Khalid A.
Al-Falih ’82
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Year Awarded: 2013
Dhaharan, Saudi Arabia
Khalid A. Al-Falih, Class of 1982, graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and went on to King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals to earn an MBA in 1991.
Al-Falih’s time at Texas A&M was sponsored by Saudi Aramco — Saudi Arabia’s state oil company — which he joined in 1979. After graduation from Texas A&M, Al-Falih returned to the Kingdom, working his way up from senior project engineer to manager of business analysis by 1998. In 1999, he became president of Petron Corporation, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and the Philippine National Oil Company, and then leader of Saudi Negotiations Team for the Kingdom’s Natural Gas Initiative in 2000. He then transitioned from vice president to senior vice president and then executive vice president, overseeing various functions within Saudi Aramco from 2001 to 2008. In 2009, Al-Falih stepped into his current role as president and CEO for Saudi Aramco — the world’s largest petroleum company — where he also sits on the Board of Directors.
Al-Falih has remained committed to quality education and professional development. In 2009, he led Saudi Aramco’s successful effort to establish the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology — North of Jiddah, on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Coast. Al-Falih is currently leading efforts to create the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture — in Dhahran, near Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Gulf Coast.
Al-Falih is an advocate of creating a diverse economy fed by new businesses and the stimulation of job creation in the Kingdom. Under his leadership, Saudi Aramco has embarked on several mega projects including the development of Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical. Upon completion, Sadara will represent the largest petrochemical facility ever built in a single phase.
Al-Falih is the first Distinguished Alumnus to have graduated from Texas A&M in the 1980s, and he is the third former student to earn both the distinction of Distinguished Alumnus and also Outstanding International Alumnus, a title he received in 2010.
Al-Falih lives in Saudi Arabia with his wife and five children.
"The worldwide network of Texas A&M is a fellowship distinguished not just by the quality of its education, but by a lasting sense of identity and purpose."
T. Randall
Cain ’82
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Year Awarded: 2019
San Antonio, TX
Randy Cain ’82 retired as vice chair and Southwest Region managing partner at Ernst & Young in 2019. His 36-year career with Ernst & Young included 26 years as a partner and several leadership positions, including San Antonio office managing partner and Southwest Region tax managing partner.
Cain graduated cum laude with a BBA in accounting from Texas A&M in 1982. As a student, he was active in intramural athletics, the College Republicans and served as a Brazos County precinct chair.
He is a member of Texas A&M’s Mays Business School Dean’s Advisory Council and the Benjamin Department of Accounting Advisory Council. In 2013, he was named a Mays Outstanding Alumnus.
Cain is a past chair of the 12th Man Foundation board of directors, where he is on the Champions Council. A member of the Texas A&M Foundation Board of Trustees, he served as chairman of the board in 2017.
He is a member of The Association of Former Students’ Century Club, with 14 years of giving. He and his wife, Jyl, have also created an Aggie Ring Scholarship and established an Accounting Education Excellence Fund at Mays.
Cain’s civic leadership includes his current service as treasurer for the board of trustees for the Southwest School of Art and past roles as chairman of the Valero Alamo Bowl, San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, Junior Achievement of South Texas and the American Heart Association of North Texas. He was appointed by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry ’72 to serve on the Texas Tax Reform Commission and Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
"Randy bleeds maroon and exemplifies Texas A&M's core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service. He continues to build a legacy that will support Texas A&M for years to come."
- Andrew Beakey III '84
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
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
Kathleen Miller
Gibson ’81
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Year Awarded: 2018
Dallas, TX
The president and CEO of Southwestern Medical Foundation, she spent 25 years at Bank of America, where she held leadership roles in corporate banking, international banking, asset management, risk and commercial banking, and was president of Bank of America-Dallas; moving next to Citibank, she became president of Citibank Central US Commercial and Citibank Texas.
She was named to Profiles in Diversity’s “10th Annual Women Worth Watching” and by the Dallas Business Journal as a “Top 25 Industry Leader in Women in Business.” She has been Chair of the Board for The Association of Former Students and a trustee of the Texas A&M Foundation, the 2018 campus Muster speaker and a Fish Camp namesake.
As a student, she was elected to Student Government for four years, serving as vice president for academic affairs her senior year, and was in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, SCONA and the Century Singers.
Her awards have included A&M’s agricultural economics Tyrus R. Timm Honor Registry and the Women’s Legacy Award. She serves on the advisory board of A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service and previously served on boards including the Dallas Regional Chamber, Children’s Medical Center, Lamplighter School and the Dallas 2012 Olympic Bid Committee.
Miller Gibson is an Endowed Century Club member of The Association with 17 years of giving. She established the Jarvis E. Miller ’50 Excellence Fund for International Education.
Her family includes husband Robert; daughters Catherine Wade Gibson and Sarah Chamberlain Gibson ’15; three sisters, including Margaret Miller Moten ’83; father, Jarvis Ernest Miller ’50; and grandfather Richard Cook Miller ’26.
“Aggies lead and stand for traditions and values that make this the most remarkable place on earth,” said Miller Gibson. “Aggies are a bright light in a world that needs such bright light.”
- Kathleen Miller Gibson
Bill
Jones ’81
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Year Awarded: 2022
Austin, TX
“I have tried to do all things such that anyone following me would have difficulty doing them better,” said Bill Jones ’81.
From the time he entered as a student at Texas A&M, Jones has displayed a dedication to excellence. He was named Outstanding Freshman in the Corps of Cadets, and would go on to become First Brigade commander and a Ross Volunteer. Not only that, but he served off the quad as both sophomore class president and president of the MSC Fall Leadership Committee. In each of these positions, Jones strengthened his leadership skills through service to others.
After graduating with a degree in business management, Jones enrolled at Baylor Law, earning his Juris Doctor in 1985. The early part of his legal career focused on litigation, dealing with complex business cases in both state and federal courts. Jones paused his time in private practice for three years to serve as general counsel to Gov. Rick Perry ’72. Now, Jones owns and is current principal of The Jones Firm, where he specializes in matters of public law and government relations. In addition, Jones manages a startup company: AFCI Texas LLC.
Jones has consistently risen to leadership — not only in his professional life, but also in his philanthropic service. Jones is a chairman emeritus of The Texas A&M System Board of Regents and a former board member of The Association of Former Students. He has served as commissioner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Association, president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association, treasurer of the Texas Association of Business and as a member of the ERCOT Selection Committee. He is president of the Texas African American History Memorial Foundation, placing the Texas African American History Memorial on the state capitol grounds during his tenure.
Jones and his wife, Johnita ’83, have three children and two grandchildren.
“Bill reflects the best of A&M core values and is a role model for those that have come after him.”
- John D. White '70
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
Dan Allen
Hughes, Jr. ’80
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Year Awarded: 2019
Alamo Heights, TX
With 39 years of experience in oil and gas exploration and production, Dan Allen Hughes, Jr. ’80 is the president of the Dan A. Hughes Co., as well as other oil and gas related companies.
Hughes graduated from Texas A&M in 1980 with a BBA in management. As a student, he was the outstanding freshman in the Corps of Cadets’ Squadron 7, commander of 2nd Group and a member of SCONA and Phi Gamma Delta.
After earning his degree from A&M and completing further studies in geology at Texas A&I University, Hughes joined his family’s oil and gas firm, learning the business from his father, Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus, Dan A. Hughes, Sr. ’51.
An Outstanding Alumnus of Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, he has served on many advisory boards at A&M and was on the university’s presidential search committee from 2013 to 2015. His support of A&M has included being a major donor for A&M’s Berg-Hughes Center for Petroleum and Sedimentary Systems, Kyle Field redevelopment and athletic facilities, Corps scholarships and many other areas. He also serves on Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s advisory board.
He is a member of The Association of Former Students’ Century Club, with 23 years of giving. He serves on the 12th Man Foundation’s Champions Council and A&M’s Lead by Example National Campaign Council.
From 2013 to 2015, he was chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, on which he served from 2009 to 2015.
Service to his community includes raising funds for children’s charities in Bexar County, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and the state’s purchase of Devils River State Natural Area.
"Dan has given of himself and his resources to not only support Texas A&M, but the entire state of Texas and his country. He is a man of integrity and vision. He is successful in business, but constantly looking for an opportunity to give back to the community and Texas A&M."
- Bill Jones '81
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
Mark W.
Albers ’79
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Year Awarded: 2022
The Woodlands, TX
Mark W. Albers ’79 believes, “We are all put here for a purpose, and that purpose is not ‘all about us.’” Rather, he says, our purpose “is found in the One who put us here in the first place.”
From the beginning, Albers knew he wanted a career in oil. He studied petroleum engineering at A&M, participating in Student Engineers’ Council, Engineering Honor Society, Campus Crusade for Christ and even walking onto the football team. After graduating summa cum laude, Albers soon found a job with Exxon. It was the perfect fit. Albers remained at ExxonMobil for over 38 years, eventually working his way up to corporate senior vice president over the upstream at the company’s headquarters in Irving, Texas. Albers’ career took him from Australia to Africa, bringing on new supplies of energy.
While excelling in industry, Albers also found the time to stay involved in his local community. Albers is an area advisor to Men’s Bible Study Fellowship over Houston and East Texas, providing leadership for about 2,500 participants. He has served on the boards of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, CEO Forum and the Grace School of Theology.
Service to Texas A&M has remained a priority to Albers. Albers served on the boards of The Association of Former Students, the A&M System’s University Lands Board, and the Engineering Advisory Board. Albers and his wife, Cindy, are Endowed Century Club members. They have funded an endowed scholarship, an endowed faculty fellowship, and classroom improvements in the new Zachry engineering complex.
Three of Mark and Cindy’s four children attended A&M with their spouses: Byron ’06 (Sharla ’06), Amanda ’11 (Scott ’11), and Amy ’15 (Tony ’11). Their son David (Marin) graduated from Rice University. They have 12 grandchildren.
“Mark is a steady influence with the rare gift of raising the level of accomplishment of all those with whom he works.”
- George N. Harris, Jr. '85