Rex B.
Grey ’41
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1971
El Paso, TX
Grey studied Mechanical Engineering while at A&M College of Texas and received a bachelor’s degree in Engineering at the University of Houston. He became owner and President of Texas Apparatus Co. in 1955. He later joined International Telephone and Telegraph Corp., and served as President in the Africa and Middle East Headquarters. There, he initiated coordinating functions of 30 to 40 ITT companies in Africa and the Middle East from one London headquarters and these activities tripled in size under his management.
Grey gave extensive guidance and advice to the planners of SCONA XV, Black Africa: The Challenge of Development. African leaders and students were suggested for invitations and much money was provided to support these invitations. Grey also has contributed a $25,000 President’s endowed Scholarship to Texas A&M.
"The honor you bring to Texas A&M University is a source of great pride to all of us."
- Dr. Jack K. Williams, Past President, Texas A&M University
Dr. Marion T.
Harrington ’22
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1971
Plano, TX
Harrington received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1922 and his master’s in chemical engineering in 1927. His record at Texas A&M included Distinguished Student, Captain of the Corps of Cadets, Tau Beta Pi Honor Society and member of the YMCA Cabinet. He received his Doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Iowa State University in 1947.
He spent his professional life at Texas A&M where he taught chemistry from 1924 until 1946, when he was named assistant to the Dean of the College. He was named Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in 1948 and selected to be the 12th President of Texas A&M College in 1950. He loved teaching and in many ways continued to teach as he ascended all academic ranks to become the first former student to become President and then Chancellor of the University in 1953. In 1965, Harrington was named coordinator of A&M International Programs. He was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of both Texas A&M and Iowa State.
"Although not a man in age, Tom is more than a man in brains… He had great success in college drama and would be a scream professionally, had not a higher calling seized him."
- The 1922 Longhorn
Dr. John M. "Jack"
Knox ’46
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1971
Dallas, TX
Headed by John Knox since 1963, the Department of Dermatology at Baylor University College of Medicine is recognized throughout the world. It is the recipient of important research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Surgeon General of the Army, the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board, the Veterans Administration, as well as from private foundations and industry. Baylor’s Department f Dermatology also is the leading academic center in research of venereal diseases.
Author of Technical papers published in scientific journals, Know was named chairman of the Council of the National Program of Dermatology. He also serves as chairman of the Southern Medical Association Section on Dermatology. He is president of the Houston Dermatological Society and the American Venereal Disease Association and is on the board of directors for the Society for Investigative Dermatology, American Social Health Association, and the American Academy of Dermatology.
Chief of Dermatology, Ben Taub General Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital, Knox is senior attending physician at Methodist Hospital. He is on the consultant staff to Texas Research Institute for Mental Science, Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, and Veterans Administration Hospital. He is also a consultant to the U.S. Public Health Service; the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia; and Brooke General Hospital in San Antonio.
Knox was a cadet lieutenant colonel and Head Yell Leader before entering the Navy V-12 program at Texas Christian University. He received his bachelor’s degree in science from A&M in the summer of 1947 and his MD from Baylor University College of Medicine in 1949.
"Be sure to call upon me at any time for any cause that would be of benefit to Texas A&M. The school has been unbelievably good to me and there is no way I can repay it for all that is has contributed to my life."
Norman N.
Moser ’37
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1971
Dallas, TX
Probably more than any one man, Norman Moser deserves credit for getting the screwworm eradication program started in the Southwest. In 1959, he initiated the program while he was president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. This was just one of the many cattle industry problems he worked on overcoming during the 1950’s.
Moser continues to rank among the leaders of the U.S. agriculture and the animal industry agri-business field. He established and developed the 13,000-acre Moser Ranch in the Red River Valley of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. He also established a 350,000-acre ranch in Alaska.
Born August 21, 1913, in Dallas, Moser attended the University of Cincinnati and North Texas Agricultural College before receiving his agriculture administration degree form Texas A&M in the summer of 1937.
He has served as chairman of the board of the National Livestock and Meat Board, vice president of the American National Cattlemen’s Association, and president of the Bowie County School Board. He has served as a director of the Texas Livestock Marketing Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Umnak Company Incorporated (Alaska Livestock Corporation), State First National Bank of Texarkana, National Finance Credit Corporation, and General Telephone Company.
Member of the Board of Stewards of the DeKalb Methodist Church, he and his wife have a son and three daughters.
"I think, probably, the most important thing about Norman Moser is the extremely high esteem in which he is held by all of those who have had the privilege of knowing him and working with him. He is a man that you can depend on a thousand percent; his counsel and advice is always sound."
- The Honorable Dolph Briscoe, Jr., Former Governor of Texas
Hal N.
Carr ’43
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1972
Kansas City, KS
At the age of 33, Hal Carr became the nation's youngest president of a scheduled airline when he was named President of North Central Airlines in 1954. He was elected chairman of the board of directors in 1965, is a member of the executive committee of the Company’s board, and as been a director since 1952.
Carr’s expert management and leadership over the past 18 years have been responsible for developing a small local airline in poor financial conditions into a major scheduled air carrier serving 90 cities in 13 states and two Canadian provinces and showing one of the most outstanding profit records in the industry.
A 1943 graduate of Texas A&M with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, Hal Carr continued graduate studies in industrial management and finance at American University, Washington, D.C. He is a councilor and former trustee of the Texas A&M Research Foundation and is a member of the Air Transport Panel Advisory Committee of the Texas Transportation Institute of the Texas A&M University System. He has assisted graduate students from Texas A&M and other universities through a program of summer employment at North Central.
In his business career, Carr has been an officer and director of over 20 corporations and has a record of 27 years of top-level management experience in the industry. He entered the airline business following service in World War II as assistant director of Route Development for Trans World Airlines, Inc. He also served as a consultant to the Secretary of the Navy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the Air Force; chairman of the board and president of the United Capital Investors Corporation; professional lecturer of management engineering in the graduate school of Business Administration, American University, Washington, D.C.; organizational and management consultant on foreign airline operations to the Agency for International Development; and as president of T.L. & C. Company – to name but a few of his varied positions.
Hal Carr has received many awards for his contributions to the development of commercial aviation. In 1955, he was nominated by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce as a candidate for Ten Outstanding Young Men in America. Numerous magazine articles and several books have featured his outstanding business record and his career accomplishments. His biographical listing appears in “Who’s Who in America”, “World’s Who’s Who in Finance and Industry”, “Who’s Who in the Southwest”, “Who’s Who in the Midwest”, “Who’s Who in World Aviation”, and “Poor’s Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives.”
Harold J.
Haynes ’46
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1972
Fort Worth, TX
Haynes received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1947. In 1969, he was elected President of Standard Oil Co., which later became Chevron Corp. He assumed the role of Board Chairman in 1974, a position he held until his retirement in 1981.
His other activities have included directorship of the Bay Area Council and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Haynes was presented the John Rogers Award at the 11th Annual Institute on Exploration and Economics of the Petroleum Industry in 1971.
"To revitalize the tremendous productive potential of this great nation, America will need the spirit symbolized by the tradition of the 12th Man—the willingness to participate if called upon."
Dr. Frank J.
Malina ’34
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1972
Brenham, TX
Dr. Frank Malina has literally reached the stars both as a scientist-administrator and as an artist. Malina’s pioneering work in the field of rocketry is part of the basis of rockets now going to other planets. His advancement in the field of kinetic art has won him fame in recent years.
Malina is a trustee in the International Academy of Astronautics; founder-editor of Leonardo, International Journal of the Contemporary Artist; and founder of Electre Lumidyne International Corporation.
Malina received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1934, a master’s degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1936, and a Doctorate of Aeronautics from Cal Tech in 1940.
He is credited with forcing the start of rocket science and technology in the 1930’s with his thesis on the theory and practice of rocketry. Malina was instrumental in establishing NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1954, he brought a new vision to art when he introduced electric light and movement into painting. Malina’s mobile electro-paintings have been exhibited in Paris, Lyon, Rennes, France; Milan; Rome; Prague; Amsterdam; Washington, D.C.; New York; San Francisco; and the Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M campus.
"Malina has played a leading role in the development of space technology and would worthy of recognition for that accomplishment alone. But in addition, he has been a leader in the development of the International Space Academy, which has effectively promoted the interchange of scientific information about the exploration of space."
- Daniel J. Boorstin, Director, Smithsonian Institution
Edward M.
Schiwetz ’21
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1972
Cuero, TX
Schiwetz received a bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 1921. He was a noted landscape artist with more than 40 years of experience in the field. Schiwetz was a Partner and Art Director in the advertising firm of Franke, Wilkinson & Schiwetz.
His works have been exhibited in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Michigan, California, Washington, and many places in Texas including Texas A&M University. Schiwetz has received numerous artistic awards and has taught art in Mexico and at the University of Houston.
"I hope to leave behind me a collection of indigenous paintings which will faithfully portray Texas as it is. I don’t care how desolate, how threadbare, any part of Texas is, it’s beautiful to me."
Dr. Durward B.
Varner ’40
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1972
Cottonwood, TX
Varner received a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics in 1940 and honorary doctorate degrees from Oakland University, Utah State University, and the University of Nebraska. After a more than 30-year career in educational administration, he retired as President and Chancellor of the University of Nebraska System.
His professional career as an educator began in 1946 as assistant dean of students at Texas A&M. He joined the faculty of Michigan State University in 1949. In 1952, he came director if the Cooperative Extension Service at Michigan State, and in 1955 was named vice president of that University. From 1955-71, Varner served as chancellor of Oakland University in Michigan.
"Wherever we go or whatever we may be doing, this A&M college will be with us -a part of us- in our minds and in our hearts, and will serve as a guide in our lives."
Morris “Buddy”
Benz ’32
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1973
Port Arthur, TX
M. “Buddy” Benz is a leading exponent of contemporary floral design. He has won almost every award his particular field can offer. The Benz School of Floral Design in Houston is one of the outstanding schools of floral design in the United States.
Advice from his father in 1928 turned him from a proposed career in dentistry toward an A&M degree in Landscape Architecture and Floriculture and a lifetime of dedication to the advancement of floral design as a profession and an art form.
After graduating from Texas A&M, Benz augmented his college training with studies abroad and at leading schools of floral design in the is country. Then, while teaching Floriculture and Design at Mississippi State College, he began creating his own floral designs which became the basis for the first textbook on this art form in Western culture.
This book, Flowers: Their Creative Designs, published in 1952, quickly became the basic reference work for floral artists and commercial florists. In 1960, Benz published Flowers: Free Form- Interpretive Design which changed the entire concept of floral design, raising it into the fine arts class. Flowers: Geometric Form, a complete revision of his first book, was published in 1962.
Benz opened his first floral shop in his hometown of Port Arthur in 1936, then moved the shop to Houston where he also operated a landscape office until entering the U.S. Army in 1941. He helped design the yellow, red and blue triangular emblem used by the Armored Command and was discharged in 1946 as a lieutenant colonel.
Following World War II, he organized the Benz School of Floral Design in Houston. Techniques developed by Benz for his two-week course enable even novices to master floral design.
Benz has bequeathed to Texas A&M University his collection of fine art gathered from all around the globe as well as his unique library containing almost everything written about floral art and its history. He is also the founder of the world-renowned Benz School of Floral Design at Texas A&M University.
No other individual has made a greater impact on his professional field than has M. “Buddy” Benz, a man dedicated to developing a standard of excellence in the use of flowers as a source of “beauty to temper man’s soul.”
"His great love for A&M and his appreciation for the fine arts are helping A&M take its rightful place among great universities with an outstanding fine arts collection for its student body."
- Robert Rucker '38, Department of Horticulture, Texas A&M, and close friend