find ways to reverse the increase in cases of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) he has documented in his practice. The work of the TRC resulted in a $1 million allocation from the Texas Department of State Health Services to fund an education program, Decrease the Increase. The TRC and Dr. Stanbaugh’s work was included in June and December 2007 issues of Texas Medicine, a publication of the Texas Medical Association.

68
Jefferson Stewart
chaired the 18th Annual International Conference of the American Society for the Competitiveness (ASC) in November 2007 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He chairs the Advisory Council of the ASC. 

69
Shirley Ruth Brooks Laseter retired as library director of the Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center at Air University on January 3, completing 27 years of federal service. She joined the library in 1980 as a reference librarian, and served as systems librarian, bibliographer, reference chief, and reader services division chief before appointment as library director. Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, is the center of Air Force graduate and professional military education.

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74
Carol Wiley Toll received a Bank of America Spirit Award of Excellence, an annual award that recognizes and rewards the top 1 percent of employees for significantly exceeding performance goals and consistently demonstrating the bank’s core values. She and her husband, Ralph, will attend an award celebration to be held in Miami’s South Beach in March. She has worked for Bank of America since 1995, including 10 years for acquired company MBNA.

75
Marjie Dexter Podzielinski
is librarian for 1,200 kindergarten-through-sixth-grade students at Coulson Tough School in The Woodlands, Texas. She serves on the Teachers’ Choices Steering Committee for the International Reading Association (IRA). The committee examines newly published books for curriculum content in kindergarten through eighth grade. Marjie presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the IRA meeting in May, and presented at the Sam Houston State University Children’s Book Festival.

Jeffrey Powers performed with the Baylor Symphony Orchestra in the “Kindling the Fire!” performance September 18 at Jones Concert Hall in Waco, Texas. He is the principal horn with the Waco Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Baylor Woodwind Quintet and the Baylor Brass. He also performs regularly with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the East Texas Symphony Orchestra, and the Plano Symphony Orchestra. He has performed professional and internationally for many years, including 16 years with the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders in Antwerp, Belgium.

William P. Proctor is the new pastor for First Presbyterian Church of San Angelo, Texas. He and his family moved from the Main Line outside of Philadelphia, where Bill served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Ardmore for the past 11 years.

79
Kim Powers
has written a second book, Capote In Kansas: A Ghost Story, now in its second printing. He describes the book as “a sort of ‘fantasia’ about two of our greatest writers, Truman Capote and Harper Lee, and the inescapable memories that bind them together. Plus the ghosts of Boo Radley and the murdered Clutters from In Cold Blood make an appearance!” A Library Journal starred review called the book “exceptional” and asserted, “Powers succeeds brilliantly in blending fact and fiction to produce a sensitive portrait of two lost souls.” 

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Click on a thumbnail to
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Paul Reilley & Lisa Brewer
Paul Reilley & Lisa Brewer

Brynn Elise Squires
Brynn Elise Squires

85
Janet Moody Melton has been appointed clinical assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Fedora ’85 Named Head Coach
of University of Southern Mississippi

Larry FedoraLarry Fedora ’85 (PHOTO) was named head coach of the University of Southern Mississippi football team in December, having spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Fedora played wide receiver for the Austin College football team from 1981 to 1984, and was a member of the Kangaroos’ 1981 NAIA National Championship team. He was named an All-American in 1983 and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor in 2006 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Austin College athletics.

Fedora broke into coaching as a graduate assistant for the Kangaroos in 1986, and after a stint at Garland High School, became the wide receiver, tight end, and running back coach at Baylor in 1991. He moved on to coach quarterbacks and wide receivers at the Air Force Academy in 1997, and got his first offensive coordinator job in 1999 at Middle Tennessee State. He went on to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Florida in 2002 before taking the same position at Oklahoma State in 2005. With his move to the head coaching position at Southern Mississippi, Fedora becomes one of five current NCAA Division I-A head coaches who are athletic alumni of Division III schools.

86
Charles Bradshaw
has opened a new art gallery in San Angelo, Texas, at the Chicken Farm Art Center.  The first exhibition, the paintings of Elizabeth Marsico ’87, opened in December.

Richard Haythorn '8787
Richard “Trace” Haythorn ’87 became president of The Fund for Theological Education in January. He previously was director of the vocation and values program and founder of the Center for Servant Leadership at Hastings College, where he also served as assistant professor in the Department of Religion. Haythorn has served pastorates at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee; Toorak Uniting Church in Melbourne, Australia; and the chaplaincy at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York  He and his wife, Mary — also a Presbyterian minister — live in Atlanta with their son and daughter.

88
A daughter, Mary Catherine, was born August 30, 2007, to Stephanie and Duncan Robert Ware. The eighth child of the family, she joins brothers Jeremy, Connell, and John, and sisters Kylie, Molli, Olivia, and Sarah Grace.

89
Sarah Booth
survived the Chicago Marathon in October 2007. She was on mile 20 when the race was cancelled, but she did finish all 26.2 miles of her second marathon. When not running, Sarah is the assistant director of the Montgomery County Memorial Library System in Conroe, Texas.

Paul Reilley and Lisa Brewer were married August 9, 2007, on the beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  The couple shares six children and lives in Spring, Texas. Paul continues to work as a physician’s assistant with KSF Orthopaedic Group in Houston. Lisa is a reservations trainer with Continental Airlines.

Bill Ucherek II, formerly in Abilene at The Ucherek Law Firm, has joined the law firm of Juneau, Boll, Ward, & Carboy in Addison, Texas. He is a board certified personal injury trial lawyer. He and his wife, Brenda Montfort Ucherek ’88, moved back to the metroplex last summer with their three boys, Nick, 14; Jared, 11; and Walker, 6.

A daughter, Brynn Elise, was born January 17 to Richard and Laura Brown Squires.

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Benjamin & Leah Schwartz
Benjamin & Leah
Schwartz

 

 

 

 

 

DeaAnn Mackie Martin
DeaAnn Mackie Martin

 

 

Catalina & Pacey Mulhollan
Catalina & Pacey Mulhollan

Viviana & Madelynn Adkins
Viviana & Madelynn Adkins

Trent & Brooks Head
Trent & Brooks Head

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marley Toich
Marley Toich

Lily Powell
Lily Powell

Jack & Margaret Peebles
Jack & Margaret Peebles

90
A son, Benjamin, was born to Joe and Susan Overstreet Schwartz in May 2007. He joins his sister, Leah, 7. In June 2007, Susan received her M.D. from UT Southwestern Medical School. She is now a stay-at-home mom, but will begin a residency in family medicine in summer 2008.Scott Forbes 

91
Scott D. Forbes has been appointed director of governmental relations for the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He previously spent seven years as a manager of governmental relations for the Port of Houston Authority, and spent eight years as assistant director for state and federal relations under Houston mayors Bob Lanier and Lee P. Brown. Scott lives in Kingwood with his wife, Karen, and daughters Emerson, 5, and Kirby, 2.

Tommy Newsom has been appointed president of The Art Institute of Austin, with 20 years of experience in higher education. He has been with The Art Institutes for eight years, first as director of public relations at the Dallas school. After two years, he became dean of Student Affairs, also serving in that capacity for two years. He then worked in the organization’s central office for three years, first as assistant vice president of Student Affairs, and more recently as vice president of Student Affairs. From June to August 2007, he served in an interim role as president of The Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville.

A daughter, Chyanne, 3, was adopted by Kathie Null and her partner, Marilyn Jones, with the process finalized December 20, 2007, in Pennsylvania.

93
DeaAnn Mackie Martin earned a master’s degree in nurse anesthesia from Texas Christian University in December 2007.  She will work as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist at Methodist Hospital of Dallas. She and her husband, Adam, have one son, Brandon, 4.

Brian ”Rube” Rubrecht has been awarded a tenured professor position teaching English in the School of Commerce at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan. He is only the third non-Japanese to work for the department in its 104-year history.

Marianne Bishop Turner was installed as pastor of the Friendship Presbyterian Church of Athens, Georgia, by the Northeast Georgia Presbytery in October 2007.

94
A son, Seth Thomas, was born November 29, 2007, to Bryan and Jennifer Baker Adams. The family lives in McKinney, Texas. Seth is the grandson of Connie and Tom Baker, Austin College professor of education.

A daughter, Pacey Addison, was born December 1, 2007, to Kelly ’92 and Stella Lucio Mulhollan. She joins her sister Catalina, 4. The family lives in North Carolina.

Amanda “Mandi” Hill Picken left her job as a design and print project manager in August 2006 to become a self-employed editor. That move gives her more time to look after Alex, 5, and Isabel, 3. Mandi and her husband, Martin, live in Woking, England, where he is a network development manager for British Airways.

95
Jay Bender
and his wife, Lynn, live in McKinney, Texas, where Jay has opened a law firm on the historic square. He previously served as assistant district attorney in both Dallas and Collin counties. Lynn is a manager with Hitachi Consulting.

96
A daughter, Vivianna Rose, was born April 17, 2007, in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Allen and Kirstin Hurtado Adkins. The family, including big sister, Madelynn, 3, lives in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, while Allen completes a master’s degree at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Twin boys, Trent William and Brooks Fenner, were born March 6, 2007, to Tim and Kate McCarron Head. The family lives in Rockwall, Texas. On August 25, 2007, friend and classmate Father David Madison baptized Trent and Brooks at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Heath, Texas.

Matthew Kirby is a full partner in a private practice at the Atlanta (Georgia) Institute for Ear, Nose, and Throat. A graduate of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, he completed his residence in otolaryngology at Baylor in 2006. In Atlanta he is able to do charity work through the local Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Homecoming 2008

97
A daughter, Marley Faith, was born July 20, 2007, to Matthew and Jena Marie Sibbald Toich.

98
A daughter, Lily LeBron, was born July 25 to Jonathan and Camille LeBron Powell. Camille is an associate pastor at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.

99
Bryan Campbell
earned a master’s degree in computer networking in July 2007 at Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Jack Peebles is the new senior pastor of the 1,400-member First Presbyterian Church of Yakima, Washington. Jack graduated from Princeton Seminary in 2004 and began serving as associate pastor at First Presbyterian in Kingwood, Texas. Jack, his wife Margaret (Johnson) ’98, and their children, Annabelle and David, moved to Washington in February. Jack and Margaret participated in a mission trip to Egypt in 2006 and are pictured on Mt. Sinai at dawn.

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Frank Kirby III
Frank Kirby III

Grace Nworie
Grace Nworie

Trajan Wiley
Trajan Wiley


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amber Powell & Christopher Hinds
Amber Powell &
Christopher Hinds

00
Kimberly Blanton and Daniel Day were married June 23, 2007, at the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park in Dallas. Rabab Fayad, ’00 was a bridesmaid and Tim Hardesty ’00 attended. Kimberly is a labor and employment attorney with the U.S. Postal Service in Dallas.

Amanda Jester practices health law at the firm of McDermott Will & Emery in Miami Beach, Florida, and will spoke to a group of fellows at the University of Miami Medical School in November regarding the federal physician self referral law and the federal anti-kickback law.

Douglas E. Lowe was promoted to senior accounting specialist in logistics finance at JCPenney. This comes after two years of work as an accounting analyst in stores finance. He also has recently been selected as an elder for Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney, Texas.

01
A son, Sean Hunter, was born October 25, 2007, to Daniel ’02 and Jennie Knapp Harper. Sean is the couple’s second son.

Irma Pedroza graduated from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston in May 2006 and sat for the Texas Bar in July 2006. While awaiting her results, she attended Georgetown University Law Center to obtain a Master of Laws in Taxation, completing the program May 2007. She now works in the National Tax Office of Ernst & Young in Washington, D.C.

02
Stacy Smith
was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) November 4, 2007, at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Many Austin College friends attended and were involved in the service. Omi Boggus offered the Call to Worship; Todd Penner, associate professor of religious studies, read from the Gospel of Luke, and Stacy officiated communion alongside the Rev. Mary Newberg Gale ’01. Stacy recently received her Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and serves as a Lake Fellow in Parish Ministry at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Ind

A son, Frank George III, was born September 21, 2007, to Frank and Tamara (Smith) Kirby. Tamara works part-time as a forensic chemist and spends the rest of her time with their new son. Frank has finished his master’s degree in social work and works as a supervisor in a child residence facility in Illinois.

Grace Nworie and Anthony Pokoo-Aikins were married August 18, 2007. Kelly Oby was a bridesmaid.

Leslie Moore & Joseph Greenberg
Leslie Moore &
Joseph Greenberg

James Miller & Andrea Lerner
James Miller &
Andrea Lerner

03
A son, Trajan Alexander, was born August 20, 2007, to Paul Jimenez and Elizabeth Wiley. The family lives in Austin, Texas, where Elizabeth works as an actuarial consultant.

04
Joseph Greenberg and Leslie Moore were married October 20, 2007. Both passed the Texas Bar Exam in July 2007. Joseph works as an associate for the Dallas/Houston law firm of Godwin Pappas Ronquillo, and Leslie works as a contracts analyst for British Petroleum.

Andrea Lerner and James Miller ’03 were married June 11, 2006. The wedding party included Kyle Eichas ’03 and Celeste Longoria ’04.  The couple now lives in Richmond, Va., where Andrea is working on her doctorate in counseling psychology and James is pursuing a master’s degree in library science.

Jordan Watson, a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, passed the July 2007 Texas Bar Exam. She plans to pursue a career in estate planning law.

05
Hesham Hambazaza
graduated from Washington University in Saint Louis in May 2007 with a degree in electrical engineering. He has moved to Huntsville, Alabama, to work for Boeing as an electrophysics engineer.

07
Clelia Moreno
and Hairo Hassam Pena ’06 were married Aug 5, 2007, in Monterrey, Mexico. Bridesmaids included Stacy George, Valerie Wehmeyer,. Kathleen Mclaughlin ’08, and Nicole Hagenbuch. Groomsmen were John Mark Wiginton and Bobby Myers. The Penas live in Sherman, Texas.

Amber Powell and Christopher Hinds were married May 27, 2007, in Pilot Point, Texas. The wedding party included Jon Glenn, Annie King, Dan Pucul ’05, Frank Sedita, Maliko Ubl ’06, Megan Wald ’05, and Ellen Weaver ’06. The couple lives in Poughkeepsie, New York, where Chris attends the Culinary Institute of America and Amber is the assistant director of graduate admission at Marist College.

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Global GOLD


 

Back to the Classroom

Chris HitchAustin Teacher Program alumnus Chris Hitch ’81 spoke to education students and to students in the Communication/Inquiry course, “Education for All: Seeking Equity, Excellence and Justice in U.S. Schools,” taught by Professor of Education Tom Baker. Now a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Hitch has been a teacher and principal, and now runs a doctoral program for educational leaders and consults both in the U.S. and internationally. He made the trip to campus after traveling to Dallas for a conference. 

IN MEMORIAM

’33 Eunice Wible Cumming
February 19, 2008

’33 Anabel Barton Johnson
January 28, 2008

’34 Katherine (Kay) Buchanan
January 6, 2008

’39 Mary Louise Hawkins Garland
January 30, 2008

’47 Marion Bookout Ringgold
February 19, 2008

’51 Elizabeth Ann Page Krajewski
December 27, 2007

’52 Betty Cutis Lugosky
December 9, 2007

’55 William D. Hamm
January 17, 2008

’64 Clifton Finney
December 2007

’68 Merrill J. Howard
January 5, 2008

’71 Frank Clarence Sullivan
October 19, 2007

’72 Judith Joy Jacobson
December 15, 2007

’74 Marcia Mandrell Raymond
March 4, 2008

’80 Mozelle “Perky” King
October 30, 2007

’87 Robert L. Hitt
January 25, 2008

Former faculty member
Delta Warren Gier
died December 19, 2006.
Known as “Pop” and “Doc,”
Gier taught at Austin College
from 1959 to 1961. 

 

College Community Mourns Death of Lee Posey

Lee PoseyMembers of the Austin College community were saddened by the death of Lee Posey on Feb.29 after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Posey has been a good friend and generous benefactor to Austin College. Lee and his wife, Sally, have long been dedicated to mentoring young people and assisting them with college funding. The couple discovered in the goals of the College’s Leadership Institute many of the values that inspired their own lives and soon became supporters of the program. The institute was named to honor the Poseys, their leadership, and their support of the College. From the Posey Leadership Institute developed the plan for the Austin College Leadership Award to recognize individuals who devote themselves to humanitarian or educational advances that will create opportunities for young people in the U.S. and around the world. Posey embodied the principles of servant leadership and selfless dedication to young people that are at the heart of the Austin College Leadership Award.

Posey earned a bachelor’s degree from Alma College in Alma, Michigan, in 1956. Upon graduation, he joined Redman Industries, Inc., and from 1967 to 1977 served as president of the company. He founded Palm Harbor Homes, Inc., in 1978 and served as the company’s chair until 2005, then assuming the role of chair emeritus. He served on a number of corporate and civic boards, including Monaco Coach Company, Red River Ventures, Dallas Habitat for Humanity, and the Dallas Symphony. He also headed the Posey Family Foundation, focused on improving educational opportunities for students at risk, and he made pioneering efforts on behalf of single-gender education in Texas.

Posey was a trustee of Alma College and a member of the Austin College President’s Advisory Forum.

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Meet the Trustee -- Jacqueline Cooper  

Jacqueline CooperJacqueline Cooper ’73 earned a master’s degree in government from the University of Texas in 1975. A resident of Oakton, Va., Cooper is very active at Dahlgren Chapel on the Georgetown University campus, serving as a Eucharistic minister and altar assistant. She also volunteers at Georgetown University Hospital in the Pastoral Care Department as a weekend Eucharistic minister and is a member of the hospital’s Volunteer Leadership Team Committee. My service as an Eucharistic minister at Georgetown University soon came to include the hospital. This service allows me to give back what has so richly been shared with me and again, emphasizes those values that were so much a part of my Austin College experience. Cooper is a member of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association in West Branch, Iowa. Her personal interests include travel, photography, and cooking.

 Austin College Magazine staff asked Cooper about her service on the Austin College Board of Trustees.

What does it mean to you to be a trustee of Austin College?

 Being an Austin College trustee is the realization of a dream come true. It affords me the opportunity to help foster an institution where students will be equipped academically, socially, and morally to meet the stresses and joys of the 21st century. I have the chance to help create an environment that is important to me. As a student, Austin College provided me with a very nurturing environment where I grew both academically and socially, and where I could practice firsthand the concept of what President Page calls servant leadership and community service. Austin College was more than just a learning institution, for I developed life-long friends and extended family. I have called on Drs. John D. Moseley and Kenneth Street countless times for guidance and wisdom in handling a situation. I am godmother to the son of one of former roommates and a surrogate aunt to other Austin College friends' children.  

My goal for Austin College is for it to maintain its high academic standing and stay small enough that the professors know their students by name and are very interactive with them.

What do you enjoy about being an Austin College trustee?

I enjoy the interaction with students. I am chair of the Student Affairs Committee, and relish the time spent with students. After the committee meeting ends, several of the trustees hang out at the Pouch Club chatting with the students who happen to join us, and on occasion, playing a game of pool with them. I get together regularly with some of the former students who now reside in Washington, D.C. 

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Austin College Magazine - March 2008
March 2008


Feedback?

Legends Weekend 2008

2008 Athletic Hall of Honor Inductees:
Bo Brown ’75
Jim Baird ’93
Kenneth Tatum ’89
Allison McKinney Tarpley ’99
Dr. Kenneth Street (Honorary Inductee)

Coach Joe Spencer Award for
Meritorious Service and Lifetime Achievement in Coaching:
Butch Worley ’76

Reunion of Champions, Saturday, July 19
Dinner and Awards Gala, Sunday, July 20
Austin College 

26th Annual Slats McCord Tournament, July 21
The Golf Club at Castle Hills
Lewisville, Texas

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