LTG Randolph W.
House ’67
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Year Awarded: 2020
College Station, TX
An Army officer for over 32 years, House commanded in peace and war at every level from rifle platoon leader to deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.
As a student in the Corps of Cadets, he was a member of A-3 Vets, B-1 Vets and a Distinguished Military Graduate, receiving a U.S. Army regular commission as an infantry second lieutenant.
He has served on the board and as president of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial from 2003 to present, and is a mentor to the A&M student organization SCONA (Student Conference on National Affairs). He has also served on the board of visitors for A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service and for Texas A&M University at Galveston.
His awards for valor include the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Silver Star, the Soldier's Medal, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 32 Air Medals and four Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry.
He is a Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor inductee and a member of the Tyrus R. Timm Honor Registry in A&M’s Department of Agricultural Economics, and was inducted in 2001 as a “Legend of Aggieland.” He was part of 2016’s inaugural class of the U.S. Army ROTC National Hall of Fame and in 2007 was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Lamar High School in Houston.
House is a Diamond-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 38 years of giving. He is a member of the Corps of Cadets Association, is on the Board of Directors of A&M's Private Enterprise Research Center and supports MSC OPAS.
He and wife Ellen Jean have two daughters and four grandchildren.
"Texas A&M instilled in me the importance of being dependable, and “taught me the value of being persistent.”
- LTG Randolph W. House '67
Weldon
Jaynes ’54
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Year Awarded: 2020
Arlington, TX
Jaynes was chairman, CEO and majority shareholder of Priester Supply Co., which he spent more than 40 years building into a prominent southwest U.S. regional distributor for electric and gas utilities. He also created Repcom International, a national telecommunication company.
He operated both companies with an all-Aggie board of directors and management team.
As a student, he was a member of the Corps of Cadets in Squadron 15. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Air Force.
Jaynes is a past president (now called chair) of the 12th Man Foundation, a recipient of its E. King Gill award and member of its Diamond Champions Council.
He helped to start and grow the 12th Man Foundation’s Major Gifts Department during his tenure on the organization's board of trustees.
He is an Endowed Century Club member of The Association, with 49 years of giving, and his support to A&M includes aiding MSC renovations, a Texas Turfgrass Research Education endowment, the Mr. and Mrs. L. Weldon Jaynes ’54 Sul Ross Scholarship, the Weldon Jaynes ’54 Presidential Endowed Scholarship and a Corps scholarship.
Jaynes is an A&M Lettermen’s Association Hall of Honor inductee and a past director of the Fort Worth A&M Club.
He and wife Judy give time and support to Trinity United Methodist and First Baptist Church in Arlington, Mission Arlington and the MD Anderson Cancer Center.
They have three Aggie children, Tracey ’85, Brian ’87 (married to Beth ’88) and Stacey ’85, and three grandchildren, Cameron ’10, McCall ’15 and Will ’19.
“I am forever grateful to have graduated into the Texas A&M Aggie Network. Aggies have been a major factor in all aspects of my life, from friends and family to career.”
- Weldon Jaynes '54
Carol E.
Jordan ’80
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Year Awarded: 2020
Lexington, KY
Creator and executive director of the University of Kentucky’s Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women, Jordan has 37 years of experience in public policy, legislative advocacy, research, writing and development of programs addressing domestic violence, rape and stalking. She led expansion of the number of rape crisis centers in Kentucky from four to 13, and in 1996 was founding executive director of the Governor’s Office of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Services. In 2002, Jordan created UK’s Center for Research on Violence Against Women; after a decade there, she created the university’s policy institute on violence against women, which led to the Office for Policy Studies. She also conceived the Women’s Empowerment Scholarship Program, a resource for abuse survivors.
She has received many awards and recognitions and served on numerous boards, task forces and commissions for nonprofits and state agencies.
She was the first elected president of Texas A&M’s Aggie Women Network, an Association constituent network she cocreated with K. Sue Redman ’80.
She is a Bronze-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 32 years of giving, serves as the representative for the J. Irwin Jordan, Jr. ’53 President’s Endowed Scholarship and has made provisions for future gifts including a President’s Endowed Scholarship and the donation of her Aggie Ring and her mother’s sweetheart Aggie Ring.
“I began to love Texas A&M because of my father, and I entered the Class of 1980 because of my Aggie heritage."
- Carol E. Jordan '80
Willie T.
Langston II ’81
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Year Awarded: 2020
Houston, TX
He is founder, past chairman and CEO and current executive vice chairman of Avalon Advisors, LLC, a $9 billion asset advisory and management firm.
As a student at A&M, he was president of the Business Student Council, president of the Baptist Student Union, and envisioned and led the first Business Student Council Career Fair in 1980 — today, it is one of the largest in the country.
Langston is a board member of Breakaway Ministries, chairman of the board for Glorieta Camps in New Mexico and chairman of the deacons at Second Baptist Church of Houston. He was finance chairman for 2016’s Ted Cruz for President campaign and served five years as board chairman for Houston Christian High School.
He is a Bronze-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 30 years of giving.
Langston is on the Mays Business School dean’s advisory board and is a former outside investment advisor to the Texas A&M Foundation and former trustee of the 12th Man Foundation.
While on the 12th Man board, he helped create the idea for the Champions Council, which today is the 12th Man’s primary fundraising arm.
He has also supported the Mays Family Foundation Building Expansion Fund and created a Department of Accounting endowment, a business honors scholarship and an MBA fellowship.
He and wife Marian Lyles Langston ’82 have three children, Laura ’10 (married to Jonathan Bonck), Rebecca ’15 (married to Sam Voncannon ’15) and Will ’16; they also have one granddaughter.
Texas A&M “was a crucible that the Lord, in his wisdom alone, used to mold me into a man with a bigger, broader, bolder vision of life and a true dependence on Him to get me there… wherever ‘there’ may be.”
- Willie T. Langston II '81
Tim
Leach ’82
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Year Awarded: 2020
Midland, TX
Leach is the founder, chairman and CEO of Concho, one of the energy industry’s leading companies, and vice chairman of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.
As a student, he was an officer in the student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, a member of petroleum engineering honor society Pi Epsilon Tau and engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, and a four-year resident in Davis-Gary hall.
Leach has supported A&M projects including the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, E.B. Cushing Stadium, Leach Teaching Gardens and MSC renovation; he is a Diamond-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 30 years of giving, and has supported the 12th Man Foundation and the George and Barbara Bush Foundation and created a scholarship, professorship and chair in petroleum engineering.
He is a Petroleum Museum Hall of Fame honoree and a member of the All-American Wildcatters Association.
His service to A&M and his community includes serving as president of the board of the Scharbauer Foundation, on the Midland College Foundation board of directors and Midland Memorial Foundation board of governors, as a former member of The Association of Former Students’ board and as an emeritus member of A&M’s College of Engineering Advisory Council.
He and wife Amy Leach ’84 have two sons, William ’12 (married to Kimberley ’12) and Patrick ’14 (married to Courtney ’15).
"Texas A&M gave me the technical credentials, teamwork experience, work ethic and contacts to make a successful career, and the Aggie core values gave me the tools for a successful life.”
- Tim Leach '82
Dr. R. Bowen
Loftin ’71
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Year Awarded: 2020
Bryan, TX
Loftin served as the 24th president of Texas A&M University from 2010 to 2014 and 22nd chancellor of the University of Missouri in 2014-15. Previously, he served as A&M’s interim president; vice president of A&M and chief executive officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston; executive director of Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center; director of the University of Houston’s Virtual Environments Research Institute and chair of the UH Department of Computer Science.
As a student, he was active in SCONA (Student Conference on National Affairs) and worked 20 hours a week on campus, while graduating in three years with a bachelor’s degree in physics. He earned a master’s and doctorate in physics from Rice University.
His awards include the NASA Invention of the Year Award and the NASA Public Service Medal, but the one that gave him “the greatest sense of accomplishment,” he said, was the 1982 UH-Downtown Award for Excellence in Teaching, at that time the only teaching award given across the entire campus. He has served on boards and committees including Chief Executive Officers of the Southeastern Conference, the FBI’s National Security Higher Education Advisory Board and, currently, the MRIGlobal Research Institute board of trustees.
He is an Endowed Century Club member with The Association, with 30 years of giving. He and wife Karin created a 12th Man Foundation endowment in memory of SEC Commissioner Mike Slive supporting student-athletes, a Bush School international studies endowment and a scholarship honoring Dorothy and Richard Loftin.
He and Karin have two children and seven grandchildren.
“Texas A&M is not just a place, not just a university, not just the name on my diploma — Texas A&M is a body of shared ideals and shared beliefs that accompany one on their life’s journey.”
- Dr. R. Bowen Loftin '71
Thomas J.
Saylak ’82
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Year Awarded: 2020
Scarsdale, NY
Saylak co-founded and for more than nine years served as co-head of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, now the world’s largest and most successful real estate investment firm. He then served as president of Merrill Lynch Global Commercial Real Estate, which conducted the firm's real estate investment banking, financing and principal investment activities worldwide.
As a student, Saylak belonged to the Singing Cadets, Century Singers and College of Business Honors Program.
He is an Endowed Century Club member of The Association, with 30 years of giving, and donated a President's Endowed Scholarship in honor of his parents. He was named an Outstanding Alumnus of the Mays Business School in 2001.
Saylak is a trustee and past chairman of the Texas A&M Foundation, a board member and vice chairman of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and a trustee of Washington, D.C., public TV station WETA, which produces The PBS NewsHour.
His Aggie family includes his father, Dr. Donald Saylak ’72, and his late brother, Dan Saylak ’79. He and wife Laurie Stanford Saylak ’82 have a daughter and son-in-law.
“A&M has been a presence through virtually every important passage in my life."
- Thomas J. Saylak '82
R. Sam
Torn ’70
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Year Awarded: 2020
Houston, TX
For 36 years, Torn and his wife, Susan ’13, have owned and operated Incomparable Camp Ozark, one of the largest residential summer camps in the nation, where they have impacted over 200,000 children and thousands of staff.
Torn is also developer and owner of Camp OTX, executive director of Camp War Eagle for underserved children, and founder and chairman of Ozone Ministries and Ozark for All camp. He is a member of Texas’ Higher Education Coordinating Board.
As a student, he was head yell leader, in charge of building A&M’s largest Bonfire, and a member of the Corps’ Company F-2, the varsity baseball team and the Student Senate.
Torn is a past chair of the 12th Man Foundation, cochaired the Kyle Field Redevelopment Committee and $485 million campaign and coordinated the redevelopment of Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
The Torns received the 12th Man Foundation’s E. King Gill Award in 2016. Torn is a member of the Corps Hall of Honor and Texas A&M Lettermen’s Association Hall of Honor. He has been a Class Agent for the Class of ’70, an Association area representative and past president of the Association of Former Yell Leaders.
Torn is an Endowed Century Club member of The Association of Former Students, with 28 years of giving.
His Aggie family includes his late father, Roland S. Torn ’38. The Torns have three children, Scott ’95 (married to Secily ’95), Chris ’97 (married to Ceci ’98) and Angela ’02 (married to Stephan ’02), and 13 grandchildren including two Aggies, Sam ’23 and Caroline ’24.
“To me, Texas A&M means legacy, the necessity of being thankful for the opportunity afforded by the efforts of those who came before and the responsibility to make it an even better opportunity for those who come after.”
- R. Sam Torn '70
John D.
White ’70
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Year Awarded: 2020
College Station, TX
White is a former Air Force judge advocate with over 40 years’ experience as a fund manager and lawyer. He is a member of the American Bar Foundation and Texas Bar Foundation, a charter member of the Houston Bar Foundation and has been board certified in civil litigation.
As a student, he was a member of the Ross Volunteers Firing Squad, First Wing commander in the Corps of Cadets and a committee chairman for SCONA (Student Conference on National Affairs).
He is a chairman emeritus of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, a trustee of the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, a former board member of The Association of Former Students, a former board chairman for the Ed Rachal Foundation, a past director of the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Company (UTIMCO) and a former director of the Greater Houston Partnership, a fellow of the American Leadership Forum and a past chairman of the Texas Young Lawyers Association.
White is a Corps Hall of Honor inductee and a namesake of A&M’s John D. White ’70-Robert L. Walker ’58 Music Activities Center. In 2007, he was named the Texas Aggie Bar Association’s Lawyer of the Year.
He is an Endowed Century Club member of The Association, with 31 years of giving; he has supported the 12th Man Foundation and the Bush Foundation, and he and his wife, Daisy, created the Neva and A. E. (Buddy) White ’42 President’s Endowed Scholarship.
His Aggie family includes his late father, A.E. White ’42. He and Daisy have two daughters and five grandchildren.
Charean
Williams ’86
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Year Awarded: 2020
Arlington, TX
Williams became the first woman to enter the writers’ wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 when her peers voted her the 50th recipient of the Dick McCann Award for a long and distinguished career covering professional football. The 2020 season is her 27th covering the NFL, including more than a decade as a Dallas Cowboys beat reporter.
She became the first female Pro Football Hall of Fame selector in 2007 and the first female president of the Pro Football Writers of America in 2009.
As a student, she wrote for The Battalion student newspaper and earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism. In 2018, she got a master’s degree in mass communication from South Dakota State University.
She has reported on the NFL for the Orlando Sentinel, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and currently NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk website. She has covered 26 Super Bowls and seven Olympic Games.
Williams serves on the board of the Pro Football Writers, is an adjunct professor in the sport management program at SMU and is an active member at First United Methodist Arlington.
She frequently returns to A&M to speak to journalism students and Battalion staffers.
She is a Diamond-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 31 years of giving, and has funded scholarships for Aggie journalism majors.
Her husband, Tom Dumper, is a former A&M assistant volleyball coach.
“It’s as simple as this, I have had many firsts in my career as a woman in a male-dominated field. I would not have accomplished anything in my career without Texas A&M and my journalism degree from the Liberal Arts department. It set in motion everything that has happened since.”
- Charean Williams '86