Joseph V.
Tortorice, Jr. ’70
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Year Awarded: 2019
Beaumont, TX
Joe Tortorice, Jr. ’70 founded Jason’s Deli in 1976. The Beaumont-based restaurant chain has since expanded to 294 delis in 28 states and was the first national chain restaurant to eliminate partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, monosodium glutamate and artificial dyes from its menu. Its Career Path program helps employees learn life skills and pace their own growth.
Tortorice earned a BBA in marketing from Texas A&M in 1970 and an MBA from Lamar University in 1971. As a student at Texas A&M, Tortorice was a Ross Volunteer, member of the RV Firing Squad and on 1st Group staff. He was also a business manager for Town Hall and a member of the American Marketing Society and Alpha Delta Sigma.
As a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force, he earned the National Defense Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.
Tortorice has been honored by Texas A&M as a member of the Corps Hall of Honor and an Outstanding Alumnus of the Mays Business School. He has served A&M on development councils and as a guest lecturer at Mays.
A member of The Association of Former Student’s Century Club with 31 years of giving, Tortorice established a Mays faculty fellowship and Gen. Rudder Corps Scholarships through the Texas A&M Foundation.
Tortorice was part of the Catholic Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He was also active with Beaumont’s St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica ACTS ministry, St. Mary’s in College Station and Kolbe ministry to prisons and has been a Bishop’s Faith Appeal director in Beaumont and a member of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors.
"Joe's service and support for Texas A&M has been both personal and philanthropic. When Texas A&M has called, he has answered. He is an extraordinary human being and one of my all-time heroes."
- Dr. Eddie Joe Davis '67
Dr. C. M.
Cocanougher ’53
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Year Awarded: 2020
Decatur, TX
When Dr. C. M. Cocanougher ’53 came to A&M in 1949, he was the first in his family to go to college.
“Upon arriving on an overcrowded campus shortly after World War II that fall, he lived with 20 freshmen in barracks located around Easterwood Airport,” Charles Gary Cocanougher ’77 said of his late father.
“The comradeship, rapport and friendships that were established that fall among those young fish was never forgotten by Charles, nor was his love for Texas A&M.”
Cocanougher built a veterinary practice in Wise County with three clinics, and was a longtime civic leader and businessman in Decatur, including serving as a Decatur City Council member.
As a student, he played trumpet in the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band and served in the Student Senate, and earned his doctorate of veterinary medicine in ’55.
He was named an Outstanding Alumnus of A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and 1985’s Citizen of the Year in Decatur. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a captain and base veterinarian. He was a president and rodeo secretary of the Wise County Sheriff’s Posse, president of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, officer of the Decatur Rotary Club and charter member and chairman of the Wise County American Heart Association chapter. He also served on the Texas Veterinary Medical Association board of directors.
He and wife Jo Ann endowed A&M scholarships, including 10 veterinary school scholarships, and two annuities; he was a Gold-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 37 years of giving.
The Cocanoughers have five children, Gary ’77, D’Ann, Beth ’80, Scott ’82 and Mary Kay ’86, and 11 grandchildren, including Chris Anne ’01, Austin ’16 and Gary ’20.
Mike A.
Hernandez III ’83
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Year Awarded: 2020
Ft. Worth, TX
His native Rio Grande Valley has always been important to Mike Hernandez III ’83, who founded the Brownsville Scholars Program at Texas A&M specifically to send low-income students from his hometown to become Aggies.
Hernandez is the owner and CEO of D&M Leasing, one of 2019’s Top 100 Places to Work rated by the Dallas Morning News, among the Fort Worth Business Press’s Top 5 privately-held companies and Dealer Rater’s Top Leasing Company in America. He is the president and founder of the Hernandez Foundation, which has provided significant support to area schools and scholarships, and has supported nonprofit ventures that boost opportunities in Cameron County.
In 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed him as a member of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.
He was recognized as one of Fort Worth’s top CEOs in 2014 and one of FTWInc’s “400 Most Influential and Powerful Leaders in Greater Fort Worth” in 2018.
In 2016, he was named Brownsville’s “Person of the Year,” and in 2017, he was Rio Grande Valley’s Citizen of the Year, Honorable Mention.
He is a member of the advisory committee for Texas A&M’s McAllen campus and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s advisory committee on workforce training. He is also a member of the National Automobile Dealers Association and Texas Automobile Dealers Association.
Hernandez is a Diamond-level member of The Association’s Century Club, with 12 years of giving, and has supported the ACREW Living Learning Community at A&M.
His Aggie family includes his father, Mike Hernandez Jr. ’54, sisters Ana Hernandez Franklin ’80 and Sandra Hernandez, ’84, brother Albert Hernandez ’87 and great-great-uncle Praxedis Orive, Class of 1897.
He and wife Kelly have four children, two daughters-in-law and five grandchildren.
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