Dr. Carl F. Raba, Jr. ’59
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Year Awarded: 2004

Houston, TX

Dr. Carl F. Raba, Jr. '59 received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in Civil Engineering in 1961, 1962 and 1968, respectively. As a student, he served as Cadet Lieutenant, A Engineers of the Corps of Cadets, and was a member honor and engineering societies Chi Epsilon, Sigma Xi, and Tau Beta Phi. Raba was commissioned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1961 and served in the 16th Combat Engineering Battalion from 1963 to 1965.



In 1968, he became President of Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc. where he has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 1980. He has earned recognition from numerous professional socities, including the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Texas Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.



Raba has been a loyal supporter of Texas A&M throughout his life, serving on various advisory and development committees in the Dwight Look College of Engineering, the Board of Directors of the Center for Education and Research for Free Enterprise and 12th Man Foundation, and the Corps of Cadets Development Council. He is also a dedicated community servant, giving his time and talents to the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the Southwest Research Institute, and the Rotary Club.



Born in Houston, Raba and his late wife, Bunny Jean, have five children, Gary '80, Nancy '82, Cathy '84, Cheryl '85 and William '86, as well as nine grandchildren.

"Whatever small accomplishments Bunny Jean and I may have achieved was in large part because of our experiences and personal values learned at Texas A&M University. For this, we are eternally grateful and mindful of our responsibilities to A&M and those students who follow us in the future."

Dr. J. Richard Steadman ’59
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Year Awarded: 2015

Vail, CO

Dr. J. Richard Steadman, Class of 1959, received a bachelor’s degree in zoology at Texas A&M, where he played football during his freshman and sophomore years for legendary coach Bear Bryant. He received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and then served in the U.S. Army as the commander of an armored medical company.



As an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in knee injuries and disorders, Dr. Steadman developed a revolutionary approach to knee surgery including a microfracture procedure used to treat more than 500,000 patients a year that has been adapted to other joints such as the shoulder and hip. He is the founder and chairman emeritus of The Steadman Clinic and founder and co-chairman of the nonprofit Steadman Philippon Research Institute, a world leader in orthopaedic research and education, known for its clinical research database and study of orthopaedic injuries associated with the knee, shoulder, ankle, hip, and spine.



Dr. Steadman was the U.S. Alpine Team Physician at nine Winter Olympics, from 1972 to 2006. His success in returning many elite athletes to major athletic achievements following potentially career-ending injuries includes 26 athletes from professional soccer, 45 from the NFL, 23 from the MLB, eight in the NBA and 26 snow skiers. He served as consultant to the Denver Broncos football team and the Colorado Rockies baseball team. He has been elected to a wide variety of sports medicine associations and is a 2015 inductee to the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Hall of Fame.



He and wife, Gay L. Steadman, have two children, Lyon and Liddy, six grandchildren, and three grandchildren.

"While Dr. Richard Steadman is highly acclaimed for his treatment of high-performing athletes, he prefers to be known as one who has helped average people resume active lives after debilitating illness or injury."

  - Coach Gene Stalling '57

Roderick D. Stepp ’59
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Year Awarded: 2007

Wichita Falls, TX

Stepp received a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from Texas A&M University in 1959. As a student at Texas A&M, Stepp was the editor of the 1959 Aggieland. He was a member of the Corps of Cadets and the Ross Volunteers and was named Distinguished Student and Distinguished Military Graduate.



Stepp began his career in 1959 with Pan American Petroleum. In 1961, he was called to service with the United States Army, where he served until 1963. In 1963, Stepp purchased interest in a small family-owned metal shop in Fort Worth with six employees. Under his business expertise, M&M Manufacturing Company has grown to become a major manufacturer of construction-related products utilizing leading edge technology to create state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with six manufacturing plants and over 700 employees. Stepp co-funded and introduced a very significant research project to the Energy Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M University and co-funded a marketing project with Mays Business School.



As a former student, Stepp has generously served Texas A&M with his time and talent as member, president and Muster chair of the Fort Worth/Tarrant County A&M Club and vice president of The Association of Former Students. He served as president of the 12th Man Foundation, member and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Texas A&M Foundation, and member of the President’s Board of Visitors. Stepp has been Muster speaker and served on the Vision 2020 Council and One Spirit One Vision Campaign. Born in Wichita Falls, Stepp and his wife, Claudia, reside in Fort Worth and have two children, Randall and Rhonda, and four grandchildren.

Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr. ’60
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Year Awarded: 2009

Arlington, VA

Aldridge earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in the same field from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1962. As a student, he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Institute of Aerospace Sciences, Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the Shreveport Hometown Club.



Aldridge’s distinguished 42-year career in the aeronautics field included 18 years of service in the Pentagon under three separate presidential administrations. He served as the director of Planning and Evaluation, as Under Secretary and then Secretary of the Air Force, and finally as the under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. He also served as president of McDonnell Douglas Electronic Systems Company from 1988-1992 and as president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation from 1992-2001.



Aldridge was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, presented the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association and has been a volunteer and contributor to dozens of educational and non-profit organizations. He is an Honorary Fellow and Past President of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.



Active in his support to Texas A&M, Aldridge has donated generously to the Department of Aerospace Engineering and is an Endowed Century Club member with The Association of Former Students.



He is a native of Shreveport, La., and currently lives in Arlington, VA with his wife, Jody. They have three sons; Michael, David, and Mark; a daughter, Lori Aldridge-Boyd; and six grandchildren.

"The academic education I received at Texas A&M is clearly at the top, since it gave me the background and skills to continue my education and to prepare me to enter my professional career. But almost as important, are the leadership skills I obtained from my years at Texas A&M in the Corps of Cadets. The Corps not only taught me how to follow, but also how to lead. These academic and leadership skills have benefited my career and my life."

William B. Heye, Jr. ’60
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Year Awarded: 1991

San Antonio, TX

Heye received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1960 and later, a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School. After a 20+ year career with Texas Instruments, Heye served as Vice President and General Manager of the Ampex Corp., which markets products used in graphics, editing and special effects.



Mr. Heye has been a Campus Muster Speaker and a Distinguished Visiting Executive Series speaker in the College of Business. Heye and his wife, Joan, were awarded Aggie Parents of the Year 1986-87.

Dr. Jack E. Little ’60
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Year Awarded: 2000

Dallas, TX

Little received bachelor’s, master’s and Doctorate of Petroleum Engineering degrees. Near the end of his 32-year career with Shell Oil Company, he was named President and Chief Executive Officer.



He received Texas A&M’s Look College of Engineering Outstanding Alumni Honor Award, the Texas A&M Department of Petroleum Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Distinguished Achievement Medal from Texas A&M as well. Little was named an Outstanding Houston Aggie by the Houston A&M Club.



He serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of America and M.D. Anderson Board of Visitors and on the Board of Trustees of the Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Baptist University.

"I love Texas A&M and I want to see us be at the top."

Hon. Jack M. Rains ’60
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Year Awarded: 1987

Waco, TX

Rains received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1960 and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston College of Law. He was President, CEO and Chairman of the Board for 3D International and served as Secretary of State under Governor Bill Clements.



Recognized statewide for his devotion to Texas A&M , Mr. Rains has served his alma mater as a Chairman of the Task Force on Academic Institutions of the Target 2000 Project and a s a director and Vice President of The Association of Former Students. Rains was a member of The Association of Former Students Board of Directors for three years. He also helped establish the College of Architecture and Environmental Design Development Council, the Council on the Visual Arts, and the Memorial Student Center Enrichment Fund.

"With regard to Texas A&M I don’t think I can state Jack’s love for this university. He, like many of us, has been bitten by whatever attaches us to the University and he is always willing to give his time and money to assist the University and those students who attend A&M."

  - Arno W. Krebs, Jr. '64

Jim R. Adams ’61
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Year Awarded: 1999

San Antonio, TX

Adams received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics/Physics in 1961. After graduation from A&M he served as an officer in the US Army on active duty until 1963 with the US Army Signal Corp. He later received a Master’s and Doctorate degree in Statistics and Business Finance from the University of Texas. In 1992, he was named Group President of SBC Communications, Inc. and also served as Chairman of the Board of Texas Instruments, Inc. from 1996-1998.



In addition to his career involvement, he was co-founder of the Dallas Partnership, the economic development arm of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and also chaired the Economic Development Task Force to develop legislative plans for the Governor’s Office. Adams and his wife, Judy, have three children, Dana, Leslie, and Jim.

"Jim Adams is truly a son of A&M. Coupled with his achievements in his chosen profession; Jim has always been a person who gave back to the community more than he received."

  - Henry Gilchrist '46

Harold L. Adams ’61
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Year Awarded: 2011

Baltimore, MD

Adams earned his bachelor’s degree in architectural design from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. As a student, he received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal for Outstanding Service to the School of Architecture and was active with the Student Conference on National Affairs.



After graduation from A&M, he worked for several architectural firms before joining RTKL Associates in Baltimore in 1967. He became president in 1968, CEO in 1971, and chairman of the board in 1987. He was one of the first Americans to hold a “first class Kenchikushi” (architecture) license, awarded by Japan’s Ministry of Construction, and he is a licensed architect in the United Kingdom. He served as chancellor of the AIA College of Fellows from 1997 to 1998, and founded and chaired for 17 years the AIA’s Large Firm Round Table. He worked with President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy on the design of Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, helped select the site for Kennedy’s presidential library and was project director for the Kennedy gravesite memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and received its Kemper Medal in 1997.



He is a member of The Association of Former Students Century Club and on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Architecture. He has endowed three professorships and a scholarship at A&M and was the College of Architecture’s chairman for the One Spirit One Vision capital campaign. He also lectures at A&M each year. He was selected as an Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Architecture in 1998.



Mr. Adams is active in business, arts, education and civic organizations as chairman of the Board of Regents of the American Architectural Foundation, chairman and trustee of the National Building Museum and chairman of the Governor’s International Advisory Council. He has served as chairman of the board of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, chairman of the Design-Build Institute of America, and commissioner of the Maryland Economic Development Commission. He founded and has served for 20 years as chairman of the board of the World Trade Center Institute.



Adams and his wife, Janice, have four children, two of whom attended A&M, and 11 grandchildren.

“What I gained from Texas A&M that has been beneficial to me in my career and life is the positive thinking and the ‘we can conquer anything attitude.”

Richard A. Box ’61
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Year Awarded: 2019

Austin, TX

As commanding general of the Texas State Guard from 2000 to 2006, Dr. Richard A. Box ’61 helped lead the state’s response during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Box earned a B.S. in Zoology from Texas A&M in 1961, and while a student, was a member of Company H-2, on 2nd Brigade staff in the Corps of Cadets. He lettered in varsity tennis and was in the Pre- Medical/Pre-Dental Club and Brush Country Hometown Club.

After graduating from A&M, he completed a doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of Texas Dental Branch-Houston and served as an Army dentist during the Vietnam War. Recently retired from dental practice in Austin, he is a Fellow in both the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists and currently serves as a trustee of the Texas Higher Education Foundation.

His service to the state of Texas also includes having served on the Texas Real Estate Commission and as chairman of the State of Texas Aircraft Pooling Board.

Box is a chairman emeritus of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, having chaired the board from 2011 to 2013, when he helped lead A&M’s transition to the Southeastern Conference. He is a member of the Texas A&M Lettermen’s Association board of directors, and has served on the President’s Council of Advisors. He is a longtime member of the Corps of Cadets Association and was inducted into the Corps Hall of Honor in 2017. Box is a member of The Association of Former Students’ Century Club, with 19 years of giving.

He has also served on the Austin Symphony Board and the Boy Scouts Capitol Area Council.

Box and his wife, Lynn, reside in Austin, and their Aggie family includes his brother, James E. Box, Jr. ’52, and nephews, Ted Boriack ’85, Clark Boriack ’90, Paul Boriack’15 and Andrew Davis, M.D. ’16.

"Dr. Box will go down in history as one of our great leaders at Texas A&M, leading this great university through one of the most expansive periods in our history. His selfless service as Chair of the Board of Regents has made a huge impact on our students and faculty across the university and The Texas A&M University System."

  - Jim Schwertner