The Robert C. Jeffrey College Benefactor Awards
In 2006, Roderick P. Hart, dean of the College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin, established the Robert C. Jeffrey Benefactor Awards to honor both Bob Jeffrey, the third dean of the college, and individuals who have given generously to the college with their time or resources.
Dr. Jeffrey served as dean of the College of Communication from 1979 to 1993. During his tenure, he hired many of the college’s best and brightest faculty members and helped build the college’s endowment. He is remembered by many as a person of extraordinary warmth and commitment, and a person of irresistible charm. He is best known, however, as one of the finest ambassadors the College has ever had. He died in April 2000.
Each fall, up to five Robert C. Jeffrey Benefactor Awards are given to some of the College of Communication’s special friends and supporters who have gone out of their way to share their time, labor, advice, or their treasure with the College.
The award recipients are honored at a “Friends of the College” dinner and given a carved granite statuette as a token of appreciation.
2009 Recipients
Robert (Bob) Woolfolk and Betty Carrow-Woolfolk
If you remember anything from tonight's presentations, let it be this: with hard work, good manners, concern for others, and a dash of romance you can make the world a wondrous place.
Our story begins with a three-time state swimming champion from New Orleans who had a taste for adventure. On December 8, 1941—the day after Pearl Harbor—a dashing young man named Robert Woolfolk took a hiatus from his studies at Tulane and signed up for the U.S. Navy, where he became known as the "Tarzan of Tulane" thanks to his athleticism. After completing his degree in chemical engineering, Bob pursued successful careers in everything from oil and land development to advances in the chemical and medical industries. Our story doesn't end there, however.
While Bob was defending the nation and beginning his business career, a lovely young woman from Houston was discovering the world of ideas. Elizabeth Carrow was known for her keen mind, her interest in the mechanics of learning, and above all, her deep concern for others. Soon after earning her doctorate, Betty established a speech and hearing center in San Antonio and that was just the beginning of what became an illustrious scientific career.
When all of that was happening, Bob’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to Houston where a friend introduced him to Betty. They were quickly smitten with one another and discovered they had much in common: a love of volunteerism, a desire to make the world better, and a passion for history and salsa dancing.
Betty—who earned her master's degree from our college and who has served on our advisory council on two separate occasions—has been a stalwart supporter of our program in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Betty and Bob didn’t simply show up at our meetings twice a year, but they rolled up their sleeves, got behind the College’s initiatives, and introduced us to folks who could also help us financially. And, needless to say, Betty and Bob have been personally generous as well, helping us start new programs, try out new ideas, and deliver quality service to the clients of our Speech and Hearing Center. Our annual Betty Carrow-Woolfolk Lecture is a modest testament to this fine woman’s generosity and intellectual curiosity.
They say that saints are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. That’s the only fitting description of the Woolfolks. It is my pleasure tonight to introduce you to Saint Bob and Saint Betty of Houston, Texas.
Isabella Cunningham
Many years ago, a young assistant professor went to watch his toddler play at Crenshaw's, an un-air conditioned, after-school gym. He soon noticed another young parent completely engrossed in watching her son tumble on the mats. This young mother never read a magazine at Crenshaw’s and never chatted-up the other parents. Instead, she was always “in the moment,” completely focused on her tumbling son. And despite the muggy environs, she never perspired and never permitted a hair to stray out of place. This paradigm of perfection was Isabella Cunningham.
Isabella Cunningham—world traveler, master of many tongues, lawyer, professor, author, MBA, researcher, teacher and, most especially, mother. A very, very focused mother.
Even today, Isabella has that same ability to concentrate and we are all its beneficiaries. No faculty member in the history of this university, for example, has ever served on more important committees than Isabella Cunningham. She is the embodiment of academic citizenship, one whose institutional and personal loyalties run deep. Nobody loves this College more than Isabella Cunningham
Currently, Isabella is in the midst of her second tour as chair of the Advertising Department where she has overseen the expansion of the public relations curriculum, a process that took careful decision-making, intellectual vision, and political acumen. Not only did Isabella help make this transition flawlessly, she also strengthened the program's writing curriculum and ensured that business foundation courses were folded into the curriculum.
As a teacher, Isabella insists that her students stretch themselves; as a department chair, she demands continuing excellence; as a university citizen, she works longer and harder and smarter than anyone on campus. At a point in life when many professors are stopping to smell the roses, Isabella is trying to export the roses to Uruguay and make a profit on the deal. Isabella Cunningham put all of the “E’s” in Entrepreneur.
Isabella’s only fault is that she makes leadership seem easy. When others stumble over problems, Isabella glides over them. When others stroke their chins, Isabella acts. When others ask why, Isabella asks why not. Her intelligence, her imagination, and her high standards make her one-of-a-kind. And, still, never a hair out of place. That’s Isabella Cunningham.
Kevin Hegarty
Buoyant. Gregarious. Passionate. Witty. Creative. Curious. Clearly, these are the adjectives we all use to describe accountants.
Oh, maybe not, but they are the only words available to describe Kevin Hegarty, vice-president and chief financial officer for the University and a person whose duties have never been more challenging. Each day, Kevin confronts a new set of problems when trying to make the books balance. But here’s the worst thing about Kevin’s job: He sometimes has to tell the President no.
Kevin Hegarty is more than U.T.’s chief bookkeeper. He’s also a brilliant administrator, the University’s go-to guy, the fellow who can make things happen when the train falls off the track. He has, for example, been interim vice-president for development as well as interim vice-president for information technology. Kevin has had a lot of hats placed on his handsome head of hair.
Kevin helps everyone on this campus, but we here in the College see him as a special friend. For many years, he was one of our main advisors for Burnt Orange Productions and the UT Film Institute. Kevin brought his powerful financial mind to bear on the complexities of the movie industry and, because of that, Tom Schatz and over 200 of his students, were able to make, and sell, four feature films, with a fifth one “in the can.”
But as they say on the infomercials, “wait, there’s more!” Kevin also serves as a gentle landlord to KLRU television, while the leadership of KUT Radio constantly relies on his help to negotiate contracts and explore new standards for public radio in the digital age. Most important, though, our college depended greatly on Kevin's fair-mindedness and mathematical gymnastics to help finance the Belo Center for New Media, for which we will break ground next spring.
So tonight we celebrate the enormous breadth of Kevin’s talents and his unwavering service to this university. If Kevin played in the NFL, he could be counted on to kick the winning field goal when the score is knotted in overtime. If he were in the World Series, he’d lay down the squeeze bunt to score the winning run. If he played in the NBA, he’d come off the bench and get the Sixth Man Award every year. But Kevin’s not in the NBA; he’s here at U.T. and we are eternally grateful for that. A very special Friend of the College—Mr. Kevin Hegarty.
Chris Mattson
When KUT Radio General Manager Stewart Vanderwilt first came to the station 10 years ago, two of the first people he met were John Scanlan and Chris Mattsson. John advised Stewart to “lose the suit,” while Chris encouraged him to realize KUT's potential as a journalistic organization with NPR-style coverage of Texas. Stewart appreciated John Scanlan’s sartorial advice but he appreciated even more Chris Mattson’s clarion call for excellence.
When Stewart told Chris what he needed to upgrade KUT’s news operation, she immediately provided support via a grant from the Mattsson-McHale Foundation. With that as seed money, and with the help of an incredibly dedicated and talented staff, in just a few short years KUT News emerged as the leading public radio news operation in the Southwest with more than 50 awards for journalistic excellence, including more than a dozen Edward R. Murrow Awards.
It was also Chris Mattson who encouraged KUT to aspire to higher levels of philanthropic support. Instinctively, she knew that the station could go beyond the $50 pledge and the tote bag! Not surprisingly, Chris led by example, volunteering to host a luncheon and to invite donors to become Leadership Circle members. Today, KUT has over 300 Leadership Circle members—and since its inception, led by Chris—the Circle has contributed more than $3 million to KUT. Since then, Chris has hosted many events for the station in her beautiful home in West Austin, including the premiere of Hidden Kitchens Texas, a KUT-produced documentary for NPR.
Chris and her husband, John McHale, have supported every major KUT endeavor during the past decade, including the design and construction of the new KUT Public Broadcast Center, which will set a new standard for public radio in the digital age.
Chris could spend her time doing any number of things, but—thanks to her protean sense of civic responsibility—she has taken a major role in more than a dozen important city and university endeavors. And when attending a planning meeting, Chris doesn't just sit there, quietly enjoying the chardonnay and the brie. Instead, she brings all of her skills to the table, asking tough and discerning questions and throwing herself into the challenge at hand.
Many Americans say that Benjamin Franklin was this nation’s finest public citizen. Those folks need to meet Chris Mattsson. They’d be equally impressed.
Steve Ungerleider
Some 40 years ago, in the infamous 1960s, a young man from the East Coast arrived at U.T. and quickly found himself on the University’s gymnastics team. It was on this campus—among the live oaks, the parallel bars, and the hippies—that this Yankee transplant found his life's direction.
Dr. Steven Ungerleider—sports psychologist, author, and advisor to the U.S. Olympic team—has never forgotten his alma mater. Throughout the years, he has gone out of his way to support the Harry Ransom Center as well as a variety of initiatives for Presidents Faulkner and Powers. Fortunately, he has also supported this college, including the Annette Strauss Institute and our newest initiative—the Texas Program in Sports and Media.
In the course of writing a book that made international headlines, "Faust's Gold: Inside the East German Doping Machine"—Steven collected 34 years of documents detailing misconduct among East German sports officials to gain world-class status. He later donated these papers to the Briscoe Center for American History to help scholars probe the ethical issues surrounding amateur sports.
In addition, thanks to Steven's support of the Strauss Institute's Speak Up! Speak Out! program, more than 600 Texas high school students have gone beyond the classroom’s walls to identify community problems, create innovative solutions, and then present their findings to city officials and community leaders.
Steven is one of those rare persons who quickly sees the big picture. That’s what happened when he heard about our Sports and Media initiative. Steven is now co-chairing the advisory council for that program and helping to spread the word about our ambitions. Thanks to his connections, U.T. will soon share one of the most important collections on the history of the modern Olympic movement: the Richard Pound Olympics Archive.
Steven has never forgotten what it was like to be young and living in a world of possibilities on the U.T. campus. An athlete at heart, he believes that competition brings out the best in all of us and he passionately insists that his alma mater compete at the very highest level. Because of his help, we have been able to do precisely that. Dr. Steven Ungerleider, still an athlete, no longer a hippie.
2008 Recipients
Judy Trabulsi
Forty years ago this semester, with the new Jesse Jones Communication Center under construction, a curious young woman entered the College to study Radio-TV-Film.
She quickly became ensconced in a student club called “Media 70,” a name that seemed so cutting-edge at the time, featuring as it did a year in the far-off future. This edgy little group produced slide, tape and video shows replete with pop music to help the Dean of Students introduce freshman to the University of Texas. After graduation, she helped create a small advertising agency just up the street from here.
The young woman at the center of this plot was Ms. Judy Trabulsi, executive vice president of GSD&M’s Idea City and one of the most highly-regarded advertising experts in the United States.
Even as she helped build one of the nation’s premier advertising agencies, Judy found time to be both a teacher and a mentor to young people, carefully nurturing the relationship between her agency and our own Department of Advertising. In an environment where many businesses treat interns as a source of free labor, Judy’s agency was one of the first to pay them an honest wage. And when she wasn’t hiring our students, she was opening doors for them in companies throughout the region and the state.
Today, Judy continues to be an invaluable source of support for us, having served for many years on the College’s Advisory Council as well as the University of Texas Film Institute’s Advisory Board. In addition, she has contributed generously to the College and has caused others to be generous as well. Bless her for that.
Despite her success, Judy has never forgotten her roots and continues to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to her family, her friends, and her College. Judy Trabulsi is a smart person, a generous person, and, best of all, she is one of us. Ms. Judy Trabulsi.
Kevin Moomaw
Our next Jeffrey Award recipient is a man who gets things done … usually when nobody’s watching! But he is always watching, always listening. He’s an expert in building relationships among people and ideas. The “man behind the man” we’re describing is none other than Kevin Moomaw.
Currently a senior advisor to Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, Kevin has spent his career in the political arena, having worked for numerous public officials and having served as executive director for both of George Bush senior’s presidential campaigns in Texas. Kevin has also been a stalwart supporter of our College, especially in connection with the School of Journalism and the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation.
In 2005, Kevin helped organize a fundraising dinner to establish the Sam Attlesey Endowed Presidential Scholarship named for a longtime friend who was the top political writer for the Dallas Morning News’s Capitol Bureau for two decades.
To get that accomplished, Kevin committed potential suicide by orchestrating a roast of his boss, Governor Dewhurst, that featured a bi-partisan list of tormentors including Governor Rick Perry, Karen Hughes, John Whitmire, Florence Shapiro, Judith Zaffirini, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Wallace Jefferson and Susan Combs, as well as members of the Capitol press corps.
The event raised nearly $150,000 to support journalism students interested in covering politics and public policy. Already, fourteen students have benefited from the Attlesey scholarship.
Kevin has also been a boon to the Annette Strauss Institute, particularly its New Politics Forum, which helps college students across Texas learn first-hand about modern political campaigns. Kevin’s Rolodex is a true goldmine and he uses it willingly to help us find Forum speakers. Not only does Kevin let us drop his name but he also opens doors that we didn’t know existed.
Please join me in recognizing Kevin Moomaw for doing what he doesn’t have to do by helping our College do what it must do — change students so that they can go out and change the world.
Randa Safady
You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their peers and colleagues but you can tell even more by how they treat subordinates. Some people treat them poorly just because they can. Others treat them only with grace and humility. Our next Jeffrey Award recipient is that sort of person. For those of you bedeviled by skepticism, Dr. Randa Safady will restore your faith in humanity.
As vice chancellor for external relations at The University of Texas System, Randa oversees community relations, development, public affairs and strategic communications for nine universities and six health institutions. She shoulders an enormous burden. No one would expect her to pay special attention to an individual college, but fortunately for us, Randa treats everyone as if they counted. As a result, she has been this College’s champion on more occasions than we can count. Randa Safady — a decent person.
Randa was especially generous with her time when we set out to raise money for the Belo Center for New Media. Her foresight and judgment kept us from making missteps in the early stages and her fertile imagination showed us the lighted path when things seemed dark. Randa Safady — an illuminating person.
The minute you start talking to people about Randa you hear the same thing: the woman has no ego (or, at least, not an unmanageable ego)! Scores of her supervisors, co-workers and direct reports have pinned us against the wall to recite her long list of kindnesses. Randa Safady — a generous person.
Randa Safady believes deeply in the mission of our College. Like this award’s namesake, Dean Bob Jeffrey, Randa is a person of energy and commitment, a person of irresistible charm, and a smart, hard-headed professional to boot. Dr. Randa Safady — this College’s unpaid ambassador to the world.
Robert and Maureen Decherd
In the early 1970s, a young man known for his sense of purpose and personal integrity returned home to Dallas after attending Harvard where he had been editor of the famed Harvard Crimson. At about that same time, a bright and beautiful young woman he had known in high school returned to Dallas after graduating from U.T.-Austin with a degree in English. They reconnected, got married, and quickly became a force greater than the sum of their parts.
Robert and Maureen Decherd believe in three things more than anything else: family, education, and the written word.
Robert has spent his life tending an institution — the A.H. Belo Corporation — which owns media properties throughout the United States (including the Dallas Morning News) and which has earned eight Pulitzer Prizes since he became CEO. Robert and his family have funded three endowed professorships in our College, as well as a scholarship in the School of Journalism.
Maureen’s interests in the literary arts led her to establish two endowments, one in the College of Liberal Arts and another in the School of Journalism. Both provide stipends for non-tenured faculty and doctoral candidates interested in literature, American society, and the U.S. media.
Robert and Maureen’s belief in the power of education led them — along with the Belo Foundation and the Moroney family — to help underwrite construction of the Belo Center for New Media. With its state-of-the-art classrooms, advanced production labs and seminar rooms, the Belo Center will let students combine a love of ideas with new media technologies to change how Americans discover the world around them. Ultimately, though, Robert and Maureen’s special gift has been their confidence in us. Their support has sent out a powerful message that our college is the place to be in the new millennium.
Robert and Maureen Decherd are wonderful people, quiet people. The only request they made of us in connection with the Belo Center is that it include a plaque bearing the likeness of the Belo Corporation’s trinity of guardians — Robert’s father and his two uncles.
With Robert and Maureen unable to be with us tonight, accepting the award in their behalf will be Mr. Jim Moroney III, executive vice president of the Belo Corporation, publisher of the Dallas Morning News, a major contributor in his own right to the Belo Center, and Robert’s first cousin. Please join me in thanking this wonderful family for its wisdom, generosity, and profound commitment to journalistic values and scholarly excellence.
Susan Dirks
At the height of the Vietnam War, a high-achieving young woman from Richardson, Texas saw a U.T. anti-war demonstration on television and decided that’s where she wanted to go to college. Soon, this bibliophile with a weakness for Dickens and an interest in politics was enrolled in the Plan II Honors program.
But little did she know at the time that her appreciation for academia would pull her back to the 40 Acres again and again. And while she spent some time helping to launch Half-Price Books, working for a healthcare consulting firm, and traveling the Southeast for CBS News, she inevitably found her way back to campus. We’re all lucky that she did.
For the past 15 years, Susan Dirks has been the chief operations officer for one of the best Radio-TV-Film programs in the country. She manages the budget, handles personnel and oversees endless departmental projects. Her job requires attention to detail, an understanding of people, and an ability to juggle political issues with deftness. Susan does all of this with a smile. Most of the time she means it.
People tend to resort to metaphor when describing Susan: They call her “a calm harbor in the storm,” a “mother hen,” and, notably, one who “makes birds and budgets sing, children and chairs smile, dogs and faculty wag their tails.”
Susan is retiring soon so, in true Hollywood fashion, we’ll be watching a sequel come January. But how could it compare to the original? Susan’s current boss describes her best: “Susan always has the best Halloween costumes and, on the Fourth of July, she inevitably shows up with a blinding amount of red, white and blue. Susan is so diplomatic, so knowledgeable, so efficient, and so thorough, that the Earth will surely open up and swallow our department when she leaves.” Sorry, RTF. Congratulations, Susan.
2007 Recipients
Gene Burd
Our first honoree this evening is Dr. Gene Burd, an unsung academic hero who has touched the hearts and souls of countless students and who will leave an enduring legacy in the academy and, particularly, at this University. Gene has outlasted countless faculty members, chairs, deans and presidents at U.T., in part because--being an inveterate walker--he gets more exercise than all of them combined!
Gene has been shaping future journalists at the University of Texas since 1972. Alumni tell us that he is one of the professors they remember most easily – both for his individual style and for his passion for training students how to write critically, thoughtfully, powerfully, and honestly.
Gene’s door is open for more hours per day than any others professor in the College and it is open, especially, for students. He loves to talk about current events and what’s going on in the Journalism business. He takes his work and the University’s mission to heart and he lives that work and that mission each day.
Gene is also famously frugal, so much so that in 2004 he used more than $1 million of his own money—built up from saving up his paychecks and by wise investing--to establish the Urban Communication Foundation, which gives financial awards to journalists and researchers who specialize in city planning, architecture, zoning and environmental issues. He also set up an annual prize given by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication to honor one of his graduate students who died in 2002.
Through these day-in and day-out ways, Gene Burd embodies hard work, self-sufficiency, appreciation for life, and responsiveness toward others. He has brought honor and distinction to the college for 35 years. Long live Gene Burd, a most worthy recipient of this year’s Robert C. Jeffrey Benefactors Award!
Patti Ohlendorf
Our next Jeffrey Award recipient has devoted the last 35 years of her professional life to the University of Texas and she shows no signs of slowing down. While getting involved in virtually every complex, touchy, vexing, and impossible problem confronting the University, she has somehow found time to become a sage advisor to our College as well. We are speaking, of course, of Ms. Patti Ohlendorf, U.T.’s vice-president for legal affairs.
As many of you know, four years ago we established the University of Texas Film Institute to provide students with hands-on, real-world experience with independent feature films that have commercial potential. The Institute, overseen by Professor Tom Schatz, built a unique partnership with Burnt Orange Productions, a private, for-profit company that employed U.T. students to work on every stage of production, including filming, editing, set props, costumes, casting, publicity, accounting and office management. To date, more than 200 graduate and undergraduate students have worked on four films, and seventy-seven percent of them are now employed in the film industry.
Patti provided critical legal support and insight for this pioneering endeavor, an endeavor that ate up hundreds of her working hours. In addition to her sharp legal mind, however, Patti brings a special sensitivity to her work. Her approachability, her tact, her work ethic, and her forthrightness make her a person one instinctively trusts.
We would not be in the filmmaking business today if it weren’t for Patti Ohlendorff. She has been our never-failing guide during this complex and labor-intensive project. Patti’s intellectual curiosity and her wicked sense of humor have buoyed us up on a thousand occasions. Please join me in thanking Patti for her boundless energy and her fierce dedication to this university.
Joe Phillips
Our next honoree is the central character in a story of gratitude and admiration that threads back nearly 40 years and that loops far into the future as well.
In the late 1960s, a skinny kid from McAllen came to the university to study journalism. This self-confident young man believed in the power of journalism to create a fair and just world. One of his journalism professors – a cigar-chewing, grizzled city editor from the real world – saw a special blend of intelligence and passion in this student. And thus began a long and deep friendship between Professor Griff Singer and tonight’s third Jeffrey Award recipient, Mr. Joe Phillips.
While at the university, Joe worked at The Daily Texan in a variety of capacities, including the news, editorial, and sports departments. Somewhat later, he moved to Central America to learn Spanish and to work as a stringer for the Miami Herald and UPI. Later, he founded the San Jose News in Costa Rica and then later the Guatemala News. As a newsman, Joe was the ultimate can-do guy and he carried those characteristics into the next phase of his professional life, whereby he became a successful entrepreneur and businessman in South Texas.
Griff Singer’s tutelage made an indelible impression on Joe. To pay tribute to his mentor, Joe established the Griff Singer Professorship, a permanent endowment designed to enhance education in the area of reporting and editing. Joe’s gift ultimately brought Fluffy Cash to our faculty, who is now continuing Griff’s legacy of mentoring budding journalists and strengthening the College’s ties to the professional community.
Joe Phillips is a man of vision, generosity, and humility. Please join me in honoring a man whose love of journalism emanates from the head of a newsman and the heart of a committed citizen.
Ted Strauss
Our next honoree is a person who toils behind the scenes while letting those nearest and dearest to him shine brightly. Tonight we turn the spotlight on Mr. Ted Strauss (BBA ’46), for just a moment at least.
Ted has had a distinguished career. Profiled in BusinessWeek while still in his 30s, he established multiple banks in Dallas, served as the senior managing director of Bear Stearns & Company, was an early board member of Clear Channel Communications, and also chaired the board of Strauss Broadcasting.
In addition to these public duties, Ted has spent a lifetime doting on his family, including his late wife, Annette Strauss, his two daughters, and his granddaughters (one of whom is a graduate of this College). Not surprisingly, Ted has been named Father of the Year in Dallas and also received the YWCA Family of the Year Award several years ago.
Locally, though, we love Ted Strauss because of his longstanding support of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation, an organized research center here in the College. Established in April of 2000 to combat political disaffection in the United States, the Strauss Institute strives to create more voters and better citizens through research, education, and improved communication.
Ted helped us start the Institute to honor Annette, who served as mayor of Dallas in the late 1980s. Ted has supported the Institute both financially and emotionally from the beginning and currently serves on its advisory council. We are also proud that Nancy and Jeremy Halbreicht, Ted’s daughter and son-in-law, have established the Theodore H. Strauss Civic Internship Award, given annually to U.T. students interested in political or governmental work.
Ted is fond of saying that—of all the honors bestowed upon her—Annette would have been proudest of the Annette Strauss Institute and its capacity to bring young people into the political process. For his part, Ted is a passionate devotee of this University, an honorable and generous man, and a Texan. Please help me thank Ted Strauss for being who he is.
Judith Zaffirini
Senator/Doctor Judith Zaffirini. Her’s is the story of the hometown girl who made good. After growing up in Laredo, Judy came to the University where she earned two degrees from the College of Communication. She later taught at the university level before starting her own business. The consulting firm she runs today involves broad-based consultation on communication issues and one-on-one executive coaching in speaking and writing.
When Judy ran for the Texas Senate in 1986, her campaign materials described her as “articulate, organized and hard working,” not surprising for a speech communication major with an almost perfect GPA.
Upon returning to Austin as the first Hispanic woman elected to the Texas senate, Senator Zaffirini became a champion for higher education issues, having now served ten terms on the Senate Committee on Education, where she has been instrumental in creating financial aid legislation for students. She is also a proponent of college work-study programs, having overseen a series of important increases in funding for this program.
The Senator’s work ethic is legendary. She arrives at the Capitol by 4 a.m. each day during the session. And if you’ve never heard Judith Zaffirini give a public speech, well, you’ve missed something breath-taking. She is fond of closing her speeches with the phrase, “May God bless you and inspire you to agree with my perspective.” Judy Zaffirini is a blizzard next to a hurricane inside a tornado.
Judy was unable to be with us tonight due to a prior commitment, and so her colleague, Warren von Eschenbach, will accept the award in her behalf. Please join me in applauding Senator Zaffirini for putting her degrees from our college to full use and for having had such a powerful impact on higher education in the State of Texas.
2006 Recipients
Wofford Denius
I would like to begin this evening’s presentation by discussing U.T.’s Los Angeles study center, which serves as the University’s west coast hub for teaching and research on film, television and electronic media.
Established in 2005 and based in the College of Communication, the UTLA center extends possibilities beyond the 40 Acres to the Pacific Ocean.
The University has a slogan, “What starts here changes the world.” Los Angeles attorney Wofford Denius got his own start at U.T. and is now helping students in the College of Communication change the world as well.
Thanks to the imagination and generosity of tonight's first Jeffrey Award winner, in the past 18 months, more than 100 U.T. students have spent a semester in Los Angeles, meeting with industry professionals on film sets and television productions, in music studios and in the classroom, to gain first-person insight into the business that is Hollywood.
In addition, since 2000, more than 30 College of Communication students have had a chance to pursue their dreams by spending a summer working in the music meccas of New York, Los Angeles and Nashville.
Through his directorship of the Cain Foundation, Mr. Denius has created the Denius Music Industry Internship and the Wofford Denius “UT in LA Scholarship” – totaling $1 million – to support student career exploration in entertainment-related fields.
It is due to Wofford’s support and others like him that The University will continue to build a presence on the West Coast. Please join me in thanking Wofford Denius for his generous support of the College of Communication.
Eddie Safady
Turning a University of Texas project - especially one from a liberal arts background - into something that makes economic sense in an equity market is a formidable task. To accomplish such feats, it takes people of extraordinary vision and expertise as well as people who are generous with their time.
Burnt Orange Productions is one such project and Eddie Safady, Board Chair of Prosperity Bank, is one such individual. Eddie has served on the Board of Directors for Burnt Orange from its beginning. As you may know, Burnt Orange is a for-profit production company that produces independent feature films in collaboration with the UT Film Institute.
Through Eddie’s work, the college is creating a new model for film education by providing hands-on, specialized training to students through the UT Film Institute.
There may be no other private citizen who has given so much of his personal time to a project like this. Eddie has labored over every detail – and there are many – to ensure that this venture is solid on every front. Since the project’s inception, Eddie has put in countless hours reviewing accounting statements, appraising finance structures, and evaluating partnership arrangements.
Eddie’s contributions have extended beyond his financial wisdom into his personal life – on several occasions he has opened his beautiful home and thick Rolodex in support of the Film Institute.
But most of all, Eddie’s pragmatism, sense of optimism, problem-solving skills, and his infectious spirit have kept Burnt Orange going through uncertain times.
Please join me in expressing our gratitude for the Herculean labors of Eddie Safady.
Sheldon Ekland-Olson
The UT Film Institute, and the UT Los Angeles Center - which we’ve just described, as well as the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation, and the Carnegie Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education – not to mention a new building – are endeavors that the College could not have pursued on its own.
Transformational programs such as these need champions both outside the institution and inside. We are fortunate to have had just such an individual in Sheldon Ekland-Olson, Provost of The University from 1998 to 2006.
Sheldon was that rarest of provosts, a person whose passions lay in people and their ideas. Unlike many in higher education, Sheldon was unafraid to try new things or to let others take the helm when the time was right. This is quite rare in a provost.
One recent way the College has benefited from Sheldon’s influence was his appointment of Dr. Hart as Dean of the college. There has been speculation that – had he been asked by anyone else – Dr. Hart would not have taken the job. (so the moral of this story is clear: if you have a complaint about the Dean, go see Sheldon.)
One of the hallmarks of Sheldon’s tenure as Provost was his effort to stitch together the various units on campus through cross-disciplinary initiatives. One such program is the Carnegie Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.
Thanks to Sheldon’s support, the School of Journalism was able to secure a $250,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation last spring to improve journalists’ knowledge of other disciplines. So, for example, journalism majors are now taking specialized courses in three areas: the Latino community, information technology, and media literacy.
The fact that Sheldon Ekland-Olson is receiving a college award tonight speaks volumes about his intellectual and administrative reach. We’ve never known a provost like him. Dr. Sheldon Ekland-Olson.
Margaret Surratt
Our next Jeffrey Award recipient came to The University from the small German Catholic farming community of Westphalia, Texas, about 35 miles south of Waco. She arrived as a student and she never left.
Margaret Surratt first came to work in the College of Communication in August of 1969, just months after earning her bachelor’s degree in history. As is typical of her, Margaret came to help a friend in the student advising office. She was later hired by Bob Jeffrey—in 1971—in the Department of Communication Studies and since then has worked beside seven department chairs.
Margaret Surratt owns the Department of Communication Studies. Her sense of ownership includes the well-being of all but especially its students. She is that rare kind of individual who never forgets why the university exists: to serve students. Margaret has been a housemother and confidante to four decades of students and has instilled her spirit of service throughout the organization.
Margaret is a person of wisdom, a voice of compassion, a consummate problem-solver. She is also opinionated, sometimes even a bit rebellious. Mostly, though, she has an incredible sense of humor and an incisive wit.
Margaret has weathered each major event on this campus since the mid-60s and has earned respect far and wide. Everyone on campus takes her calls; she is one of our ablest ambassadors.
Margaret does not call attention to herself and is no doubt uncomfortable with the recognition being given her this evening. But Margaret has been a blessing to this college for 35 years and so she must take her punishment. Margaret Surratt.
Jeff Hunt
Our final Jeffrey Award designee this evening is a son of the College and of The University.
Jeff Hunt earned his bachelors degree with honors from the college and was a student leader here on campus. And despite having gone out into the wide world to make his mark, his heart never left us.
Jeff is connected to the College in myriad ways: he worked closely with Department of Advertising chair, Isabella Cunningham, to overhaul the public relations curriculum; he has served as an adjunct professor in the College by teaching a public relations class; and he has just completed an enlightened term as chair of the College’s Advisory Council.
Jeff also served as a mentor to many public relations and advertising students. When we have “student counseling” sessions, Jeff is always the first one there and the last to leave. And he’s been extremely generous to the students he counsels, even helping them set up interviews and allowing his name to be used so they can get a foot in the door.
Jeff’s personal philanthropy is also noteworthy. His first major gift was a unique one, designed to promote giving by other donors. He gave $100k to be used as a 50 percent match to first-time donors to the College. His generosity ultimately spawned over half a million dollars in gifts to the College.
What is especially impressive about Jeff’s contributions is that – despite his brutal schedule as CEO of GCI, a global public relations firm with 650 associates in 27 countries – the College of Communication is always on his mind.
Jeff’s embrace of new initiatives, his personal kindness, and his unfailing politeness distinguish him as a special member of the College family. Please join me in thanking Jeff Hunt for being Jeff Hunt.
