Francis C. Turner ’29
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Year Awarded: 1969

Dallas, TX

Turner received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1929. He joined the Bureau of Public Roads in 1929 as a Junior Highway Engineer, rising to Federal Highway Administrator with responsibility for all highway activities in the U.S. Department of Transportation.



He has served throughout the United States, in Canada, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories in connection with the construction of the Alaska Highway, and in the Philippines. Turner is known in the United States and abroad for his many contributions to the advancement of highway and traffic engineering and has participated in a number of international conferences devoted to these pursuits. He has received many notable rewards for his accomplishments, including the Thomas H. MacDonald Memorial Award in 1962 and the George S. Bartlett Award in 1965.

LTG Andrew D. Bruce ’16
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Year Awarded: 1968

St. Louis, MO

Bruce received a bachelor’s degree in Dairy Science in 1916 and an honorary L.L.D. in 1946. He served 37 years in the U.S. Army seeing action in World Wars I and II. He entered the service as Second Lieutenant and rose to Lieutenant General. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.



In 1966, Bruce retired as Chancellor of the University of Houston System after seven years of service. Under his leadership, the University of Houston achieved accreditation, strengthened its faculty, expanded its facilities, raised its academic standards, and won state support. Bruce was also a Former Director of Houston Chamber of Commerce and Former Trustee of Southwest Research Institute and Scott and White Memorial Hospital.

Roy B. Davis ’27
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Year Awarded: 1968

McGregor, TX

Davis received a bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry in 1927. During his more than 45-year career, “Mr. Cotton” received numerous awards for his service to the agriculture industry.



Davis was named “Man of the Year in Texas Agriculture” by Progressive Farmer Magazine and was a recipient of the Federal Land Bank Golden Anniversary Medallion authorized by Congress and the President for outstanding contribution to American agriculture.

Michel T. Halbouty ’30
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Year Awarded: 1968

Beaumont, TX

Halbouty received a bachelor’s degree in Geology in 1930 and a master’s degree in Petroleum/Geological Engineering in 1931. Halbouty is a renowned earth scientist and engineer whose career and accomplishments in geology and petroleum engineering have earned him recognition as an outstanding geoscientist.



In addition to endowing student scholarships at Texas A&M, Halbouty received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Dwight Look College of Engineering, served as a Visiting Centennial Professor, was a founding member of the President’s Endowed Scholars Program, and was influential in bringing the George Bush Presidential Library to Texas A&M.

"Michael Halbouty was a great Aggie, a great Texan and a great American who was respected around the world. His contributions to Texas A&M—materially, in active support for a broad range of programs, and helping secure the Bush Library for Texas A&M—are of immeasurable significance and will be remembered for generations to come, as will his contributions to the fields of geology and oil and gas exploration."

  - Robert Gates, Past President of Texas A&M University

Carl C. “Polly” Krueger ’12
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Year Awarded: 1968

Twin Sisters, TX

Krueger received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1912. He was President of San Antonio Machine and Supply Co. from 1923 until his retirement in 1961. The company developed from annual sales of $1 million to $18 million under his 38 years of leadership.



Krueger served on the Board of Directors of the A&M College of Texas System, was the fourth President of The Association of Former Students, and the founding President of the San Antonio A&M Club. Very active in civic affairs, he has served the Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers Association as officer and director.

"For many years, I have wanted to do something of lasting benefit for A&M, its students and staff. As a 1912 graduate, I am grateful for all the college did for me in preparing me for what I hope has been and will continue to be a useful life."

James W. Aston ’33
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Year Awarded: 1967

Dallas, TX

Aston received his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1933. He served in World War II, rising to the rank of colonel and received the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Service Medal. He joined the Republic National Bank where he served as Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer.



Aston also served as the Director of the National Boy Scouts of America, the Cotton Bowl Council and its Athletic Association, and the Dallas Citizen’s Council. In 1957, Sports Illustrated named the former A&M fullback to its Silver Anniversary All-American Football Team. Aston served as President of The Association of Former Students in 1961. Aston and his wife, Sarah, have a son, James.

"A man of selfless generosity, Jimmie Aston’s involvement in the well being and betterment of his fellow man is active and real."

  - Excerpt from the Humanitarian Award Dinner invitation honoring James W. Aston '33

Ernest D. Brockett ’34
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Year Awarded: 1967

Itasca, TX

Brockett came to A&M in 1930 and was a member of “A” and “B” Company Engineers, the Scholarship Honor Society and the Petroleum Engineers Club.



After receiving his degree in petroleum production engineering, he went to work as a roustabout for Gulf and learned the oil business from the derrick floor up. He became a production engineer in Odessa in 1936 and held that post until his military service call in 1940. He served with distinction in the Army’s Pacific campaigns from Australia to Japan. He took part in engagements in Lae, Linschhafen, Hollandia, Leyte, Visayan and Mindoro and was among the first Americans to arrive in the Japanese homeland. He was promoted to colonel and earned the Legion of Merit, Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star with Cluster, Air Medal and Purple Heart for gallantry in these actions. The British Government also awarded him the Distinguished Service Order.



In 1945 he returned to Gulf as assistant chief engineer at Fort Worth. In 1948 he was named assistant superintendent of production and the following year transferred to Pittsburg as staff engineer for production.



In 1952 he went to Venezuela as assistant to the president of Mene Grande Oil Company. He was elected a vice president of Gulf in 1955 and placed in charge of Houston’s production division. Two years later he returned to the company’s headquarters as administrative vice president. He became president of British American Oil in 1958 and in 1960 was named Gulf’s executive vice president and elected a director of the corporation. He was chosen to be president later that year and in 1965 named Chairman of the Board.



He is a trustee of Carnegie Institute of Technology and director of Westinghouse Electric, West Penn Hospital, the National Petroleum Council, and other civic and professional groups.

MG Alvin R. Luedecke ’32
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Year Awarded: 1967

El Dorado, TX

Luedecke received a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1932. His 30+ year career included duty in WWII and he served as Air Planner for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He became deputy chief of the Armed Forces Special Weapons project in 1951 and was appointed chief in 1957. In 1957 he was commander of Joint Task Force Seven, in charge of nuclear tests on Eniwetok and Johnston Island.



Luedecke was named General Manager of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1958 and in 1964 was appointed to his post with the Jet propulsion Laboratory. He has been deputy director of the Ranger, Mariner, Surveyor, and Voyager space projects. In 1946, Texas A&M awarded General Luedecke an honorary LL.D. degree.

"While my professional pursuits kept me elsewhere, I’ve always been dedicated to the objectives of Texas A&M, since I first came here in 1928."

Horace A. Sawyer ’16
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Year Awarded: 1967

Fate, TX

Sawyer received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1916. At Texas A&M he was editor of The Longhorn, a member of Ross Volunteers and a Cadet 2nd Lt. of Company “E”. Sawyer joined Lone Star Cement Corporation, the largest producer of Portland cement in the Western Hemisphere, in 1925 as a service engineer. Within six years he became Vice President and in 1952 he was elected President while simultaneously serving as president of Cuban Portland Cement Company, president of Argentine Portland Cement Company, president, Uruguayan Portland Cement Company, chairman, Pioneer Sand and Gravel Company, and chairman of Southern Materials Company.



When Sawyer became president of Lone Star, it had 12 domestic plants and annual sales of about $74 million. When he retired the firm had 12 U.S. and five foreign plants producing sales of $154 million. In revitalizing his company’s South American operations, he is credited with important contributions to development of good living standards and education there.

Wilfred T. Doherty ’22
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Year Awarded: 1966

Houston, TX

Doherty received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1922. He served as the Vice President of the Robert A. Welch Foundation, President and Director of the Mound Company, Director of Fidelity Oil & Royalty Company, First National Bank and Texas National Bank of Houston, and Director of the Bank of the Southwest.



In 1953, he was named to Texas A&M’s Board of Directors and served as President for four years. He was a leading figure in support of the A&M building and utilities program, married student housing, putting emphasis on the quality of faculty, and the development of data processing, nuclear science, and space technology. Doherty also served on The Association of Formers Students Board of Directors and the Texas A&M Foundation Board of Trustees.

"Texas A&M has been very good to me… Regardless of what I may do I will never be able to repay my debt to Texas A&M. God bless the Aggies and keep them what they are forever."