Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Presented At Baylor Homecoming
by Judy Prather, Baylor Alumni Association, (254) 710-6431
Five graduates of Baylor University were honored by the Baylor Alumni Association with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, presented on Friday, Oct. 28, during the 7 p.m. performance of Pigskin Revue in Waco Hall.
This year's recipients are Baylor forensic scientist Lori Elmore Baker of Waco, Texas; South Texas Children's Home president and CEO Jerry Haag of Beeville, Texas; attorney Lyn Robbins of Fort Worth; healthcare administrator Wesley M. Wells of San Angelo, Texas; and Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett of Austin.
Dr. Lori E. Baker
A native of Lufkin, Baylor professor Lori Baker has established an international reputation for her work as a forensic scientist, particularly with a project to identify the remains of illegal immigrants along the Mexico border. She has combined her groundbreaking technical research involving ancient DNA with the work of her husband, Erich, a computer science professor at Baylor, to compile the information gained into an online database. An assistant professor in the department of anthropology, forensic science and archaeology, she earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Baylor and her doctorate in anthropology from the University of Tennessee.
Dr. Jerry Haag
Since 2000, Dr. Jerry Haag has served as president and CEO of the South Texas Children's Home in Beeville. An ordained Baptist minister, certified financial planner and former college professor, he received a BBA from Baylor in 1988 and an MBA in 1989 before earning his doctorate in 1995 in finance and real estate from the University of Texas at Arlington. Haag is a Little League Baseball coach, and he currently serves as president of Baptist Child Care Executives and on the board of Rotary International in Beeville. He is married to Christi Hanna Haag, a 1988 Baylor graduate.
Lyn Robbins
Lyn Robbins has been senior general attorney at BNSF Railway Co. in Fort Worth since 2003. He previously served 13 years with the law firm of Gullett, Sanford, Robinson & Martin in Nashville, Tenn. A 1987 Baylor graduate, he earned his law degree in 1990 from Baylor School of Law, where he was a Leon Jaworski Scholar. During law school, he also served as assistant coach for Baylor's 1989 national champion debate team and the 1988 national junior varsity champion debate team. A deacon at First Baptist Church of Keller, he is married to the former Gena Kaye Lynch, a 1989 Baylor graduate, and they have three children.
Wesley Wells
Wesley Wells is a 1990 Baylor graduate, with a master's degree in gerontology from Baylor, where he was twice selected as student of the year for the department. The founding administrator of the Sagecrest Alzheimer's Unit at Baptist Memorials Center in San Angelo, he designed and implemented the care facility. He is married to a school principal, Kristy Hopkins Wells, who also has two degrees from Baylor, and they attend Paul Ann Baptist Church with their two children.
Don Willett
Don Willett, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, was recently named to the Texas Supreme Court, to fill the unexpired term of another Baylor graduate, Priscilla Owen. Willett previously served as Texas deputy attorney general for legal counsel and as deputy assistant attorney general for legal policy at the U.S. Department of Justice. After earning a bachelor's degree from Baylor in 1988, he attended law school at Duke University prior to joining the staff of then-Gov. Bush in 1996 as research-special projects director and was domestic policy and special projects advisor on the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign and transition team. His wife, Tiffany, also served as a member of the White House staff. They have one son.
For more information, contact the Baylor Alumni Association at (254) 710-1121 or go to www.bayloralumni.com, Baylor Alumni Association, (254) 710-6431