26281 GEER Dept. · SUMMER 2009A Dutchman’s pipe vine blooms in Aggie maroon and white at the Holistic Garden on the West Campus. The garden, which offers lessons in horticulture

S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 A Dutchman’s pipe vine blooms in Aggie maroon and whiteat the Holistic Garden on the West Campus. The garden, which offers lessons inhorticulture to Texas A&M students and other visitors, has an annual budget ofabout $80,000 to pay student workers, buy plants and maintain facilities. Dr. JoeNovak, who established the garden, hopes creating an endowment will help him toexpand the garden and educate more Aggies there. See page 18 for the full story.

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P R E S I D E N T ’ S L E T T E R

Education Is Our Obligation At the Texas A&M Foundation, we spend a lot of time thinking and talkingabout the value of higher education. From time to time during our daily work,each of us may consider a fundamental question: Why am I raising money forTexas A&M University? Inevitably, we find the answer just outside our HaglerCenter offices on campus.

The answer is in the mind of the education major from Beaumont—withhelp from a scholarship, she will fulfill her goal of teaching the next generationof promising students. It’s in the heart of the renowned history professor whohas devoted his life to the study of British history—funds from a faculty chairprovide the resources to further his research and teaching. It’s in the spirit of theTexas A&M Rodeo Team cowboy from Glen Rose—without a scholarship, hecould not attend a major university and compete nationally in the sport thatdefines his young life.

You’ll note that the answer lies in what the university does—encouragingand inspiring the spirit and mind of Texas A&M—not in who is leading the insti-tution. The Foundation is and always has been about supporting the educationalexperience at its core … for students and faculty.

I mention all this as preface to related news of modest policy changes madeby our board of trustees. In response to a significant decrease in investment returns,we reduced the spending from our endowment from 5 percent to 4.5 percentbeginning in July. To share the burden of protecting our endowment, we also choseto decrease the Foundation’s management fee from 1 percent to 0.9 percent.

Neither our endowment payout nor management fee has changed in morethan 20 years, but these extraordinary times demand tough decisions. We hopethese are temporary actions, but they are necessary to protect the corpus of ourendowment and ensure fairness across generational periods. Comparatively, theFoundation remains financially sound. Other institutions have slashed endowmentpayouts by more than 50 percent, and few are immune to the steep recession.

Economics aside, our country urgently needs more college graduates whowill use their knowledge and skills to improve the human condition. The extraincome from a bachelor’s degree can lift families out of poverty and increasechances that future generations will be educated.

Nonprofit management expert Paul Jansen once said, “The promise of reasonable access to education lies at the core of the social compact that affordsmost higher education institutions their nonprofit status and ensures their socialrelevance.”

At the Texas A&M Foundation, this promise is our purpose. We view broadaccess to a quality higher education experience as the great hope for the long-termfuture of our democracy. Thank you for your continued trust in our stewardshipof your gifts.

eddie j . davis ’ 67presidenttexas a&m foundation

Contents

V O L U M E X N O . 3 | S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

F E A T U R E S

Spir i t Impact:SADDLE UP

A&M’s rodeo club adviser looks to recruitever-stronger competitors for the team.

Col lege Impact:GROWING PLACES

Founder Joe Novak hopes the HolisticGarden will broaden its mission of education and encouragement.

Student Impact:

TURNING POINT

When Hurricane Rita derailed a futureteacher’s plan to attend A&M, a scholarshiphelped her stay on track.

Facul ty Impact:

QUAINTLY QU INCE

Students and colleagues admire RalphJames Quincy Adams, a professor ofBritish history.

REAL ESTATE AIDS STUDENTS

Donors turn ranch land into endowments;the Foundation’s Tim Walton discussesthe giving of real estate in a trust.

Spirit is published three times a year by the TexasA&M Foundation, which manages major giftsand endowments for the benefit of academicprograms, scholarships and student activities atTexas A&M University. Please direct inquiries tothe Marketing Office, Texas A&M Foundation,401 George Bush Dr., College Station, TX 77840-2811, call (800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-8161, ore-mail [email protected]. Information inthis magazine is for educational purposes onlyand is not intended as legal or tax advice. Readersshould consult independent legal counsel orfinancial advisors for differences in local lawsand individual circumstances.

giving.tamu.eduwww.facebook.com

(Search for Texas A&M Foundation.)www.texags.comwww.youtube.com/aggiespiritandmind

copyr ight © 2009 texas a &m foundation

In Texas A&M’s Holistic Garden, butterfly plants

attract adults and feed larvae. » p.18

Called “Quince” by his friends, professor Ralph

James Quincy Adams remains passionate about

his 35-year career as a British historian. » p.26

Lainey Kyle ’09, a member of the A&M

Rodeo Club, hits her target in the

breakaway roping event during the

Hill College Rodeo in 2008. » p.14

14

22

26

30

18

Contents

2 T E X A S A & M F O U N D A T I O N

D E P A R T M E N T S

3 THE LEGACY

R Scott Lord ’85 has designated the proceeds of a life insurance policy to benefit the Fish Drill Team.

4 ON CAMPUS

Texas A&M receives acclaim and grows its campus.

6 LAB WORK

Aggie research reaches around the worldand into the depths of the Pacific.

8 NEW GIFTS

Donors support Operation Spirit andMindSM scholarship initiative.

10 ONE VOICE

A&M academics and ethics are critical to a San Antonio success story.by Clay Schlinke ’94

12 VIEWPOINT

A picture is worth a thousand words.

32 LETTERS

34 OPPORTUNITY

Dr. Jorge Vanegas outlines how you canhelp build a better future for the Collegeof Architecture.

36 @FOUNDATION

Meet the new trustee and find out howOperation Spirit and MindSM has progressedtoward its $300 million goal.

38 POSTSCRIPT

Serendipity plus perseverance led a farmboy to his Aggie engineering degree and a 42-year career as an A&M professor.by Bob Gallaway ’42

39 CONTACT

Stay in touch with the Texas A&M

Foundation.

E D I TO R

Sondra White ’87

M A N AG I N G E D I TO R

Mary Vinnedge ’75

D I R E C TO R O F M A R K E T I N G

Kathy McCoy ’80

W E B C O M M U N I C AT I O N S S P E C I A L I S T

Rachel Dohmann ’07

M A R K E T I N G C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

S P E C I A L I S T

Alice Bassett

S T U D E N T I N T E R N S

Lianna Grissom ’11

Nichelle Jaeger ’12

A RT D I R E C T I O N & D E S I G N

Geer Design, Inc.

P H O TO G R A P H Y

College of Architecture (p. 34)

Norman Borlaug Institute for

International Agriculture (p. 6)

Mack Bradford of R&M Photography/

Bryan (pp. 1, left; 14-16)

Gabriel Chmielewski (pp. 25, 29, 35)

John Graybill (p. 3)

Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (p. 7)

Holistic Garden (cover, p. 18)

Chris Houser/Department of

Geography (p. 4)

Robb Kendrick (pp. 1, right; 12-13; 27; 32)

Jim Lyle (pp. 18, top left; 20; 22-23)

Robert McLeroy (pp. 10-11)

Kelvin Morrison/Specialties

Photography (p. 8)

Dr. Wayne Smith (p. 4)

Texas Transportation Institute (p. 38)

Larry Wadsworth (p. 6, left)

I L LU S T R AT I O N S

Engineering Communications (p. 2)

Facilities Planning and Construction

Department (p. 5)

P R I N T I N G

Grover Printing

BOA R D O F T RU S T E E S

Tom Saylak ’82

Chairman

John Bethancourt ’74

Mel Glasscock ’59

Charles Gregory ’64

Richard Kardys ’67

Ray Rothrock ’77

Bob Surovik ’58

O F F I C E R S

Ed Davis ’67

President

Jim Palincsar

Senior Vice President for Development

Liska Lusk

Vice President and General Counsel

Doyle Thompson

Vice President and Controller

C OV E R P H O TO

Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia elegans)

delivers hand-size maroon-and-white

blooms from spring through fall in Texas

A&M’s Holistic Garden. The vine

attracts swallowtail butterflies.

The $104 million Emerging Technologies

Building, under construction at the corner of

University Drive and Bizzell Street, will have a

bright, contemporary feel. » p.5

TheLegacy

R Scott Lord ’85 deeply appreciatesthe time he spent on the Fish DrillTeam as a student at Texas A&M.Through that experience, Lordacquired the self-discipline and spiritof teamwork that has carried himthrough many challenges. “You havespecial times in your life that reallystand out,” said Lord, who holds abusiness degree from A&M. “Whenyou work hard at something and youare successful, you have lots of pride inyourself. I have a huge appreciation forwhat the Fish Drill Team did for me.”

In 2006, Lord’s mother died, andhe was the executor of her estate. “Asmy brothers and I worked to create alegacy for her, it made me start tothink about my legacy,” he said. “Weget so caught up in the day-to-dayactivities of accumulating wealth that

we often don’t think about creatinga legacy.”

Lord found the perfect way to givewhen he received a postcard from theTexas A&M Foundation about lifeinsurance gifts. As the owner of threelife insurance policies, he decided touse one to benefit A&M.

Lord called Glenn Pittsford ’72,the Texas A&M Foundation’s assistantvice president for gift planning, todiscuss a life insurance gift. Lord thenmade the Foundation the beneficiaryof the policy and designated the fundsfor the Fish Drill Team. “The givingprocess was super-easy. I sat down withmy insurance agent, and we talkedabout what I wanted to do with thegift. I simply filled out a change-of-beneficiary form, and then Glenn puttogether the gift agreement.”

His gift will add to the Fish DrillTeam Endowment so future Aggieswill forever benefit from the life-changing experiences this Corps ofCadets program offers. In addition,Lord is encouraging other former stu-dents and A&M supporters to growthe endowment.

By making the Foundation thebeneficiary of his insurance policy,Lord is recognized as a Heritage mem-ber of the A&M Legacy Society. “Oneadvantage of a life insurance gift is thatI am able to give right now,” Lord said.“It was a proud moment for me toparticipate in creating my legacy.”

Class of ’85 Grad CreatesHis Legacy Now With a Life Insurance Gift forthe Fish Drill Team

S P I R I T M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 3

To discuss how a planned gift to

the Texas A&M Foundation might

benefit you, your family and the

university, please contact Glenn

Pittsford ’72 in the Office of Gift

Planning at [email protected]

or (800) 392-3310. We will

describe how such plans work and

provide personalized illustrations.

We also consult with you and your

advisers throughout the process

as you consider and implement

a charitable gift.

R Scott Lord ’85 lives near Colorado Springs, Colo.

OnCampus

A&M President Murano Resigns

Dr. Elsa Murano,president of TexasA&M University,resigned effectiveJune 15 following acontroversial publicdiscussion of con-solidating the posi-

tion of A&M System chancellor andpresident as well as public disclosureof documents debating her first year’sperformance evaluation. Murano willreturn to the faculty, which she joinedin 1995, most recently serving as deanof the College of Agriculture and LifeSciences from 2005 to 2007.

University Is Upwardly Mobile

In 1997, Texas A&M officials set a loftygoal: that the school be recognized asa consensus “top 10” public universityby the year 2020. Vision 2020, an initia-tive steered by former university Pres-ident Ray Bowen and Jon Hagler ’58,mapped the route to that goal. Pro-gress in 2009 includes:◊ Top-two status in nuclear engineer-ing (along with the Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology), according to theInternational Atomic Energy Agency.◊ The No. 1 ranking in Smart Money

magazine’s national ratings for “pay-back ratio,” the earnings levels of aninstitution’s graduates compared to thecost of their undergraduate educations.◊ Two “best value” ratings. InKiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine,

A&M was one of 100 schools receivingthe ranking for economic value andquality of education. A&M was one of50 schools to achieve the rating in thePrinceton Review/USA Today listing.◊ Three milestones by the MaysBusiness School. London’s Financial

Times listed Mays’ master of businessadministration at 11th in the nation forpublic institutions. Compared with allU.S. schools, Financial Times rankedMays No. 1 in placing graduates andNo. 2 in value for money spent achiev-ing the degree.◊ Kudos to the College of Architec-ture in the list of America’s BestArchitecture & Design Schools com-piled by the Design Futures Council.The council ranked the master of land-scape architecture and bachelor oflandscape architecture programs fourthand fifth respectively among all pro-grams. The master of architecture pro-gram is fifth among public universitiesand 11th among all programs.

A&M Center Opens in Costa Rica

Texas A&M extended its global reachthis year as operations began at theSoltis Center for Research and Edu-cation, about a two-hour drive fromthe Costa Rican capital of San Jose.

In 2005 Bill Soltis ’55, a mechan-ical engineering graduate with a careerin construction, approached A&M offi-cials about creating the facility. Soltis,a Houston resident with investmentsin Costa Rica, saw the project as a


Geography students Leonor Cantu ’12, CarolynBlake ’12, Hannah Miller ’12, Lexi Altinger ’12and Catherine McMillan ’12 conduct surveysas part of an assignment at the Soltis Centerfor Research and Education in Costa Rica.Aggies began to study at the center this year.

For their service during Hurricane Ike,four Corps of Cadets members receivedthe inaugural Corps DistinguishedHumanitarian Award last December. Fromleft are Cadet Lt. Col. Syed Hussain ’09,Cadet Sgt. 1st Class Jake Manchaca ’10,Cadet Capt. Matthew May ’09 and CadetCol. Jordan Reid ’09. The cadets securedareas of campus, coordinated volunteerefforts and helped evacuees at Reed Arena.In addition, Manchaca organized the saleof “Beat the Hell Outta Hurricane Ike” T-shirts that raised $35,000 for the LionsClub of San Leon and The Association of Former Students relief fund for TexasA&M Galveston students.

Dr. Elsa Murano


way to protect the ecological settingand create preservation awareness.

Soltis and his family donated a40-acre rain-forest site and gave a long-term lease on an additional 250 acresin the rain forest. They also funded a7,500-square-foot academic buildingplus eight dormitories for 60 studentsand faculty. (The facility’s design con-cept came from a multidisciplinarystudio in the College of Architecture.)

Last semester, Aggies began tostudy the rain forest. The College ofEducation and Human Development,College of Geosciences and DwightLook College of Engineering were firstin line to use the center.

� web extra:Click on Publications at giving.tamu.edu tosee a video about the Soltis Center.

Engineering Group Builds in Mexico

Fourteen members of the Texas A&M

student chapter of Engineers WithoutBorders (EWB) spent part of winter breakbuilding a library for the elementaryschool in Acuña, Mexico. “They hadnowhere to store their books,” saidchapter president Felipe Rendon ’09,“so we built a library for them.”

Like all EWB chapters, the A&M

group partners with developing nationsto improve quality of life through envi-ronmentally sustainable, equitable andeconomical engineering projects.

Aggies learned of the school’s needlast year and conducted a site assess-ment in May 2008. About two dozenstudents completed the design last fallat A&M, and then the chapter securedthe necessary national EWB approval.

Acuña workers poured the founda-tion before the Aggies arrived Jan. 4.“We started with the walls and builtfrom the ground up,” Rendon said.“Everything went as planned. We paint-ed it, installed four lights, four outletsand an air-conditioning unit. And we built bookshelves.” The library,finished in 12 days, was the first inter-national project for the 4-year-oldchapter (ewb.tamu.edu).

Hussey Sets Goals for Ag Program

Recruiting, reward-ing and retainingthe best faculty aretop goals set by Dr.Mark A. Hussey,the new dean ofthe College of Agri-culture and Life

Sciences. Hussey also plans to strength-en international opportunities, expandgraduate programs, and attain recog-nition for the college as the agriculturalleader in the world.

“Texas A&M has the largest andmost diverse College of Agriculturein the country,” Hussey said. “I hope

that whether you’re in New York Cityor anywhere else in the country, when-ever agriculture is mentioned, youthink of Texas A&M as not only thebiggest College of Agriculture, but thebest.”

Hussey, a specialist in plant breed-ing, received both Aggie master’s anddoctoral degrees, and has been a fac-ulty member since 1985. In December,he was named dean and directs sev-eral state agencies, including TexasAgriLife Research, the Texas AgriLifeExtension Service, Texas Forest Serviceand Texas Veterinary Medical Diag-nostic Laboratory.

Going Up: High-tech Buildings Arise in Aggieland

These state-of-the-art buildings will open within two years on campus:

◊ The Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building, a 220,000-square-foot project on Old

Main Drive near the bell tower, was nearing completion as Spirit went to press. Its

cost is estimated at $95 million. The building is expected to house laboratories, class-

rooms and offices for interdisciplinary research to include structural biology, neuro-

science and functional genomics.

◊ The Emerging Technologies Building is under construction at the corner of University

Drive and Bizzell Street. Budgeted at $104 million, the 212,000-square-foot structure

will contain laboratories, classrooms and offices that support future Aggie engineers’

studies of emerging technologies. It is scheduled for completion in 2011. It will initially

house the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engi-

neering, and will also facilitate research between the Dwight Look College of Engineering

and the Colleges of Architecture, Geosciences and Science.

◊ The two adjoining George P. Mitchell ’40 Physics Buildings are scheduled to be

operational in January. Funds for the $82.5 million Mitchell Buildings include a $35

million donation by Mitchell and his wife, Cynthia. Combined, the buildings — on

University Drive at Ireland Street — will have 150,000 square feet for offices, laboratories,

classrooms and an auditorium.

◊ A $15.4 million nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility is going up just south of

the Biochemistry and Biophysics Building on West Campus. When complete in mid-

2010, it will contain about 37,280 square feet. NMR spectroscopy is integral to studies

of molecular life sciences and structural biology conducted by the College of Agri-

culture and Life Sciences, Texas AgriLife Research and the Texas A&M Health Science

Center.

The 220,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building, which is nearly finished,faces Old Main Drive.

Dr. Mark A. Hussey

LabWork

Borlaug Institute Aids Rwandans

Rwandan farmers earn significantlymore money these days thanks to a five-year project of Texas A&M’s NormanBorlaug Institute for InternationalAgriculture.

The Sustaining Partnerships toEnhance Rural Enterprise and Agri-business Development (SPREAD) proj-ect began in 2006 by helping theAfrican nation’s coffee growers meetthe quality standards of high-end cof-fee companies, said Dr. Tim Schilling,the project’s director.

“Before 2001, Rwandan coffeequality was so poor that many farm-ers were digging up coffee trees to plantother crops,” Schilling said. “TodayRwanda ranks among the top specialtycoffee-producing countries, and over100,000 farm families earn more thanthree times what they made in 2001

on coffee.”SPREAD assists in marketing

efforts that have improved incomefrom almost zero in 2000 to more than$50 million in 2008 and an expectationof $100 million by 2012, according toRwanda’s coffee-development author-ity, OCIR-Café.

SPREAD also helps Rwandanfarmers to market other high-valueagricultural projects such as cassavaflour, chili peppers and pyrethrumflowers, a natural insecticide.

The Texas A&M Foundation raisesmoney for several Borlaug initiatives,including the Borlaug Institute Excel-

lence Fund, Borlaug Institute StudentExperience Fund, Norman E. BorlaugEndowed Chair for InternationalAgriculture, and Norman E. BorlaugEndowed Fellowships.

Charge a Phone With Body Heat

Human voices and body heat couldsoon replace the batteries in low-powerelectronic devices.

Dr. Tahir Cagin, a professor inthe Artie McFerrin Department ofChemical Engineering, and his part-ners at the University of Houstonstudy piezoelectric materials, whichgenerate voltage when mechanicalstress is applied.

Cagin’s group has found that acertain piezoelectric material can con-vert sound waves, produced when acell-phone user talks, into the energynecessary to operate the phone. Thepiezoelectric material is only about 21


Two Genes Linked to Blindness

Dr. Gladys Ko,

an assistant

professor in the

College of Vet-

erinary Medicine

and Biomedical

Sciences, along

with her collab-

orator and

research team,

have found the link between two

genes that cause two types of blind-

ness that occur mainly in men.

XLRS (X-linked retinoschisis) is

a retinal degenerative disease that

results in an early onset of macular

degeneration leading to blindness.

XLCSNB (X-linked incomplete

congenital stationary night blindness),

also a retinal degenerative disease,

causes night blindness. Patients with

XLRS have genetic mutations in

retinoschisin, a protein essential for

proper retinal structure; XLCSNB

patients have mutations on a specific

type of calcium channels in the

retina, Ko said.

XLRS and XLCSNB afflict one in

2,500 to 5,000 people. These X-linked

genetic mutations do not affect

women as much as men, although

women can be carriers of the trait.

Ko found that there is a physical

interaction between retinoschisin

and the calcium channel. The study

was carried out using chicken reti-

nas, but results apply to humans

because the retinoschisin gene in

chicks and humans are similar. Ko

emphasized that the findings improve

understanding of the disease mech-

anism, but considerable work must

be done before suggesting treatment

that could save patients’ vision.

She and her colleagues published

their study results in the Journal of

Biological Chemistry.

Dr. Gladys Ko

Rwandan workers examine and cull coffeebeans, which recently have become a majorcash crop for that nation’s farmers, thanksto help from A&M’s Borlaug Institute forInternational Agriculture.

By harnessing energy from body heat and thehuman voice, researchers in the Dwight LookCollege of Engineering hope to power cellphones and other low-power electronic devices.


nanometers thick (a nanometer is abillionth of a meter; a human hair isabout 75,000 nanometers thick).

Meanwhile, over in A&M’s Depart-ment of Mechanical Engineering, Dr.Jaime Grunlan and Dr. Choongho Yu,assistant professors, are developingpolymer composites that can convertrelatively small amounts of heat intoelectricity. Their polymer compositesharness waste heat in the environment.

“The human body alone couldproduce enough heat through normaleveryday motions to power a cellphone if someone was wearing a shirtmade of our thermoelectric compos-ite,” Grunlan said. “Polymer compositesare very promising because they can bemade low-cost and lightweight com-pared with current state-of-the-artthermoelectric materials.”

Commercial development of thepiezoelectric materials and polymercomposites could reduce reliance onbatteries in devices beyond cell phones;they could run other low-power elec-tronics such as laptops and MP3 play-ers, for example. When workingremotely, law-enforcement officials andsoldiers could use these technologies topower specialized devices such as sen-sors for chemical or biological weapons.To combat temperature extremes, thepolymer composites could even heator cool uniforms.

Ancient Corals Discovered

An Aggie researcher has discoveredsome of Earth’s most senior citizens.

Dr. Brendan Roark, assistant pro-fessor of geography, led a team thatfound deep-sea corals off the Hawaiiancoast that are more than 4,200 yearsold. These corals, collected from adepth of more than 1,300 feet usingmanned submersible vehicles, rankamong Earth’s oldest living organ-isms—along with 4,000-year-old bristle-cone pine trees in California.

Roark and his colleagues usedradiocarbon dating to determine the

ages of Geradia sp., or gold coral, andspecimens of the deep-water blackcoral, Leiopathes sp. The longest-livedexamples in both species were 2,740

years and 4,270 years, respectively.The deep-water black coral is the old-est living coral, and its longevity farexceeds previous estimates.

Gold coral has been harvested forthe purpose of making jewelry, andboth Geradia sp. and Leiopathes sp.

are threatened worldwide by fishingmethods such as bottom trawling andlong-lining. “This research has alreadyhad an impact in Hawaiian waters,where a moratorium on the collectionof gold coral has been enacted,” Roarksaid. “These extremely long life spansreinforce the need for further protec-tion of deep-sea habitats around theworld and in international waters inparticular.”

The findings of Roark and col-leagues from Australia and Californiawere published in March in the Pro-

ceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences. The project was financed bythe National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration and theNational Science Foundation.

� web extra:Click on Publications at giving.tamu.edu tosee a video about this coral research.

For a more in-depth look at Texas A&M’s

research activity, visit giving.tamu.edu

and click on “publications” to request

copies of Advance magazine, which is

produced by the Division of Research

and Graduate Studies.

Leiopathes sp., called black coral because of itsskeleton (showing at its base), can live morethan 4,200 years. This specimen was found nearHawaii in water more than 1,300 feet deep.

An A&M historian questions whetherAbner Doubleday invented baseball.

Historian Plays Hardball

Research by a Texas A&M history

professor contradicts widely held

notions about baseball’s early

years — such as Abner Doubleday

creating the sport in 1839 in

Cooperstown, N.Y.

The Doubleday myth was born

in 1907, when he was called

“baseball’s inventor” in a report

by Abraham Mills, National League

president and an Army colleague of

Doubleday. “It was already rooted

in the region’s rural culture — before

1839,” said Dr. David Vaught, a

history professor and baseball fan.

“No one individual came up with

the game as it is played today. It

was a combination of several

different games that evolved.”

Early versions of baseball had

eight to 50 players per team and

a square field; a fixed run total —

often 100 — was needed to win.

Vaught said the sport didn’t evolve

fully until the 1880s, when the

field took its diamond shape, the

numbers of balls and strikes were

fixed, and overhand pitching was

allowed. “Trying to find the inven-

tor of baseball is like trying to find

the person who discovered fire.”

Vaught said “every major schol-

ar has pretty much debunked”

the Doubleday tale. And when

Doubleday supposedly invented

the game, he was still a West

Point cadet.

Vaught is writing a book about

the early popularity of baseball —

often considered a big-city sport —

among farmers, gold miners and

soldiers in the hinterlands.

NewGifts

S T U D E N T I M P A C T

Women Establish Two Scholarships

The Women Former Students’ Net-work (WFSN) celebrated its first birth-day by establishing two President’sEndowed Scholarships (PES). Formerfirst lady Barbara Bush, an honoraryWFSN member, was on hand for thecheck presentation to the Texas A&M

Foundation in November. The Wom-en’s Legacy Scholarship will assist fe-male students entering a discipline inwhich women are underrepresented,said Carol E. Jordan ’80, 2009 presi-dent of WFSN (www.aggiewomen.org).The group raised money from mem-bers and other supporters to createthe scholarships. “The legacy of theWFSN will be seen in what we give toour current students, in how we men-tor their growth, and in what we

inspire them to become,” Jordan saidas the scholarships were announced.“We chose creation of the scholarshipas a visible down payment on thatlegacy.” The money was presented oncampus at a WFSN gathering thatmarked the 45th anniversary of wom-en being admitted to pursue degreesat Texas A&M.

Monsanto Boosts Ag Postgraduates

A recent $750,000 gift to the TexasA&M Foundation from Monsanto Co.established a graduate assistant fundin plant breeding that will support asmany as 14 U.S. and international stu-dents pursuing doctoral degrees ingermplasm enhancement of agronomicand horticultural crops. Texas AgriLifeResearch and the College of Agricul-ture and Life Sciences will match thegift. Monsanto previously funded theBorlaug-Monsanto Chair in PlantBreeding and International CropImprovement and Borlaug-MonsantoCrop Improvement Assistantships.

F A C U L T Y I M P A C T

Gift Endows Two Faculty Chairs

A planned gift from James RoyceWhatley ’47 was announced this spring:$2 million for endowed faculty chairsfor the College of Geosciences and theMays Business School. Whatley, who


Gifts to the Texas A&MFoundation Inspire Spirit and Mind

Barbara Bush and Carol Jordan ’80, presidentof the Women Former Students’ Network, celebrate the group’s scholarships.

Mays Receives $9 Million Bequest

Mays Business School has received

a $9 million bequest from an

anonymous former student and

spouse. When the gift is realized,

the money will provide hundreds

of scholarships to business stu-

dents. Announced this spring,

the gift marked the single largest

commitment to date for Texas

A&M’s Operation Spirit and MindSM

initiative, which has a goal of rais-

ing $300 million for scholarships

and fellowships. “In these trying

economic times, it is wonderful

to see one of our former students

committing to providing educa-

tional opportunities for the next

generation of business leaders,”

Mays Dean Jerry Strawser said.

The donors said they made a pro-

vision for the scholarships in their

will because giving back “is one

of the great joys in life. Texas A&M

University and Mays Business

School are responsible for a great

deal of our blessings.”


died in 2005, heldbachelor’s and mas-ter’s degrees inaccounting fromTexas A&M andreceived an Out-standing AlumniAward from Maysin 2002. He spent

most of his career at Kaneb Services,a pipeline company, where he servedas CEO, CFO, president, vice presi-dent and controller. He previouslyfunded Corps of Cadets and otherscholarships.

C O L L E G E I M P A C T

Hughes Gift to Rebuild Military Walk

A $4 million gift from Dan Hughes ’51

of Beeville will reconstruct TexasA&M’s Military Walk, a 1,500-foot-longpedestrian greenway that links SbisaDining Hall to the Memorial StudentCenter Complex.The path, a his-toric military walk,was a dirt road inthe early 1880s, anarrow street in theearly 1900s andevolved to a seriesof sidewalks in the 1970s. WithHughes’ gift, given in November, theuniversity will install historic markers,bricks and limestone pavers plusother landscaping enhancements toreflect Corps of Cadets milestonessince the university’s inception.Hughes, whose geology degree led toan oil and gas career, said the “proj-ect is important to recognizing thehistory of Texas A&M and the tradi-tion of leadership of the Corps ofCadets.” His previous gifts to A&M

include the Dan A. Hughes ’51 Chairin Geosciences.

Anadarko Donates $1 Million

Over a three-year period, the AnadarkoFoundation will fund a $1 million giftto the petrophysics laboratory in the

Harold Vance Department of Petro-leum Engineering. Almost 200 employ-ees of Houston-based AnadarkoPetroleum Corp., which operates theAnadarko Foundation, are Aggies.“People are the foundation of oursuccess at Anadarko, and we are com-mitted to developing future leaders ofour industry,” said Chuck Meloy ’82,Anadarko’s seniorvice president ofworldwide opera-tions. Meloy holdsa bachelor’s degreein chemical engi-neering from A&M.The gift, made inJanuary, will help fund renovation ofthe Joe C. Richardson PetroleumEngineering Building, salaries for itsstaff and purchase of materials.

Endowed Fund Honors Chemist

Elizabeth W. Scott established an en-dowed fund in memory of her hus-band, Dr. A. Ian Scott, who worked inTexas A&M’s chemistry department.She created the A. Ian Scott Awardin Chemistry Fund last fall with a$150,000 gift. The annual award willbe given to a chemist who has madesignificant contributions in bio-organicchemistry related to natural products.Proceeds from the award fund alsowill offset costs associated with theA. Ian Scott Endowed Lectureship,established in 1994 in Scott’s honor togenerate funds for an annual lecture bya world-leading chemist or biochemistfor the benefit ofbio-organic chem-istry students. Scott,who died in 2007,achieved worldwiderecognition duringhis 30-year Aggiecareer for discover-ing how bacteria produce vitaminB12 and for his study of the cancerdrug taxol.

S P I R I T I M P A C T

Webers ’84 Support Mays

Tony and Cindy Green Weber, bothClass of ’84, contributed $200,000 toMays Business School last Decemberfor outside-the-classroom education.The Cindy ’84 and Tony ’84 WeberExcellence Fund will pay for pro-grams and executive speakers in Mays’undergraduate programs, where theirdaughter, Alexandra ’12, is enrolled.“We thought it would be great toenhance the program while she’sthere,” Cindy Weber said. Tony Webercredits his participation in the school’sFellows Program—and internships itled to—with his business success. He isa partner at Irving-based Natural GasPartners. Cindy Weber has an under-graduate degree in nutrition fromA&M. The Webers previously fundeda President’s Endowed Scholarship.

Squadron 4 Gives Scholarship

Sixteen Class of ’62 Squadron 4 mem-bers contributed to the Squadron 4/Four Aces ’62 General Rudder CorpsScholarship. Retired Col. Paul Heye ’62

said members decided during their45th reunion that an endowed scholar-ship is the best way to memorializetheir Corps outfit. “The Corps wassuch a major part of our lives in thoseyears at Aggieland that we all credit itwith establishing us in our lives andfamilies,” said Heye, whose PriesterOpportunity Award and Air Forcescholarships helped finance his Aggieeducation. Squadron 4 membersattending the reunion spearheaded thepledge drive for the scholarship. OtherClass of ’62 Four Aces donors are EdBerry, retired Lt. Col. Gene Box, JerryDonald Cook, Eldridge Goins, DanielC. Haley, Larry L. Harmon, retiredCol. Tom Hohman, Dr. Kenneth E.Jarosz, Paul E. Morris, Dr. Jack F. Paris,Thomas W. Powell, Stephen W. SealeJr., Judge Roger J. Walker, Robert C.Wight and Alan G. Wood II.

Dan Hughes ’51

Dr. A. Ian Scott

Chuck Meloy ’82

James RoyceWhatley ’47

OneVoice

Growing up on a ranch in the hotdesert of West Texas, I dreamt of beingunder those cool oak trees that blan-ket the campus. We lived almost anhour from the town of Sanderson,but we always made the trip for AggieMuster. There was never any questionwhether I would attend college, andthere was no other place for me thanTexas A&M.

When I came to A&M, I felt as ifI were living a dream. It was all just asDad described.

During my first two years at A&M,my experiences strengthened my integ-rity. I watched upperclassmen committo the university’s traditions andlearned from them. I stood shoulderto shoulder with other Aggies at yellpractice. I felt the heat of bonfire thatrepresented all of the sacrifices madeby Aggies. I walked the campus andexchanged a “howdy” with passersby,feeling the sense of solidarity lift me up.

As a result, I made up my mindthat I would maintain the high stan-dards of strength, honor and characterinstilled in me by fellow Aggies as Ipursued my goals of becoming anentrepreneur and making money. In

addition to hard work, doing right bypeople has become a basic tenet of mybusiness. I credit Texas A&M with help-ing to shape my thinking in this area.

Of course, being a good business-man requires more than character anda good work ethic. Just as my first class-es taught me how to be a responsibleperson and strengthened my integrity,my junior and senior classes gave methe skills and tools that I use today asa successful businessman. Those class-es specialized in entrepreneurship andgave me the knowledge and confidenceto start and run my own companies.

The economic theories that theseclasses so effectively covered have stim-ulated my business sense. The conceptson diversification have enabled my 6-year-old business, Tesoro Homes andDevelopment Ltd. in San Antonio,to grow every year. Even during thecurrent economic hardship, I haveremained aggressive by starting newbusinesses that complement our com-pany’s mission. Without Texas A&M,I would not have enjoyed this level ofbusiness success.

The final component to my accom-plishments is the bond forged by all


The Total A&M Experience

I never tired of hearing my dad’s stories of Texas A&M.Dad—Dr. James Schlinke ’67—would get a faraway lookin his eyes and talk affectionately about the traditionsof the school as well as the friendliness and character ofthe people. I was brought up wearing maroon and hearingstories of the 12th Man.

Aggie 100 winner Clay Schlinke says hiswife, Jessica, has been integral to the growthof their business. Her responsibilitiesinclude overseeing the plumbing operation.


graduates of Texas A&M University.This bond goes beyond the meaningimplied by the term “networking.”

When I see a fellow Aggie, I knowthat trust and character accompany hisor her word. I can’t tell you how oftenAggie bankers have approved financ-ing before I have had time to showthem any documentation. When thebanker and I take note of each other’sAggie rings, we both smile, knowingthat each is as good as his word. Ofcourse, in this day and age, deals areno longer done on a handshake, butI wouldn’t hesitate to do such a dealas long as my business partner was afellow Aggie.

Late last year, my business waschosen No. 1 in the Aggie 100, anannual list of the fastest-growing Aggie-owned or -operated companies. I can’tbegin to express my surprise and appre-ciation for such a high honor. Thisin itself has opened numerous other

doors for me. With the addition ofthis distinction to my résumé, Ireceive even more respect and consid-eration. Aggies know and appreciateother Aggies, but even non-Aggies rec-ognize the prestige of this award anddo not hesitate to make me a busi-ness partner.

As you can see, Texas A&M ismore to me than a university. Thisinstitution has permeated nearly everyaspect of my life. I credit Texas A&M

with nurturing and shaping my worldview, for imparting a strong work ethic,for preparing me to succeed in businessand for providing a system of lifelongsupport.

In short, I am extremely proud tobe an Aggie!

—by clay schlinke ’94

Clay Schlinke ’94 and Mike Aubin, project manager, go over plans at a San Antonio construction site.

During my first twoyears at A&M, my expe-riences strengthenedmy integrity. I watchedupperclassmen committo the university’s traditions and learnedfrom them.”

“

Live oaks frame the Albritton Bell Tower, given to Texas A&M by Martha and FordD. Albritton Jr. ’43. The 138-foot-tall structure, dedicated Oct. 6, 1984, stands at theintersection of Jones and Lamar streets with Old Main Drive. The tower containsWestminster chimes and 49 carillon bells — the largest weighing more than 3 tons —that can be programmed to play Aggie music and patriotic songs. During SilverTaps, a memorial service for Aggies who have died during the past month, the bellsplay hymns.

James Lockhart ’10 of Georgetown gets a

tight grip in the steer wrestling event dur-

ing the 20 0 8 Hill College Rodeo. He’s a

member of the A&M Rodeo Club.



S P I R I T I M P A C T

SCHOLARSHIPS GIVERODEO TEAM A BOOST

obert T. “Bob” Handley ’67 has

never competed in a rodeo. In

fact, until recently, Handley —

the retired owner of Tarlton

Supply, an oilfield equipment

company in Brenham — had virtually no

interest in even watching one.

But close friend Al B. Wagner ’69

absolutely loves the sport. He was a steer

wrestler and bareback rider on the Texas

A&M University rodeo team from 1965

to ’69. After getting married, he stopped

competing. But when the team needed

an adviser in 1996, the Texas A&M food

science professor jumped at the oppor-

tunity. For years, Handley has watched

Wagner pour his heart and soul into the

team, which receives no money from the

university. So when Handley and his wife,

Vicki, decided to make another signif-

icant gift to the Texas A&M Foundation,

they wanted to endow rodeo team schol-

arships. And they named their $1 million

endowment for Wagner.

“The rodeo team has accom-

plished a heck of a lot with very little,”

Bob Handley said. “This endowment

was a great way to help A&M and to put

a feather in Al’s cap.”

R


Texas A&M’s rodeo team requiresdevotion from its members. They mustraise money for two annual campusrodeos, pay for their own horse stallsand feed, provide their own practicelivestock and, for lack of a practicearena, hone their skills on an indi-vidual basis where they board theiranimals.

For years, Wagner depended uponthe generosity of donors such asRobert Coffin ’47, Frank Foster ’53,the late Shorty Fuller ’43 and friendsof the late Tom Lewis ’77, who creat-ed an endowment in his memory. Buteven with their generosity, the rodeoteam’s annual scholarship budgettotaled only $4,000 to $5,000. Whentrying to recruit against regionalrodeo powerhouses such as TarletonState University in Stephenville andMcNeese State University in LakeCharles, La., Wagner didn’t have apony in the race.

The San Antonio Livestock Showand Exposition has helped with annu-al scholarships since fall 2000 (itsscholarship gift for 2008 was $36,000).In 2006, the estate of James E. “Punk”Sauls ’49 established a $500,000 schol-arship endowment. A year later, theHandleys funded their endowment.

Many of the rodeo team’s 35

competing members now receive somescholarship support. The Handleys’endowment contributes the six largestscholarships, and the number of schol-arships derived from this endowmentis expected to increase.

“The response has been tremen-dous,” Wagner said. “Word has gottenout that A&M has scholarship moneynow, so people are calling and inquir-ing. It certainly gives me a lot moreflexibility.”

Texas A&M senior CourtneySokol ’09 of Brenham is vice presi-dent of the Texas A&M rodeo teamand one of the first Dr. Al B. WagnerScholarship recipients. The daughterof a cutting horse trainer, Sokol hasridden horses as long as she canremember. In high school, she decidedto try barrel racing.

She has never looked back.Sokol began her professional bar-

rel racing career at age 18. At TexasA&M, she has competed on a collegiatelevel in both barrel racing and break-away roping, an event akin to calfroping. As a Texas A&M sophomore,she reached the national finals, takingeighth place. As a junior, she tookfourth in the nation. She hopes toadvance to the national finals thisyear, too.

Because rodeo is one of the fewsports that allows athletes to partici-pate on collegiate and professionallevels simultaneously, Sokol— likemany of her teammates—earns moneycompeting on the rodeo circuit. Sup-plementing her earnings with schol-arship funds, she said, has relievedlots of pressure from paying for bothher education and her “rodeo habit.”

The scholarships mean a greatdeal to the overall team, as well,Sokol said. “We’ve been able to com-pete with better athletes on our teambecause we’re able to recruit againstother schools.”

Lainey Kyle’s horse kicks up a cloud of dust as she dismounts during the goat-tying event.Kyle ’09 is a member of the A&M Rodeo Club.


While Sokol, a finance major, hasreceived job offers from accountingfirms, she’s reluctant to join the white-collar working world until she’s fullyready. “I’m hoping to get to rodeo a bitmore before I get a full-time job.”

Senior Jason Calkins ’09 fromGlen Rose, president of the TexasA&M rodeo team, grew up in a rodeofamily. He started roping as a 6-year-old, and at 17 won the Junior WorldChampionship in team roping.

“It’s been stuck in my blood eversince,” Calkins said of competing.

Calkins came to Texas A&M with-out a rodeo scholarship. But a 2008

scholarship award from the SanAntonio Livestock Show and Exposi-tion eased the financial burden ofcollege for him. “I chose to come to

A&M for the school itself, but thescholarship definitely helps withtuition expenses.”

An agricultural business major,Calkins said he has a job in mobilehome sales lined up after graduation.

“I would love to rodeo profes-sionally, but there’s a lot of work anda lot of money you have to put into it,but not a lot of money to get out,” hesaid. Calkins added that he will alwayscherish his rodeo team participationand calls it “a very good experience.”

Sokol thanked the Handleys forher scholarship at a recent event. “Theyare great people, and they recognizehow much work Dr. Al does for ourprogram,” she said. “He’s awesome.”

When it comes to Foundationgifts, the Handleys have a history of

giving with their hearts. Past gifts, for instance, created General RudderCorps Scholarships, which help sup-port students involved in the TexasA&M Corps of Cadets. These schol-arships memorialize nine of BobHandley’s classmates killed in theVietnam War.

In the same vein, the Handleys’gift to the rodeo team is a tribute to acherished and greatly admired friend.It’s also a much-needed boost for anunderfunded student organization.

At the scholarship banquet, theHandleys discovered firsthand theimpact of their rodeo team gift. BobHandley recalls a teary-eyed scholar-ship recipient who thanked him andVicki. This student told them thatwithout the scholarship, she wouldhave been unable to enroll at TexasA&M.

“The endowment gives some kidsa chance who couldn’t attend A&M

otherwise,” Handley said. “Al’s nowable to recruit very high-quality stu-dent athletes. The students benefit,and the team benefits. It’s a win-winfor everybody.”

— by kara bounds socol

For more information about supporting

the Texas A&M rodeo team, contact:

Cindy Brown Munson ’99

Assistant Director of Development

Student Affairs

Texas A&M Foundation

(800) 392-3310 or (979) 458-1689

[email protected]

giving.tamu.edu

� web extra:Click on Publications at giving.tamu.edu tosee a video about the rodeo team.

Scholarships have helped Texas A&M rodeo teamrecruiting, but the university is still far behind itscompetitors in terms of operational funding. McNeeseState in Louisiana, for instance, provides its rodeoteam members travel funds, free horse stalls, practicelivestock and a covered arena. Texas A&M offersnone of these.Aggie rodeo team adviser Al Wagner said the tremendous costs involved in rodeo participation—from horse care to travel expenses—deter manypotential members.

“Our goal now is to raise funds to create an operating account that we can use to build practicefacilities and stalls,” Wagner said. “These monieswould also be used to buy practice stock and feed,and to help with travel expenses.”


C O L L E G E I M P A C T

Dr. Joe Novak has a Zen-like serenity as he evangelizesabout gardening. “Nature is restorative. When garden-ing, we have contact with nature and that helps us relax.If nature has that effect, then anyone who wants togarden should be able to garden regardless of disabil-ities. Holism looks at the whole—and the gardener aswell as the garden is part of the ecosystem.”

Those principles planted the seeds of Texas A&M

University’s Holistic Garden, created in 1984 by Novak,a senior horticulture lecturer in the College of Agri-culture and Life Sciences. Organic practices used in theHolistic Garden work with nature rather than fight it,

optimizing money, resources and time. Compost —plus occasional applications of organic fertilizers suchas alfalfa meal and blood meal—improves the soil. Tocontrol pests ranging from fire ants to aphids, HolisticGarden workers brew compost tea. Lacewings, parasiticwasps, ladybugs and other beneficial insects are encour-aged to multiply and linger in the garden.

Originally a 30-by-30-foot plot, the Holistic Gar-den now covers nearly two acres on the West Campus.It is a living laboratory for Aggie horticulture students.“Dr. Novak wants students and kids to learn,” saidLuis Castillo ’07, programs coordinator for the HolisticGarden. “It’s his passion. He is in the garden early inthe morning weekdays and may stay until late at night.He will come in on weekends for tours by 4-H Clubs,scout troops and similar organizations.”

In 2009, the garden’s silver-anniversary year, about1,000 Aggies will plant, propagate, prune, weed andfeed. Another 2,000 people will come for educationaltours, therapy, enjoyment and training.

“Dr. Novak never says no to educational tours,”Castillo said. “He’s even working with a person fromAngleton who has multiple sclerosis to create an en-abling garden there.”

Holistic Garden’s Themed Plantings Enable, Educate and Encourage

The Holistic Garden also hosts therapy sessions forat-risk youths as well as residents from assisted living andveterans’ centers.

The general public attends open houses—some onParents’ Weekends—and uses the rose arbor and gazeboas backdrops for Aggie graduation and wedding photos.Holistic Garden plant sales are open to the public, too.

Training comes into play during workshops for gardenclubs and for Texas Master Gardeners, a statewide exten-sion program. Said Brazos County Master Gardener GinnySmith: “I always learn something when I visit Dr. Novak atthe Holistic Garden. Sometimes I learn about an unusualplant to try in my garden, but I also learn about compost-ing, plant propagation methods, insect control and otherthings. All become easily understandable as Joe demon-strates and explains.”

The staff and students also train special-needs garden-ers in the Enabling Garden, one of several on-site specialtygardens. Within the Enabling Garden, those challengedby paralysis, blindness, arthritis, heart conditions, multi-ple sclerosis and more can participate by using adaptivetools (short hoes, special pruners and foam-handled hand-cultivators, for instance) and special planting areas.

“Raised planting beds are at different levels to offeraccess to people of varied heights who can’t bend well,”Novak said. “Fruit on espaliered trees can be reachedwithout a ladder. A raised bed edging defines the bound-ary of a planting for visually impaired gardeners. A toerecess at the edge of a raised bed allows people to balanceif that’s an issue for them. Some raised beds have benchesfor people who tire easily, perhaps because of heart con-ditions.”

Wheelchair users find the Enabling Garden and allother areas of the Holistic Garden easy to navigate andwork in, Novak said, as some raised beds are wheelchair-height. An elevated A-frame trellis allows people in wheel-chairs to roll underneath to harvest peas, and they canlower hanging baskets with special pulleys.

Mark Sterle ’83 of College Station guides his motor-ized wheelchair from his Northgate home to the HolisticGarden nearly every day, weather permitting. “Joe alwayshas something new going on over there,” Sterle said. “It’srelaxing. It gives me a place to go and walk my dog,” aLab-shepherd mix he trained as a service dog. Sterle is aquadriplegic, so he can’t use his hands, but he enjoys theprocess of monitoring vegetable crops. “I get people to helpme if plants need water or have insects. I’ve learned aboutdifferent plants, viruses and insects. I’ve learned aboutsoil. It’s a great educational facility. It’s interesting to seewhat can be done and how things can be set up” to helpgardeners of varied ability levels.

The Holistic Garden’s enabling tools, structures andpaths offer a take-away lesson for educators and for peoplewith special needs: how to adapt gardens for continuedenjoyment and functioning.

“The best testimonial I can hear is when somebodytells me, ‘Dr. Novak, you have helped me to enjoy gar-dening again.’ ”

Near the Enabling Garden is the Holistic Garden’sWarren and Margaret Barham Texas Heritage Garden,named for donors to the project. It contains a cottagesurrounded by fruits, vegetables, herbs, heirloom rosesand other flowers grown by early settlers.

The Holistic Garden’s Discovery Trail engages childrenin fun and learning. Illustrated boards are interactive aswell as instructive. Most young visitors participate in ahands-on activity during their visit. “They often do a proj-ect such as creating a pine-cone bird feeder,” Novak said.

The lush, exotic plants in the Tropical Rainforestenthrall children and adults. It’s set up in a greenhousewith mysterious plants such as a vine with vanilla beans.

Novak’s students use all areas of the Holistic Gardento apply lessons from his garden science, sociohorticul-ture and horticultural therapy courses. Sociohorticulturefocuses on humans’ need for plants to supply food, cloth-ing, fuel and building materials. In urban settings, socio-horticulture extends to the use of gardening programsthat revive and bind neighborhoods with communitypride. These programs beautify residential areas, reduce


Dr. Joe Novak (left) and Mark Sterle monitor plants at the Holistic Garden

on the Texas A&M campus in spring 2009.


litter, increase self-esteem and empower residents. Inrural areas, horticulture is tied to income. Cooperativesare sociohorticultural initiatives that can stabilize rural hor-ticultural enterprises by ensuring a local market.

Horticultural therapy is a subset of sociohorticulture.This therapy uses horticultural methods and practices tostimulate the physical, psychological and social skills of peo-ple with varied physical and mental abilities. The soothingnature of horticultural therapy aids people with substance-abuse problems and youngsters who bully classmates, forinstance. The fruits and vegetables that therapy participantsgrow are a tangible reward for their efforts.

Novak is planning holistic therapy sessions for stu-dents with Down syndrome and autism from schools inCollege Station and Bryan. Planting stimulates physical,intellectual and social skills. Youngsters fill containerswith soil, plant seeds and apply water. Students improvecognition by remembering the steps, and when they helpclassmates, they build social skills.

As part of the garden’s extended outreach, Novakpublishes “The Whole Scoop,” a three-times-a-year news-letter with gardening tips, reports and recipes. It’s onlineat http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/holisticgarden(click on “Resources” then “Newsletter”).

Programs of the Holistic Garden, which employs 10

student workers in majors ranging from horticulture andlandscape architecture to construction science and man-agement, are financed by student fees, plant sales, grantsand gifts that go into a non-endowed Holistic GardenFund held by the Texas A&M Foundation. The garden’s$80,000 annual budget includes operating expenses suchas student wages, plant and materials purchases, and facil-ity maintenance. About 55 percent of the budget comesfrom plant sales; 25 percent from class fees; 15 percentfrom gifts, special projects and miscellaneous sources;and 5 percent from fees for workshops and educationalprograms.

Novak hopes additional donations will endow thefund so it will permanently support internships, scholar-ships, expanded vegetable and fruit research, demon-stration plantings, and a teaching garden apprenticeshipprogram. Such an endowment would require a minimum$25,000 donation, which can be a pledge funded over fiveyears. As with all endowments, the Foundation invests theprincipal; the interest on its earnings would provide thegarden with steady income forever.

Novak’s wish list also calls for upgrades to equipment,displays in the tropical rainforest and desert greenhouseareas, and additional workshops and children’s tours. Ona sloping grassy area near the Barham Heritage Garden,he hopes to offer a trail of Texas native edible and medic-

inal plants used by American Indians and the state’s ear-liest settlers. He’s also planning storytelling and contem-plative gardens plus an information center.

“This garden and our program is one of the thingsthat makes Texas A&M’s horticulture program unique,”Novak said. “It’s an extraordinary place for teaching andresearch for our students and for the community. I’d liketo ensure that it continues to evolve long after I’m goneso future generations can discover its lessons and takepleasure in its beauty.”

— by mary vinnedge ’75

For more information about supporting

the Holistic Garden and the College of

Agriculture and Life Sciences, contact:

Monica Delisa

Senior Director of Development


(800) 392-3310 or (979) 847-9314

[email protected]

giving.tamu.edu

� web extra:Click on Publications at giving.tamu.edu to see a video about the Holistic Garden.

The Holistic Garden encompasses several small, specializedareas such as:

A community garden in which about three dozen Aggie students grow vegetables year-round.

Two ponds that represent wetland planting environments. One organic lesson here is the presence of gambusia, tiny fish that eat mosquito larvae.

A xeric garden that emphasizes low-water-use plants.

A butterfly garden, that feeds adults and larvae.

The Sensory Garden, which appeals to taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing.

A demonstration garden showing techniques for Bryan/College Station-area growing conditions.

The Maroon & White Garden, which includes maroon andwhite roses, purple fountain grass, crape myrtles, verbenas, liriope and seasonal bedding plants such as alyssum and zinnias.

A compost facility.


Jael Spencer ’10 considers herself100 percent Texan. She grew up inBeaumont and was in line to be thevaledictorian of her 2006 high schoolgraduating class there. If life hadgone according to plan, that singleacademic achievement would secureher future: Spencer—the second-youngest of six children reared by a single mother—could afford TexasA&M University’s in-state tuitionbecause of the scholarships guaran-teed by her valedictorian status. Her education would eclipse that of her parents, who briefly attendedcollege but did not graduate.

In August 2005, the beginningof Spencer’s senior year, HurricaneRita doused those plans. The stormdestroyed the family’s rented homeand everything in it, from householdfurnishings to clothing. Spencer, her two sisters, her mother and her1-year-old niece stayed in dormliketemporary housing in Big Sandy formore than a week before moving toLas Vegas, where an uncle helpedthem start over.

Point

Tur

ning

S T U D E N T I M P A C T


When a Hurricane Put a Financial Roadblock in This Future Teacher’s Path,

a Scholarship Steered Her Around It

Although appreciative of heruncle’s assistance, the family’s new lifecame with a big downside for Spencer.“Jael was upset,” said Vickie Franks,Spencer’s mother. “She really wantedto go back. Her biggest hurt was whenshe lost her scholarships. She hadworked so hard for so many years.”

Spencer could no longer claimTexas residency and could not affordout-of-state tuition. Because she didnot log a full year in Nevada schools,she was ineligible for scholarshipsthere, although she graduated sixthin her high school class. Despite herevacuation for Hurricane Rita and sub-sequent relocation to Nevada, Spencersaid, “I am a Texas girl at heart, andthere was no doubt in my mind thatI would be coming back to Texas.” Butin-state tuition rules could not be bent.

She was crushed but refused togive up her dream of attending TexasA&M.

“Jael’s heart has always been atTexas A&M,” Franks said. “We prayeda lot, and she took out a loan for herfreshman year.”

When Spencer couldn’t affordbooks, staff at A&M’s student finan-cial aid office helped her get moneyfor them. “I thank God for the staffat Texas A&M,” Franks said. “They saythey don’t like to lose a good student,and they mean that. They kept gettinghelp for Jael.”

Spencer eventually got in touchwith Dale Suel, an academic adviserin the dean’s office at the College ofEducation & Human Development.“Dale Suel is basically the guy who

made everything happen and workedhard to find a scholarship that wassuitable for me.”

Spencer applied for scholarshipsand for her junior year, she received theNancy and Brock Nelson ’90 Scholar-ship for students who will becometeachers. She receives $1,250 per yearfor four years. That scholarship bringswith it another huge benefit becauseSpencer is an out-of-state student:Texas A&M students who receive atleast $1,000 in scholarship money eachyear can qualify for in-state tuition.(A&M can waive out-of-state tuitionfor out-of-state students if they arereceiving $1,000 or more per year inscholarships that also are open toTexas residents.)

So far, Spencer is living happilyever after: She has in-state tuition andis pursuing her dream of teachingsecond-graders in Texas. Her educa-tional aspirations extend beyond herbachelor’s degree. She also plans toearn a master’s degree and a Ph.D. “Ihope to earn those at Texas A&M,”Spencer said, “and I might teach whileI’m going to grad school.”

After serving as a classroomteacher for a few years, Spencer plansto start an outreach program for inner-city students. The organization wouldbe something like Boys & Girls Clubsof America, she said, “but more aca-demic in focus.”

Those plans sound great to donorBrock Nelson ’90, president of SpringCreek Capital, a subsidiary of KochIndustries Inc. in Wichita, Kan. He canrelate to Spencer’s out-of-state status.


“I am very grateful


Nelson, a Nebraska resident whograduated from Texas A&M with achemical engineering degree, had re-ceived a Lechner scholarship thathelped him secure an out-of-statetuition waiver. Nelson felt an obliga-tion to give back—“in lieu of repaying aloan,” he said—and is pleased to helpSpencer and other Aggies throughthree scholarships he and his wife,Nancy, have funded (two are for chem-ical engineering students).

“Jael is a really lovely woman,” hesaid. “The fact that she wants to workin the inner city is important. That’stough to recruit for, and education iskey for society.”

Nelson hoped the scholarshipwould go to an out-of-state student sothat it could multiply the impact of hisgift. He knew A&M would probablywaive the higher tuition for an out-of-state resident because the scholarshipexceeded the $1,000-per-year thresh-

old. “It makes the scholarship worthmore than $10,000 more per year,”Nelson said. (For the 2008-09 academ-ic year, Spencer’s out-of-state tuitionwaiver saved her more than $14,400.)

The gift changed her life. “I amvery grateful because I no longer haveto struggle financially,” she said.

Spencer has logged three years ofher Aggie education and keeps busyin and out of the classroom. Besideshitting the books to keep up hergrades, she participates in the FederalWork-Study Program in the Depart-ment of Teaching, Learning & Culturewithin A&M’s College of Education& Human Development. Her dutiesthere give her valuable career experi-ence, she said.

Spencer belongs to Young Womenof Distinction, an organization thatperforms community service while help-ing women professionally with careertips, financial advice and networking

assistance. She also is a member ofTexas A&M’s chapter of the NAACP

and has participated in the AfricanAmerican Student Leadership Instituteand volunteered with the Brazos ValleyHabitat for Humanity. She joinedthe TAMU Hip Hop Society becauseof its positive values. “Hip-hop has anuplifting quality,” she said. “Unlike rapmusic, which is purely entertainment,hip-hop has an empowering message.It says, ‘You can do it.’ ”

After her graduation in May 2010,Spencer will connect with the world-wide network of former students forthe rest of her life. And Spencer knowsthat the Nelsons’ scholarship made herAggie dream possible.

“I really appreciate the Nelsonsfor their contribution to my life,” shesaid.

— by mary vinnedge ’75

For more information about how you

can support the College of Education

& Human Development, contact:

Steve Blomstedt ’83

Director of Development


(800) 392-3310 or (979) 847-8655

[email protected]

giving.tamu.edu

Jael Spencer’s part-time job in the Departmentof Teaching, Learning & Culture gives hervaluable career experience.

because I no longer have to struggle financially.”


N A T T I LY D R E S S E D M A N . This best describes what you would see if you spiedprofessor Ralph James Quincy Adams walking across campus at Texas A&M Uni-versity. His curled mustache, straw-colored hair and neatly tailored suit completewith pocket handkerchief make him stand out in a crowd of T-shirts, flip-flopsand baseball caps. Adams says the wardrobe results from decades of travel to andfrom England.

Called “Quince” by his friends, Adams remains passionate about his 35-year career as a British historian … maybe because it’s a life he never imagined.

“I didn’t go to a university to be what I am,” said Adams, who grew up inIndiana. “But I had a brilliant teacher in professor Leo F. Solt at IndianaUniversity—a wonderful teacher—and pretty soon, I was absolutely, passionatelyin love with the subject.”

It’s a love that has carried Adams to an elite status. Notable historians onboth sides of the Atlantic classify Adams, promoted to distinguished professorthis spring, as one of the most astute historians of early 20th century Britain.

Wo r l d Wa r A n a l y s e sHe first caught his peers’ attention by rejecting the notion that Britain succeededin World War I using methods from 19th century victories. Adams argued thatBritain produced the necessary war materials and manpower by centralizingcontrol of labor, resources (such as armaments), and the economy, and by insti-tuting a draft.

Adams also challenged the way historians viewed the British policy of appease-ment toward Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich during the late 1930s. The prevailingview painted Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and others as weak leaderswho caved in to Hitler’s demands. Adams’ research demonstrated appeasement

Well-dressed British history professor earns respect from students and colleagues

was a reasonable policy for that time because of Britain’smilitary limitations and the responsibilities throughoutits empire. Adams concluded Chamberlain and otherssimply made a terrible mistake in dealings with Hitler.

In the late 1990s, Adams changed his writing focus tohistorical biography with a particular interest in peoplehe believed had been misinterpreted by historians. Hisfirst subjects were Andrew Bonar Law (1858–1923) andArthur James Balfour (1848–1930), both of whom servedas prime minister.

“Andrew Bonar Law was a businessman who movedinto politics,” Adams said. “He was a very nondescript manwho lived in an incredible time and had an incrediblecareer. Balfour was a brilliant original. There aren’t halfa dozen people like him in my whole area of history. He’sjust sort of a bird of paradise among the house wrens.”

Adams wondered whether the Balfour book mightstir controversy because of a section about the BalfourDeclaration, which in essence gave the green light to cre-ate the state of Israel in 1948. Instead of controversy, hesaid, reviewers on both sides of the issue seemed to thinkhis coverage was fair.

Adams’ latest project is part biography, part periodpiece. Scheduled to be published in 2010, it covers theGeorgian period, which Adams said few historians findinteresting. “King George becomes monarch in 1910 anddies in 1936. And look what happens in that time: You’vegot the lead-up to the Great War and the war itself, theaftermath and the rebuilding of Europe, then the worlddepression, the lead-up to World War II. All this happensin the lifetime of this quite ordinary, nice man, who hap-pens to be the king of England. “I’m using him and hisreign as a kind of magnet to pull all this stuff together. I’mgoing to look at several individuals from politics and thearts, popular culture and all to use them as illustrationsfor this remarkable age. Of course, it involves America,too, because by then you’ve got a trans-Atlantic culture.”

G r a d u a t e S e m i n a r I n t e r r u p t e dIn 2001, Adams’ growing reputation earned him theClaudius M. Easley Jr. Fellowship in Liberal Arts. Thefellowship was especially rewarding because he met thedonor, Claudius M. “Sandy” Easley Jr.

Three years later, Adams received the Patricia andBookman Peters Professorship in History, which was estab-lished in 1991 through the Texas A&M Foundation.

“I was teaching my graduate seminar,” Adams said,“and one of the things that is just not done is to interrupta graduate seminar, unless there is a fire. We had just got-ten into this discussion. We’re going at it, and somebody

knocks on the door. And I thought, ‘For goodness’ sake,what can this be?’ “And I open the door and here’s CharlieJohnson, the dean, and Walter Buenger, our departmenthead, and Bookman. All of these guys marched in, andyou could’ve knocked me over with a feather. It was justa very sweet moment. Then they clear out and I was sup-posed to get back to business! One of my students said,‘This is good, isn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yes, this is very good!’ ”

The Peterses created the endowed history professorshipwith a $150,000 donation. It is awarded to distinguishedscholars of governmental policy or public leadership whoseresearch and teaching have an international dimension.

N o P l a c e L i k e H o m eEven though Adams annually journeys “across the pond,”Bryan/College Station is home. In a 2007 interview withThe Battalion, Adams said, “I’ve watched it grow and beena part of it. When I first came here, people going fromBryan to College Station would drive through the cam-pus. It was another world. This is an amazing place. Andin my case, having come here as a young man 35 yearsago, I’m a part of that organic mix.”

Bookman Peters ’59 also calls Bryan/College Stationhome. Peters is a fourth-generation resident of BrazosCounty who enjoyed a successful banking career. He andhis four daughters earned degrees from Texas A&M.


y message

to those who support academics

through the Texas A&M

Foundation—and I speak to you

from the absolute bottom of

my heart—is that these

professorships, chairs and

graduate fellowships really

matter. They’re not just rewards.

They’re investments.

Profes sor Quince Adams


Peters has demonstrated his gratitude by giving backto Texas A&M in several areas. “My education and careerwere in the business world, which I cherish, but I havealways felt that knowledge of history gives a person per-spective and an appreciation for the challenges that werefaced during the journey to the present,” Peters said. “Also,our family has been fortunate to have had very good per-sonal friends in the history department over the years.”

One of those friends is Adams, whom he met at a partymore than two decades ago. Peters said Adams’ appoint-ment to the professorship has only enhanced the rela-tionship. “We are very pleased that Quince was chosenfor our professorship, which facilitated the growth in ourfriendship,” Peters said. “He has graciously taken steps tomake us feel a part of his teaching, research and writing,which is very meaningful to us.”

Adams is quick to credit Peters’ personality for thegrowing camaraderie.

“It’s refreshing to meet people outside the academicworld who are just interested in ideas and data and things,”Adams said. “He’s like that. Bookman is just easy to talkto, easy to spend time with. He puts anyone at ease, there-fore it’s very easy to be grateful to somebody like that.”

These days Adams has another reason to appreciatePeters: The Florence and Bookman Peters ’59 ExcellenceFund, established in 2006 through the Foundation, sup-ports a doctoral student working with the faculty memberwho holds the Peters Professorship. Adams said the fundwas crucial in recruiting Aaron Linderman, a University

of Dallas graduate in thefirst year of his Ph.D. pro-gram at Texas A&M. “Asany graduate studentknows, the funding mat-ters,” Linderman said.“Tuition, a teaching assist-antship, a moving stipendand the Peters Fellowship:in all, it was an impressivepackage. Moreover, I heardfrom a variety of faculty andstaff that good fundingmade A&M an enjoyableplace to study and work.”

Linderman has discov-ered that Adams is as pas-sionate about mentoringhis graduate students as heis about his research. Inhis first class with Adams,Linderman took his pro-

fessor’s advice and presented a research paper he hadwritten for class at a Philadelphia conference.

“One of the things I tell them is if you don’t love this,you’re not going to be as good as you might be,” Adamssaid. “Why would you put up with the sacrifice and thework to do something like learn how to be a historian orlearn how to be an academic?

“I was lucky in that I found what I wanted to do andI get to do it. It didn’t have to be that way.”

And he is grateful.“My message to those who support academics through

the Texas A&M Foundation—and I speak to you from theabsolute bottom of my heart—is that these professorships,chairs and graduate fellowships really matter,” Adams said.“They’re not just rewards. They’re investments.”

— by leanne south ’94

For information about how you can

support the College of Liberal Arts,

contact:

John Knudsen



(800) 392-3310 or (979) 847-5192

[email protected]

giving.tamu.edu

Quince Adams (left) enjoys lunch this spring at a Bryan restaurant with Bookman Peters ’59 (center), whoestablished a history professorship benefiting Adams, and graduate student Aaron Linderman.

Patti and Weldon Kruger ’53 areloyal supporters of Texas A&M Uni-versity. In 2007, they decided to helpAggies by making another significantgift to the Texas A&M Foundation.Looking over their investment port-folio, they determined that con-tributing two parcels of ranch landwould best meet their giving goalswhile providing them with a sig-nificant charitable income taxdeduction.

“We wanted to give to the TexasA&M Foundation and that deci-sion was paramount,” Patti Krugerexplained. “We then decided to giveour properties. We knew that theFoundation routinely accepts realestate gifts.”

The Krugers, residents of Col-lege Station, opted to give real estateas an outright gift. By doing so, theyprovided themselves with a gift,too: seeing their gift’s impact. Eachparcel sold for a considerableamount, so the Krugers could directtheir gifts to benefit Texas A&M inmultiple ways.

“Mainly, we hope it will helpstudents,” said Weldon Kruger, alongtime employee of Exxon MobilCorp. (then Exxon Corp.). “That’swhat we’re trying to do.”

With the endowments createdby their latest real estate gift—not tomention their many previous gifts—the Krugers will help students yearsinto the future. The new endow-ments are the Patti and Weldon

D. Kruger ’53 Director’s Endow-ment for the Corps of Cadets Lead-ership Excellence Program Fundand the Patti and Weldon D.Kruger ’53 Aggie Spirit Endowment(benefiting students and organiza-tions within the Division of StudentAffairs). Proceeds from their realestate gift also went into the non-endowed Memorial Student Center

Building Fund (for renovating andexpanding the Memorial StudentCenter Complex).

The Krugers purchased theland in Fayette and Colorado coun-ties in 2001 as an investment. Bygiving it to the Foundation six yearslater, they avoided all capital-gainstaxes and received the maximumcharitable income tax deduction.


Student Assistance

Patti and Weldon Kruger ’53 Turn Land Into Endowments

With their latest gift, Patti and Weldon Kruger ’53 assist the Corps of Cadets, programs in theDivision of Student Affairs, and the Memorial Student Center Complex.

Real Estate + Deed Transfer =


Experienced professionals inthe Foundation’s real estate groupwalked the Krugers through theentire giving process.

Once the Foundation acceptedthe property, the Krugers simplytransferred the title to the Founda-tion. From start to finish, the couplesaid, Foundation staff memberswere available to help them andtheir advisers with the gift process.

While the Krugers chose tomake an outright gift, there arethree other ways to give real estateto the Texas A&M Foundation tobenefit the university:

◊ Gifts by will or living trust.These offer flexibility because theycan be changed at any time andallow donors to continue enjoyingthe use of their property.

◊ Charitable remainder unitrusts,which provide donors with pay-ments during their lifetimes andthen provide a significant gift toTexas A&M. This option also avoidsthe payment of up-front capital-gains taxes and provides charitableincome tax deductions.

◊ Retained life estates, which allowdonors or their beneficiaries use ofthe property for the remainder oftheir lifetimes. This option also pro-vides a charitable income tax deduc-tion and reduces the donors’ estatetax liability.

Through a gift of real estate,donors can support the university

they love, reap the financial rewardsintrinsic to this type of giving, andeliminate the management respon-sibilities that often accompanyproperty ownership.

Because they have previouslygiven real estate to the Foundation,the Krugers were well aware of theprocess of such a transaction.

“We would do it again if thesituation was right,” Weldon Krugersaid. “Depending on their finan-cial situation, I’d recommend it toothers.”

A footnote about the Krugers: Patti andWeldon Kruger ’53 have served Texas A&M

in many ways. Patti Kruger is affiliatedwith the Friends of the Sterling C. EvansLibrary, while Weldon Kruger chaired theTexas A&M Foundation Board of Trusteesand led The Association of Former Students.He has served on the President’s Councilof Advisors and the Corps of Cadets Boardof Visitors and Development Council. Heis a Distinguished Alumnus, a member ofthe Corps Hall of Honor and the Departmentof Petroleum Engineering Academy ofDistinguished Graduates, and is a recipientof the College of Engineering AlumniHonor Award.

— by kara bounds socol

For more information about making

a real estate gift to Texas A&M,

contact:

Tim A. Walton ’90

Director of Real Estate Services


(800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-8161

[email protected]

giving.tamu.edu

A Matterof TimingFunding a CharitableRemainder Unitrust With Real Estate Is Smart Today

Editor’s note: Tim A. Walton ’90, whowrote this column, has been director ofreal estate for the Texas A&M Foundationsince 2002. Walton is a licensed Realtorwith a background in real estateappraisal. He assists donors and theiradvisers in making charitable gifts of real estate to benefit Texas A&M.

Anyone who has considered rebalancing

or repositioning assets in today’s strug-

gling stock market should investigate

the use of capital assets to fund a

charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT).

What is a CRUT? A CRUT is a giving

method that offers the benefits of a

charitable gift while providing the donor

or beneficiaries a series of payments.

The donor places assets in a charitable

trust, and that donor—and/or other

beneficiaries— will receive income from

the trust. After the trust terminates, the

Foundation receives the remainder of

the trust’s assets, which will be used to

benefit Texas A&M University according

to the donor’s wishes.

With a CRUT, gift proceeds go to

the Foundation only after the donor or

beneficiaries selected by the donor

receives a series of payments generated

from the CRUT for a predetermined

number of years, or for the remainder

of the donor’s lifetime, or a combination

of both.

Once a CRUT’s initial assets are

converted to cash, the corpus (sale

proceeds) is invested in a well-balanced

model. Although CRUTs can be funded

with assets such as cash or securities,

Texas real estate is an attractive way to

fund a CRUT because real estate has

experienced considerable appreciation

for the past 15 years.

(continued on page 32)

��

R E A L E S T A T E R E C E I V E D 1 9 9 9 – 2 0 0 9

Commercial$1,245,000

CommercialUndeveloped

$1,741,968

Multi-family$154,000

Timberland$909,410

Ranch$30,253,350

Farm$1,899,000

Single Family$1,837,105

Single FamilyUndeveloped$407,449

Condominium$575,041

t e x a s a & m f o u n d at i o n a n d t e x a s a & m f o u n d at i o n t r u s t c o .


Everyone understands the concept

of buying low and selling high, so it

makes sense to sell a capital asset such

as unused or surplus Texas real estate at

or near a peak price and then redirect

the proceeds to assets that have fallen

to or near their lowest price.

The big question is: When is the

right time?

To reap the greatest benefits from

rebalancing or repositioning assets, you

must liquidate assets that have experienced

significant appreciation and purchase

assets that are relatively undervalued.

Stock values have declined significantly

during the past year, in some cases

dipping to lows not seen for many years.

Dr. Mark Dotzour, chief economist at

the Texas Real Estate Research Center,

believes “in general, the Texas real estate

market as a whole reached a high point in

the cyclical value cycle as of March 2009.”

As a result, slumping stock prices

and steady Texas real estate prices may

make a CRUT funded with appreciated

real estate a smart move.

A CRUT offers the following advan-

tages, all within the donor’s control:

1. The donor selects the fixed trust

payment rate, term of payments

and beneficiaries.

2. The donor selects the charity that

will receive the trust proceeds after

the termination of the trust.

3. The donor receives a current

charitable income tax deduction.

4. The donor bypasses the payment

of up-front capital-gains taxes at

the time of sale.

5. The donor no longer has the

day-to-day responsibilities that

accompany property ownership.

There are two additional important

considerations.

First, the CRUT is revalued every

year, so the trust corpus should increase

in a strong market and could decline in

a retracting market. This means that

CRUT payments will fluctuate year to

year. Depending on the payout rate

that the donor selects, the trust may

act as a hedge for inflation if the

growth rate exceeds the payout rate.

Second, the donor selects the

trustee of the CRUT and the appropriate

time the trust is funded. The Texas A&M

Foundation Trust Co. routinely serves

as trustee for donors.

The CRUT allows everyone to win:

the donor, the beneficiaries and Texas

A&M University.

Every Aggie should ask, “How can

I do something meaningful or give back

to something that I am truly passionate

about and help myself at the same

time?” One answer is to fund a CRUT

with appreciated real estate or other

appreciated capital assets.

(This article is intended for informationalpurposes only, not for legal or tax advice. Weencourage you to consult with your attorney.)

Total gifts received over the past 10 years equal $39,022,323.

The following notes and letters

were sent to Spirit editors as

feedback for the Winter 2009

issue. We welcome your comments

in letters and e-mails. If printed,

comments are edited for clarity,

style and space.


SHARING THE CAVALRY DREAM

Regarding the “Heritage on Horseback”article in the Winter 2009 issue: TheClass of ’72 believes it deserves the recog-nition for planting the seeds of revival forA&M’s mounted cavalry.

On Nov. 25, 1971, three senior Classof ’72 cadets found mounts and paradedaround Kyle Field at the t.u. football game,Gene Stallings’ last game as A&M’s coach.The cadets are identified in a photographtaken during their ride: Len Legge, JimLybyer and Ronny Gafford.

Col. Tom Parsons ’49 and Stallingsapproved the late entry into the marchingorder that day. It was then expected thatthe tradition should be revived.

It is a long time in coming for theappropriate credit to be given for revivingParsons Mounted Cavalry.

—carl m. schwab jr. ’ 72Carro l l ton

Editor’s note: We won’t promise to resolvethe dispute about who revived the cavalryin Spirit magazine, but we always welcome input from readers.

GO FIGURE

You seem to like stories about A&M fromold men—here’s mine.

When I applied to A&M in 1946, Iasked for the cavalry because I liked thelook of the boots. How dumb! I had twoAggie uncles whom I could have talkedto, but I knew everything. One of myuncles, Orrin Pilkey ’27, was supposedly a Rhodes Scholar. Maybe.

I had the misfortune of being assignedto B Cavalry, which had the highest drop-out rate on campus. We lost 42 of 49freshmen the first semester because ofexcessive, not to say exuberant, hazing. I would have left, too, but I didn’t want

to disappoint my grandfather, who wasfinancing my education.

I wrote my mother often to describemy ordeals: I was bragging, but she washorrified. I found out years later that shewas sending all my letters straight to thepresident of the college.

We all thought it was bad luck thatthe next year all freshmen were moved toBryan Air Force Base. We couldn’t getrevenge, but it did stop a vicious cycle.

My days at A&M were miserable. Ispent too much time writing love lettersto my sweetheart and ended up droppingout after four semesters. I finished up atUniversity of Houston night school andthen married.

I worked hard, saved my money andretired at 62, prosperous and overweight. I spent five years seeing the world, andstrangely, became an Aggie fan. I don’teven watch the U of H games on TV. Go figure.

—tom cole ’50Char lo t te, N.C.

Editor’s note: Dr. Carl Sagan says youhave to know the past to understand thepresent. We believe the letters Tom’smother sent to then-Texas A&M PresidentGibb Gilchrist may have been the impe-tus for improving how fish were latertreated. Despite Tom’s experience, we’reglad the Aggie spirit lured him back.

OLD BECK FEEDBACK

I enjoyed the article by Al Rollins ’51 inthe “Postscript” section of the last issue.Not being a civil engineering major, I donot recall all details of the Old Beck story;however, I can say with certainty that in1951 both “A” and “B” Engineers werehoused in Dorm 7, not Dorm 4.

—carl lang ’53San Antonio

I recently read the cute story about oldBeck in Spirit but am confused: Realizingthat mules are hybrids, are they neverthe-less referred to as he and him even if theygive birth? Besides that confusing point, itwas a great article. I wish you had more ofthat; keep up the good work.

—linda clemens ’81 ’ 90Dal las

Editor’s note: The “he” and “his” wereediting errors. In an early draft ofPostscript, Old Beck was described as a mule with offspring. In the process ofgetting more detail, we learned “Beck” is short for “Becky,” who had given

birth. We inadvertently missed the laterpronoun inconsistency.

THE ROTHE LEGACY

It was a pleasant surprise to read the article“Hometown Humanitarian” in the lastissue of Spirit, as it mentions my aunt anduncle Aline and R. L. Rothe ’41. Just wantto add that R. L. Rothe entered A&M inthe fall of 1925 but went to work for theTexas Highway Department in 1928 or ’29.When he re-enrolled, he tutored membersof the football team. His younger brother,J. H. Rothe ’41, lettered in ’39 and ’40.

—rothe davis ’ 54Clinton, Miss.

ABOUT THOSE MAROON COATS

I’m an agricultural economics major livingin El Salvador. The article about theMaroon Coats was interesting—what aninnovative way to attract new members tohelp the Texas A&M Foundation.

There is a mystery about being anAggie. That spirit never stops growing andunless you went to Texas A&M, it’s difficultto understand.

Ever since I moved to CentralAmerica, I’ve been looking for a way togive back to Texas A&M. Your MaroonCoats idea clicked with me and I’d like to learn more about it. As you may knowthere are a great number of Aggies livingin Central and South America. I’m suremost of them are looking for ways to stayconnected with A&M. Perhaps this couldbe a good way to do it.

If you consider it appropriate, pleasecontact me about expanding the MaroonCoats in Central and South America. I’m sure that working together we couldattract more funds to the Texas A&M

Foundation.Again, congratulations and go on

with the hard work. Gig ’em.

—simon sol ’82El Sa lvador

Editor’s note: Maroon Coats must beenrolled as full-time students at TexasA&M in College Station, but they will be in touch with Simon to explore thepossibilities of better connecting Aggiesliving abroad with life on campus.

WE’RE BLUSHING

Great cover on the last Spirit —one of thebest. Keep up the good work.

—jack stansbury ’51Port Arthur

Opportunity

We have the people and skills tounderstand the essential relationshipsbetween our world’s buildings, com-munities and societies. We also havethe core competencies to connect thepast with the future. Combined, thesecapabilities allow us to implement avision of what they should be.

The college’s strength is collabo-ration among its departments (archi-tecture, construction science, landscapearchitecture and urban planning,and visualization) and research cen-ters (Center for Health Systems andDesign, Center for Heritage Conser-

vation, Center for Housing and UrbanDevelopment, CRS Center for Lead-ership and Management in the Designand Construction Industry, and Haz-ard Reduction and Recovery Center).This cohesiveness is especially signif-icant in a professional world thatdemands teamwork, technologicalprowess, mutual understanding amongdisciplines and respect for the contri-butions of all stakeholders in a globalsetting.

Within architectural disciplines,ideas about leadership, managementand cooperation continue to evolve, sothe College of Architecture must at-tract and educate talented individualswho can distinguish themselves whilemeeting the challenges of the future.

Open the World to an Aggie

The College of Architecture must pro-vide a learning experience in a globalsetting. A unique feature of our collegeis that each student is required tospend at least one semester away fromCollege Station.

One option is to study abroad inone of our three programs in Italy,Germany and Spain. This experiencegreatly expands students’ professionalhorizons, preparing them to be activecontributors in a global setting.


College of Architecture setsglobal study, faculty andinfrastructure improvementsas priorities.

Texas A&M’s College of Architecture aims to become theworld’s best in teaching, research and engagement. Thisgoal extends to natural, built and virtual environments.

Aggie architecture students make notesabout old structures during coursework inGreat Britain. Jorge Vanegas, the Collegeof Architecture’s interim dean, hopesfinancial aid will enable more students to study abroad.


Or they may decide to gain inter-national experience by participatingin exchange programs with other uni-versities around the world, specialsummer programs, or internships withorganizations engaged in internation-al activities. During the past threeyears, for example, 45 construction sci-ence students spent their junior yearbuilding the U.S. embassy in Beijing asinterns of Zachry Construction Corp.

Programs such as these enablestudents to observe how different cul-tures relate to their environment, andhow buildings and communities areconstructed in places different fromthe rural Texas areas that so manyAggies call home.

For those who are fortunateenough to spend a semester abroad,the experience is a turning point thatenhances their ability to adapt to alifetime of change and new ideas.

Participation can be a financialburden, however. The internationalexperience costs nearly twice as muchas a semester in College Station. That’swhy private support of scholarshipsis particularly important. ThroughOperation Spirit and Mind,SM Texas A&M’snew scholarship initiative, the Collegeof Architecture hopes its supporterswill focus their generosity on endowedscholarships so that no student is pre-cluded from studying abroad forfinancial reasons alone.

Your gift can literally mean theworld to a deserving Aggie.

Build on a Strong Foundation

The college has a solid foundation,and building on it is the key to greaterachievements and recognition. Wecan’t make progress through state fund-ing alone. Private support is necessaryto ensure higher levels of excellence.The College of Architecture hopes tofocus the generosity of former stu-dents on three additional investmentopportunities:

◊ Endowed chairs and professorships.

For example, gifts from three membersof the Mitchell family of Fort Worth—Bryan ’70, his son Nelson Mitchell ’94

and father O. N. Mitchell—created fivefaculty positions to work collaborative-ly in revolutionizing teaching in thedesign and construction of homes andcommunities. The Mitchell Initiativeis a tribute to their long leadership inthe home-building industry.

Similar support of faculty positionsin special-interest areas such as com-puter animation and green design andbuilding offer opportunities for indi-viduals or companies to leave a legacyin disciplines that interest them. Giftslike these allow Texas A&M to hire thebest people while giving them the toolsto develop and share new ideas witheach succeeding generation.

◊ Named gifts for the improvement of

existing facilities and building new ones.

The Preston Geren Auditorium andJames and Mary Wright Gallery aretwo examples of spaces made possibleby generous former students. Similaropportunities abound to create new fa-cilities to anticipate and accommodateadvances in technology and facilitateinterdisciplinary approaches to visu-alization, design and construction.

◊ General endowments to provide seed

money for new programs, projects, ongo-

ing activities and events. Often the mostvaluable gifts are those that providethe college and departments the flex-ibility to take advantage of opportu-nities or solve problems. Private giftswere an important part of the college’s2007 Solar Decathlon entry, whichbrought our students together with19 other teams from around the worldto erect solar-powered homes on theNational Mall in Washington, D.C.

Endowed discretionary funds providea permanent source of support for suchcompetitions as well as for scholarshipbanquets and the host of activities thatprovide the invaluable “other educa-tion” for Texas A&M students.

These three investment opportu-nities represent a public-private part-nership that will enable the college toretain its exceptional education andresearch leaders as well as attract talentto Texas A&M.

When you invest in the next gen-eration of Aggies, you share in thecelebration of their accomplishments.When you support the people and pro-grams that are improving the state andthe world, you have a profound impactin shaping a better future for us allalong with an opportunity to leave alegacy for generations to come.

—by dr. jorge vanegasprofessor and interim deancollege of architecture

At press time, Vanegas’ appointment as deanof the College of Architecture was pendingapproval by The Texas A&M System Board of Regents.

For information about how you can sup-

port the College of Architecture, contact:

Larry Zuber



(800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-0939

[email protected]

giving.tamu.edu

Jorge Vanegas, interim dean for the College ofArchitecture, believes that continued and greaterexcellence for the college will hinge on globalstudy, endowed faculty, facilities and seedmoney for a range of activities.

@Foundation

Operation Spirit and Mind

Rings Up $12.4 Million More

Texas A&M University has raised $147.7

million of the $300 million goal set forits multiyear Operation Spirit and MindSM

initiative. The Texas A&M Foundationleads this initiative for Aggie scholar-ships and graduate fellowships.

During the first quarter of 2009,which ended March 31, donors gave$12.4 million in gifts to the Founda-tion. Planned gifts, which will berealized after the donors’ lifetimes,

were just over $5.4 million of the total;current (cash) gifts were slightly lessthan $7 million.

Gregory Is New Trustee

Charles H. Gregory ’64 began serv-ing a seven-year role as a Texas A&M

Foundation trustee on July 1. Gregory,who holds a bache-lor’s degree in eco-nomics from A&M

and a law degreefrom the Universityof Texas, is presi-dent and directorof Rupley HoldingsInc. in Houston.

“The Foundation has enjoyed alongtime affiliation with CharlesGregory,” said Dr. Ed Davis ’67, pres-ident of the Foundation. “His loyalty,generosity and involvement with TexasA&M make him an excellent choice asa new trustee, and his business expe-rience will serve us well.”

After completing his law degree,Gregory served for two years as anArmy intelligence officer in Vietnam,Thailand and Fort Bliss at El Paso.He worked in the securities businessfor eight years and then owned andmanaged a series of heavy equipmentand manufacturing businesses. RupleyHoldings, which still exists, was an um-brella for several of those companies.

“It’s going to become more diffi-cult for Texas A&M to meet funding


In March, 12 service-oriented Aggiesbecame the newest Maroon Coats, student ambassadors for the Texas A&M

Foundation: (standing) Michael Kurt ’09,Fletcher Massie ’09, Matt Borman ’10,Scott Hayter ’10, Michael McDonald ’10and Sayer Houseal ’09; (seated) DustinHenry ’08, Lianna Grissom ’11, AmandaMedina ’10, Mina Elmalak ’09, StephanieBurns ’09 and Ben Fedorko ’10. Thesestudents join the 16 original MaroonCoats named in summer 2008, when theorganization was formed. Officers for2009-10 will be John Kovach ’10, presi-dent; Massie, vice president; Fedorko,treasurer; and Grisson, secretary. MaroonCoats travel with Foundation employeesand attend functions to meet, greet andassist A&M donors; conduct campus tours;and thank donors for their gifts to TexasA&M. They also serve as liaisons betweenthe student body and the Foundation.

Charles H. Gregory ’64


challenges while responding to thechanging demographics of the state,”Gregory said. “The Texas A&M Foun-dation will play a key role in thisprocess, and I’m pleased to have theopportunity to serve on its board oftrustees.”

In 2001, Gregory endowed theCharles H. Gregory ’64 Chair in Lib-eral Arts. (See the Winter 2008 issueof Spirit magazine for the influence ofthat gift on Dr. Kenneth J. Meier, whoholds the chair.) With his mother andsiblings, he also funded a faculty chairin civil engineering in honor of hisfather, R. P. Gregory ’32. Gregory alsoserved on A&M’s One Spirit One Vision

capital campaign executive committee.Gregory has made major gifts to

the Liberal Arts Development Coun-cil, the Dean’s Endowment forExcellence in the College of LiberalArts and the Jon L. Hagler Centerbuilding fund. He is a Century Clubmember of The Association of FormerStudents.

As an undergraduate, he wasactive in campus events such as threeyears of the Student Conference onNational Affairs (SCONA VII, VIII

and IX). During his senior year in theCorps of Cadets, he served as com-manding officer of the Ross Volun-teers and of Company F2.

Gregory, who has a son anddaughter, lives in Houston with hiswife, Mary.

Trustees Honor Staha, Knudsen

Charlotte Staha andJohn Knudsen re-ceived Texas A&M

Foundation Trust-ees’ Awards fordemonstrating cre-ativity in pursuingthe organization’s

goals. Staha, manager of prospect pro-grams, and Knudsen, senior director ofdevelopment for the College of LiberalArts, were nominated by co-workers.

Each year the Board of Trusteesrecognizes two employees for advanc-ing and promoting understanding of the Foundation’s fundraising andasset-management activities.

Staha, who has worked at theFoundation more than 20 years, con-ducts research and gathers prospectinformation. She said she was sur-prised and honored to receive heraward at the March luncheon of Foun-dation employees and trustees.

Knudsen, whomentors his teamand other develop-ment directors,helped the Collegeof Liberal Arts raise$41 million, exceed-ing its One Spirit One

Vision Campaign goal by $6 million.Knudsen, who has 14 years’ develop-ment experience at Texas A&M andthe University of Texas, is pleased heand Staha were recognized at the sametime. “Without the research supportof Charlotte and her staff, I wouldhave been wandering in the wilder-ness.”

Each received $500 and a Trustees’Award plaque.

O’Brien Expands Role

Jack O’Brien ’95 became director ofdevelopment in the College of Scienceeffective March 1 and will continueto serve as director of developmentfor Texas A&M University Galveston.O’Brien, who rejoined the Founda-tion in July 2008,will share time atboth campuses; inCollege Station, hisoffice is located inthe College ofScience. He andhis wife, Kari, havetwo daughters, Makenna Grace, 3,and Emma Joy, 1.

Charlotte Staha

John Knudsen

Find Us Online @ …

For more great Aggie stories — and

to tell yours — connect with the

Texas A&M Foundation online. We

discover so much good news of

Aggie spirit and mind that we can’t

fit it all in Spirit magazine, so we’ve

spilled over to the World Wide Web.

Visit giving.tamu.edu to watch

Spirit magazine “Web extras” and

download desktop wallpaper for

your computer. Connect with other

Aggies by becoming a fan of the

Foundation on Facebook. Watch

our videos on YouTube. Discover

new content each week through

Spirit Studios and Mind Matters on

our blog at TexAgs.com. And most

important, use these Web sites to

share your stories with us and

spread that Aggie spirit.

Foundation Web site:

giving.tamu.edu

Facebook:

www.facebook.com

(Search for Texas A&M Foundation.)

TexAgs:

www.texags.com

YouTube:

www.youtube.com/aggiespiritandmind

Jack O’Brien ’95

Connect with the Texas A&M

Foundation at giving.tamu.edu andthrough a variety of additional onlineresources.

I wanted to attend t.u., but I calledfrom the road and was told they didn’thave room for me. The trucker toldme there was another school near hisroute, and I persuaded him to dropme at Eastgate. I headed toward theAdministration Building, but it wastoo imposing for me to enter. So Iwalked to the Agriculture Building,where I met Dr. Dan Russell. “I needa cheap place to stay,” I told him. Hewas in charge of “project houses”—$15-a-month on-campus residences forfinancially strapped students—butthose were all taken. He told me to haila truck instead and go to the HoyleHotel, one of three Navasota hotelshousing 400 Aggies.

That first year, I rode to campus inan 18-wheeler outfitted with benches.An enterprising Aggie earned collegemoney ferrying students to and fromNavasota in his truck.

My roommate, Fish Morgan,quickly flunked out, which indirectlyhelped me. Morgan, a liberal arts ma-jor, gave me his books, so I became a

liberal arts major. I couldn’t afford thedrawing board, T-square and books forengineering, which I hoped to studyeventually.

Bob Poland ’42 became my newroommate. We got along well becausewe were both country boys. We’re stillclose. (In a recent call, Poland remi-nisced, “We were always kidding oneanother. I love him like a brother.”)

Every day I went to the student la-bor office, which had 4,000 applicantsand no jobs. In the hall there, I methorticulture instructor F. W. Hensel,who gave me a campus maintenancejob. The income allowed me to stayat A&M.

Things looked up after that. Ispent summer of 1939 working in mybrother’s Jacksonville canning plant.That’s where I met my wife, Susan.That fall, I got into a project houseon campus, rooming with Poland andtwo others. I switched majors, intochemical engineering, and I contin-ued to court Susan. I was allowed tocut roses from a campus garden for

her, and I stowed them in dry ice inmy diddy bag. Then I put on Poland’sCorps uniform for the trip. I had amedical deferment and was not acadet, but the uniform helped mehitch rides.

As newlyweds my junior year, welived in a little Bryan house that lackeda few amenities. While still an under-graduate, I taught descriptive geometryand engineering drawing. I receivedmy diploma in January 1943, so Susanand I moved to Beaumont for my jobwith Magnolia Petroleum (later partof Mobil). But after only 18 months,we returned to A&M so I could teachduring the wartime professor shortage.

While teaching, I became interest-ed in asphalt technology and was anasphalt specialist working with theTexas Transportation Institute from itsbeginnings in 1950. I earned my mas-ter’s in civil engineering 1956.

For 42 years, I taught Aggies aboutasphalt technology, hydraulics andstrength of materials—about 5,000

students in all. I’ve been honored that my name is

on two scholarships endowed throughthe Texas A&M Foundation. VernonWright, a colleague in the asphalt in-dustry, established the Wright-GallawayAsphalt Scholarship. A student, W. M.

McDonald ’52, set up the ProfessorBob Gallaway Scholarship. What a niceway to honor me!

— by bob gallaway ’42


Bob Gallaway takes notes as a student tests a concrete specimen in the civil engineering lab during the 1950s. “They called me BowtieBob,” he says.

Half a Lifetime at Texas A&M Started With One Hitched Ride

My dad didn’t want me to go to college. “There’s plenty to do here,”he said, referring to our farm in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. But asthe 20-year-old valedictorian of my high school in Mercedes, Ireceived a $25 scholarship to a state-supported college and decidedto go in fall 1938. I packed my footlocker (issued when I workedin the Civilian Conservation Corps), hauled it to the road andthumbed a ride with a trucker.

Contact

Executive StaffEd Davis ’67, PresidentJim Palincsar, Senior Vice President

for DevelopmentLiska Lusk, Vice President

& General CounselDoyle Thompson, Vice President

& ControllerJanet Handley ’76, Investment DirectorKathy McCoy ’80, Director of Marketing

Development StaffCarl Jaedicke ’73Assistant Vice President for Development [email protected] (979) 845-8161

Jody Ford ’99Director of Development–Scholarship [email protected](979) 845-8161 or 218-7368

College Programs

College of Agriculture & Life Sciences

Monica Delisa Senior Director of [email protected](979) 458-2204

Lee Ann Knox ’02Assistant Director of [email protected](979) 845-4740 or 847-9314

College of Architecture

Larry ZuberSenior Director of [email protected](979) 845-0939

Mays Business School

David Hicks ’75Senior Director of [email protected](979) 845-2904 or 458-1452

Victoria Masters ’05Development [email protected](979) 845-2775 or 571-4719

College of Education & Human Development

Steve Blomstedt ’83Director of [email protected](979) 847-8655

Dwight Look College of Engineering

Don Birkelbach ’70Senior Director of [email protected](979) 845-5113

Departments of Chemical, Nuclear, and

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Andrew AckerDirector of [email protected](979) 845-5113

Departments of Computer Science

and Petroleum Engineering

Brady Bullard ’95Director of [email protected](979) 845-5113

Departments of Aerospace and Mechanical

Engineering

Jennifer Hester ’98Director of [email protected](979) 845-5113

Departments of Electrical and Computer

Engineering, and Engineering Technology

& Industrial Distribution

Jay Roberts ’05Assistant Director of [email protected](979) 845-5113

Departments of Biomedical and

Civil Engineering

John Small ’92Director of [email protected](979) 845-5113

Texas A&M University at Galveston

Jack O’Brien ’95Director of Development [email protected] (409) 741-4030

College of Geosciences

Diane Barron ’81Director of [email protected](979) 845-3651

Get in touch with theTexas A&M Foundation.

401 George Bush Drive

College Station, Texas 77840-2811

Toll-free: (800) 392-3310

Phone: (979) 845-8161

Fax: (979) 845-3973

giving.tamu.edu

[email protected]

Facebook:

www.facebook.com

(Search for Texas A&M Foundation.)

TexAgs:

www.texags.com

YouTube:

www.youtube.com/aggiespiritandmind


Contact

The George Bush School of Government

& Public Service

Jerome Rektorik ’65Director of [email protected](979) 458-8035

College of Liberal Arts

John KnudsenSenior Director of [email protected](979) 845-5192

Larry Walker II ’97Assistant Director of [email protected](979) 458-1304

College of Science

Jack O’Brien ’95Director of [email protected](979) 847-9218

Sharon Smith ’04Assistant Director of [email protected](979) 458-4393

Student Affairs

Cindy Brown Munson ’99Assistant Director of Development [email protected](979) 458-1689

Corps of Cadets

Brian Bishop ’91Director of [email protected](979) 862-4085

College of Veterinary Medicine

& Biomedical Sciences

Bubba Woytek ’64Senior Development Officer &

Director of External [email protected](979) 845-9043

Guy Sheppard ’76Director of [email protected](979) 845-9043

Private Enterprise Research CenterJerome Rektorik ’65Director of [email protected](979) 458-8035

Corporate & Foundation RelationsJim Keller ’63Senior Director of [email protected](979) 845-8161

Al Pulliam ’87Director of [email protected](979) 845-8161

Office of Gift PlanningGlenn Pittsford ’72Assistant Vice President for Gift [email protected](979) 845-8161

William Fusselman ’95Gift Planning [email protected](979) 845-8161

Mark Matthews ’80Gift Planning [email protected](979) 845-8161

Angela Throne ’03Assistant Gift Planning [email protected](979) 845-8161

Real Estate ServicesTim Walton ’[email protected](979) 845-8161

Regional Major GiftsBill EstesRegional Director of Major Gifts

(North and West Texas; Central Midwest)[email protected](214) 812-7306 or (214) 812-7305

Andrew Key ’08Development Associate

(Dallas-Fort Worth Area)[email protected](214) 812-7305

Matt Jennings ’95Regional Director of Major Gifts

(Western States)[email protected](979) 845-8161

Ron StreibichRegional Director of Major Gifts

(Gulf Coast)[email protected](713) 677-7411 or (281) 415-5520

David Wilkinson ’87Regional Director of Major Gifts

(East Coast)[email protected](979) 845-8161

Trust CompanyGina Jett ’79Manager of Trust [email protected](979) 845-8161

Scholarship ProgramsMarcy Ullmann ’[email protected](979) 845-8161

Donor RelationsLynn [email protected](979) 845-8161

Gift ProcessingAnn Lovett ’[email protected](979) 845-8161


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You Are Spirit MagazineWe hope you like this issue of Spirit magazine. We research and write every articlewith you, our readers, in mind, and we want to know what you think.

You may have noticed that our format includes a regular guest column: “OneVoice.” We thank Clay Schlinke ’94 for writing the column in this issue, and weinvite faculty, staff, students, former students and corporate partners to submitcommentaries on their experiences with the Texas A&M Foundation and TexasA&M University.

Whether you are on the giving or receiving end of philanthropy at TexasA&M, we know your stories are moving and hope you will share them with otherreaders.

If you have a question or comment about this issue or would like to submita guest column, please take a few minutes to fill out and mail back the attachedreply card. You can also send an e-mail to [email protected], or give us a callat (800) 392-3310.

sondra white ’87 mary vinnedge ’75

Editor Managing Editor

NON-PROFITORGANIZATION

U . S . P O S TA G E PA I D

COLLEGE STATION,TEXAS 77840

PERMIT NO. 215

4 01 G E O RG E B U S H D R I V E

C O L L E G E S TAT I O N

T E X A S 77 8 4 0 - 2 811

Requests & Comments: Summer 2009

If you have a comment or question, please fill out this form andmail it postage-free, or e-mail us at [email protected] you.

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Check here if: New home addressNew business address

I have a comment/question:

Please contact me about making a gift to Texas A&M.

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Other:

You can contact the Texas A&M Foundation at the following:

401 George Bush DriveCollege Station, Texas 77840-2811

(800) 392-3310 (979) 845-8161

[email protected]

Agriculture ProgramsArchitecture Bush School of Gov’t.Business AdministrationCorps of Cadets Education/Human Dev’t. Engineering ProgramsFaculty Support GeosciencesHonors Program

International Programs Liberal ArtsLibraries Scholarships/FellowshipsScienceStudent LifeTAMU GalvestonUniversity PressVeterinary Medicine/Biomedical Sciences

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Documents

26281 GEER Dept. · SUMMER 2009A Dutchman’s pipe vine blooms in Aggie maroon and white at the Holistic Garden on the West Campus. The garden, which offers lessons in horticulture