1980s
Independent Financial established the Jan Criswell Webb Endowed Scholarship Fund, part of the Hord Challenge Program, in honor of the years of service that Jan Webb, BBA ’80, gave to Independent Bank.
Roland Garcia, BBA ’81, was named a 2020 Super Lawyer in Texas by independent research and peer review. He was also lead counsel in a complex jury trial that was selected for inclusion in the Texas Lawyer’s Hall of Fame as one of the highest grossing verdicts in Texas from 2004 to 2018. The jury verdict and $15.7 million judgment was also named a Texas Monthly Top 20 Verdict in 2018 the No. 2 verdict for all contract cases. The two-week jury trial included 19 witnesses, 10 experts, thousands of exhibits and millions of documents. Contact at garciar@gtlaw.com.
Martin Shields, BS ’81, MS ’84, of the Martin and Arlyn Shields Family Foundation established the Angel Resources Endowed Scholarship Fund in Graduate Geosciences to award scholarships to students pursuing geosciences degrees.
Jeffrey W. Black, BBA ’85, retired in January after a 35-year career in information technology. He served H-E-B Grocery Company LP in San Antonio for 27 years, Computer Power Group in Houston for three years and General Dynamics in Fort Worth for five years. He led teams and developed and supported many applications.
John Kennedy, BBA ’86, and Shara Kennedy, BA ’85, created the E.L. Fisher Endowed Scholarship Fund in honor of Shara’s father Elmer Lee Fisher, BA ’51, who was a professor in the classics department. This scholarship benefits students in the classics department of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Melissa Melosh, BMEd ’88, established the Melissa Dugan Melosh First-Generation Endowed Music Scholarship Fund. This scholarship supports first-generation students who are pursuing a degree in music education.
Julie Renae Smith Prause, BA ’88, was appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to the governing board of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Prause is an itinerant service provider and has traveled the roads of rural southeast Texas, teaching blind and visually impaired students for more than three decades. Contact at julprause@hotmail.com.
Scott Wilson, BBA ’89, celebrated his engagement to Amy Jo Secker in September 2020 with a trip to San Luis Obispo, CA, to pick up Teddy, an Australian labradoodle and an engagement gift to their kids. Wilson is managing director for the strategy and transformation practice at Sparkhound LLC, a digital consulting firm. In spring 2020, he had a chapter published as a part of the anthology Soulful Prayers, Volume 2: The Power of Intentional Communication with God. This fall, Wilson will join his good friend Ervin Lee as guest and occasional cohost of From Beer to the Bible on The Word 100.7 (KWRD-FM, Dallas-Fort Worth), a part of the Salem Media Group, as a part of their work through Hampton Ministries. Contact at wscottwilson@gmail.com.