Prominent Baylor Alumni To Receive Annual Commencement Awards

by LoAna Lopez

Two prominent Baylor University alumni -- one a longtime San Antonio pastor with a successful television ministry, and the other a former Baylor Law School dean known as one of "Texas' legal giants" -- will receive annual awards during spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 13, at the Ferrell Center. The Baylor Alumni Association will present the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award during the 9:30 a.m.-ceremony and the Price Daniel Distinguished Public Service Award during the afternoon ceremony at 3 p.m.
Dr. Buckner Fanning, longtime pastor of San Antonio's Trinity Baptist Church, author and creator of a successful television ministry, will receive the Truett award. Judge Charles W. Barrow, former Baylor Law School dean and Texas Supreme Court justice, will receive the Daniel award.
Fanning graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1954, after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. from 1943 to 1946. He attended church at the First Baptist Church of Dallas where Truett served as pastor until he died in 1944. "I accepted the Lord under his ministry and was baptized by him," Fanning said. "Therefore, you can see why this is such a personal experience for me and how much it means to me. I hope that Dr. Truett is pleased."
The annual George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award is awarded each spring to an individual who best exemplifies the life and career of the renowned Baptist minister.
Barrow, of San Antonio, received a bachelor of law degree from Baylor in 1943. He practiced for 13 years as a trial attorney before beginning his career as a judge of the 45th District Court in San Antonio. He served as chief justice of the Fourth Court of Civil Appeals and seven years as a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas. In 1984, he left the Supreme Court to serve as dean of Baylor Law School, and retired in 1991. In 1998, he was honored as one of two 1998 Outstanding Fifty Year Lawyers by the Texas Bar Foundation for completion of 50 years of practice.
Brad Toben, who succeeded him as dean, said Barrow's career as an attorney, judge and educator was one of remarkable achievement. He described him as one of the "legal giants"
responsible for the elevation of Baylor Law School into the position of national prominence it enjoys today.
The annual Price Daniel Public Service Award is given to a person whose record in public life best exemplifies the spirit of selfless dedication to public service represented by the life and career of the late Governor Price Daniel.
For more information, contact the Baylor Alumni Association at (254) 710-1121.