Baylor Alumni Association to Present W.R. White Awards at Annual Homecoming Meeting
Contact: Judy Prather, Baylor Alumni Association, (254) 710-6431
The Baylor University Alumni Association will present the W.R. White Meritorious Service Award to five individuals during the association's annual Homecoming membership meeting at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31. This year's meeting will be held at a new location - the Paul W. Powell Chapel at Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
The award, named for Baylor's ninth president, has been given annually since 1977 by the association to recognize individuals who -- like Dr. White -- have rendered outstanding service to the university. This year's honorees include: Howard Dudgeon III, Madelyn Jones and Ann Reed, all of Waco; David Malone of Austin; and Bill Underwood of Macon, Ga.
A native of Waco, Howard Dudgeon III earned his BBA from Baylor in 1965 and the bachelor of accountancy one year later. He worked briefly with Waco Carton Co., now Gulf State Paper Co., and as business manager and a teacher with Waco High School before joining the Baylor staff in 1969 as assistant budget director. A certified public accountant, Dudgeon was named assistant to the treasurer in 1971 and became university treasurer in 1974 and served in that capacity until 2003. He was a member of the cabinet for President Herbert Reynolds. Dudgeon continued to serve the university for one year as director of insurance services and one year as director of special projects. In 2007, he was named treasurer emeritus of Baylor.
Madelyn Gaines Jones served 25 years as registrar for Baylor before her retirement in January of this year. A native of College Station, Jones completed her last 18 semester hours at Baylor, transferring them to Auburn University where she received her degree in 1981. In addition to having an active role in the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers and the Baylor Round Table, she has been involved locally with the Historic Waco Foundation and the Earl Harrison House Council and serves on the board of directors of the YMCA.
David Malone, a 1973 Baylor graduate, earned a master's degree in engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and had a 27-year career in technology with IBM. Recently retired from IBM, he is now vice president of sales for Motion Golf, a high-tech golf instruction company. Malone has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Baylor Alumni Association since 2000 and served as president of the association in 2005. His service to Baylor and Baptist life extends to the state level, where he was a member of the Baptist General Convention of Texas subcommittee for nominating Baylor regents. Both his parents and all his siblings graduated from Baylor, as did his wife, Mary Massar Malone, and their two children.
Ann Reed has been on the Baylor staff since 1969, with most of her tenure in the Office of the President. In 1972, Reed joined the staff of Dr. Herbert H. Reynolds, who was then Baylor's executive vice president, and served for three years as administrative associate in his office before being chosen as his personal assistant, a role she played for 32 years until his death in 2007. In 2007, she was honored with the Herbert H. Reynolds Award for Exemplary Service, having already received the Outstanding Staff Award in 1999. Reed recently retired after almost 39 years of service at Baylor.
The final award recipient is Bill Underwood, the current president of Mercer University. He previously served as Baylor's interim president and held The Leon Jaworski Chair in Practice and Procedure at Baylor Law School. A graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Illinois College of Law, Underwood completed a federal judicial clerkship and practiced civil trial law in Dallas before joining the Baylor faculty in 1990, where he taught 16 years, taking a two-year leave of absence to serve as Baylor's general counsel. Designated a Master Teacher by Baylor in 2004, Underwood directed Baylor Law School's renowned Practice Court program. Underwood and his wife, Lesli, are both Baylor Alumni by Choice.
For more information about the W.R. White Meritorious Service Award, contact the Baylor Alumni Association at (254) 710-1121 or go to bayloralumni.com