Baylor Chancellor Reynolds Receives Founders Medal
Baylor University presented the Founders Medal, one of the highest honors the university bestows, to former Baylor Chancellor Herbert H. Reynolds during the celebration of Founders Day Feb. 2.
Baylor President Robert B. Sloan Jr. presented the medal to Reynolds during a ceremony at 11 a.m. in Waco Hall, citing his years of devoted service to Baylor. Hundreds of regents, former regents, faculty, staff, and friends were on hand to celebrate Reynolds' contributions to the future of Baylor University.
Reynolds served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Baylor for 12 years during the presidency of Judge Abner V. McCall. Baylor trustees in January 1981 elected him to be the 11th president of the university.
Reynolds served as Baylor president for 14 years, strengthening its academic programs, enhancing its financial integrity and taking steps to preserve academic and religious freedom at the university.
In June 1995 Reynolds became chancellor of the university, working with donors, legislators, alumni and Baptist leaders to advance the mission of the university.
Reynolds earned a bachelor of science degree from Trinity University and earned the M.S. and the Ph.D. degrees from Baylor. He has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus of both Trinity and Baylor and holds honorary doctor of science degrees from the Baylor College of Dentistry and Seinan Gakuin University in Japan.
He served for 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, principally as director of research of a biomedical laboratory and as commander of the Air Force Human Research Resources Laboratories.
Baylor annually celebrates the anniversary of its charter on Founders Day. The university was chartered Feb. 1, 1845, by the Republic of Texas, and is the oldest university in continuous existence in Texas.
The Founders Medal was established in September 1969 and is one of the most distinguished awards given by Baylor University. This award is reserved for men and women whose service and contributions have been unusually significant to the life and future of the university. One copy of the medal is on permanent exhibition in the National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
The face of the medal bears the likeness of Judge R.E.B. Baylor, with the inscription "Pro Ecclesia Pro Texana." The obverse bears the likeness of Pat Neff Hall with the inscription "Baylor University Founders Medal," plus the name of the recipient and year of presentation.
For more information on Founders Day events, see our complete coverage of Founders Day.