Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
Pro Bene Meritis
Marion Mark On the Meaning of Education
Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
Toyin Falola On Telling Africa’s Story
Pro Bene Meritis 2013 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. First granted in 1984, it is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, have made outstanding contributions […]
2013 Pro Bene Meritis Award Recipients
The College of Liberal Arts is proud to announce the 2013 Pro Bene Meritis Award recipients. The Honorable Ben Barnes, Toyin Falola, Jeanne and Michael Klein, and Marion Mark were chosen for their outstanding service to the college. The Honorable Ben Barnes is a graduate of The University of Texas Law School and was elected […]
Words with Friends
Pro Bene Meritis 2012 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts. It is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service […]
Pioneering Heart
Pro Bene Meritis 2012 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts. It is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service […]
From History to Haiku
Pro Bene Meritis 2012 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts. It is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service […]
On the Record
Pro Bene Meritis 2012 The Pro Bene Meritis Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts. It is given each spring to alumni, faculty and friends of the college who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service […]
A Formidable Team
Carolyn and Peyton Townsend raise their horns to a world-class education Carolyn Townsend will always remember her tearful parting from The University of Texas at Austin after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English in 1966. “I was the last one out of the Pi Phi sorority house,” Carolyn says. “I put […]
Continuing Tradition
Alumnus gives back to his university It really was a natural for Martin Dies III to earn a degree in government from The University of Texas at Austin. You might say it was in his DNA. His father served in the Texas Senate, and his grandfather and great-grandfather served in Congress. Government intrigued him at […]
Minoring in Miller
Religious studies professor’s devotion to teaching recognized Professor G. Howard Miller began teaching at The University of Texas at Austin in 1971 in Burdine 106, an auditorium seating hundreds of students. “I felt like a rock star,” says Miller, a University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies, who retired earlier this year. […]
To the Moon
CarMax founder supports Plan II study abroad and recalls his own experience One spring day in 1973, while wandering the streets of Lima, University of Texas student Austin Ligon got swept up in an Easter procession. There he was, a Protestant from West Texas, marching for hours with hundreds of thousands of Peruvian Catholics behind […]
A Veteran’s Dedication
Frank Denius’ commitment helps students understand World War II Each spring, Frank Denius meets with a group of about 20 University of Texas at Austin students who are about to leave for Europe as part of the Normandy Scholar Program. And each fall, Denius — the noted philanthropist, businessman and decorated World War II veteran — meets […]
The Son of Texas
W. Parker Frisbie inspires colleagues and students Twenty-five years ago, W. Parker Frisbie stumbled into the field of mortality research by accident. The young sociology professor’s interest in mortality, the study of death in a population, was piqued when a graduate student asked him to chair her dissertation committee. “At that time, we had no […]
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
Ellen Temple known for commitment to loved ones “Once upon a time, a very special 18-year-old girl came into my life, and she has been there ever since,” Frances Vick said about her friend and 2010 Pro Bene Meritis recipient Ellen Temple during the April 22 awards reception. “My experiences here have shaped my life […]
“Provincial Texan” tells the stories of her state
Frances Vick was a prospective college freshman applying to The University of Texas at Austin in 1954, when her father dropped her off on “the Drag,” pointed her toward the Tower and said, “Go up there. They can tell you how to register.” That was the beginning of her time in the College of Liberal […]
Plan II gave philanthropist an exceptional start
Leslie Blanton gets excited every time she makes the drive from her adopted hometown of Houston into Austin. After all, it’s where she met her husband, Jack Blanton, Jr., and began her studies in the Plan II Honors program. “I knew I was getting into something that was exceptional,” Blanton, a 1976 Plan II Honors […]
English alum supports teaching, writing scholarships
Anticipating the future needs of a university the size of The University of Texas at Austin is no easy task, but Maureen Decherd is forging ahead, helping to shape that future. “While this may seem simplistic, I have a very deep belief in the university and its purposes,” says Decherd, a 1973 English graduate and […]
Former POW taught generations of students
When Sidney Monas was taken in as a German prisoner of war during World War II, he remembers being huddled in boxcars — cold, hungry and dehydrated — as he was transported all over the German railroad network to Nuremberg. During the 10-day long train ride, Monas was exposed to strafing attacks from U.S. aircrafts. […]
Family Foundation Supports Jewish Communities
Lynn Schusterman is determined to make the world a better place—not by herself, but with the help of a multitude of people and organizations she supports in Israel, Europe and the United States. Heeding the Jewish imperative tikkun olam, to “repair the world,” Schusterman and her husband Charles (now deceased) have been dedicated philanthropists for […]
A Scholar’s Call to Service
As Judith Langlois walks through the state-of-the-art children’s research lab in the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay building, she recalls the three-room schoolhouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she found her passion for science. During an era when many parents and teachers believed women lacked the mental capacity to excel in math and science, […]
Stepping Off the Beaten Path
There was a time when high-profile houston lawyer Julius Glickman was young and naïve, and he’s not ashamed to admit it. Glickman grew up in the West Texas town of Big Spring, and had scarcely traveled beyond the county line by the time he contemplated college. Several of his friends were headed to Southern Methodist […]
Unbound: Reading Rough Drafts to History
Some writers look at it as baggage. Others, as garbage. And some feel it is so close to them, it is part of their soul. Thomas Staley is talking about first drafts, an essential component of many literary archives he has acquired as director of the Harry Ransom Center. For Staley, it is the false […]
At the Forefront of the Relentless March of Medical Technology
Today, as Cooley, a 1941 zoology graduate from The University of Texas at Austin, walks through the state-of-the-art operating suites at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, he can recall a time when surgeons propped open operating room windows to allow in the “sterile” breezes. He has seen it all. As a doctor and an […]
Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Brings National Perspective to the Classroom
As a child, David Oshinsky explored the wonders of America in an un-airconditioned, stick-shift Chevy, packed to the roof with traveling gear for his family of four. The son of two schoolteachers remembers spending every summer the same way: criss-crossing states as they visited national parks, historic landmarks, presidential libraries and state fairs. You name […]