Development
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Alumni and friends of the College of Liberal Arts form a global network of volunteers, donors and advocates numbering more than 110,000. The Office of Development and Alumni Relations offers a variety of programs and services to support that network.
Many of you have brought prestige and honor to the College through contributions and successes. You inspire our students every day and serve as our best ambassadors to the world. We invite you to stay connected, wherever you may be, by reading up on college news, updating your contact information or making an investment in Liberal Arts.
Staff
Location
Dorothy L. Gebauer (GEB) building
512-471-8861
changinglives@utexas.edu
Physical Address
116 Inner Campus Dr., Stop G6300
Austin, TX 78712-1260
Mailing Address
University Development Office
1 University Station
Mail Stop A3000
Austin, TX 78712
Parking
Paid parking in any of the university garages. Permit required for surface parking.
Alumni and friends of the College of Liberal Arts form a global network of volunteers, donors and advocates numbering more than 110,000. The Office of Development and Alumni Relations offers a variety of programs and services to support that network.
Many of you have brought prestige and honor to the College through contributions and successes. You inspire our students every day and serve as our best ambassadors to the world. We invite you to stay connected, wherever you may be, by reading up on college news, updating your contact information or making an investment in Liberal Arts.
Here are a few quick ways you can stay connected:
- Update your information to stay informed of College updates and happenings.
- Read updates from Life & Letters, the College of Liberal Arts’ magazine.
- Pursue lifelong learning. Through our MOOCs, SMOCs, podcasts, TED Talks, faculty blogs or professional development courses, we want to feed your desire for lifelong learning.
- Join the Dean’s Circle. Dean’s Circle members provide critical support that allows the College to seize opportunities as it strives toward its goal of excellence in Liberal Arts.
- Keep up with the College on social media by following our Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube accounts.
- Support the College of Liberal Arts. Make a gift to the College so current and future students can enjoy the same level of academic excellence you experienced as a student.
The mission of the College of Liberal Arts is to instill in our graduates the idea that learning is for a lifetime. As alumni you continue to promote this ideal while pursuing your career and life goals. We invite you to be involved with the college and share your goals and accomplishments with us.
Dean's Circle
Impact Report
Support Us
Liberal Arts Advisory Council
The College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council is a dedicated group of volunteers who all share a passion for the liberal arts. Members are made up of both alumni and friends of the college. Together with the dean, the Advisory Council works to further the college’s initiatives, both academic and philanthropic.
College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council, 2019-2020
Will Snyder, Chair
Susan Palombo, Vice-Chair
[Yooooooo how the heck do we do this part]
Ways of Giving
You can submit your gift online through our secure online web form or we welcome the opportunity to meet with you and seek your guidance in assisting the college. If you would like to send in your gift, please mail your gift to:
Justin Michalka, Executive Director of Development
College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
University Development Office
P.O. Box 7458
Austin, Texas 78713
You may also e-mail Justin Michalka at jmichalka@austin.utexas.edu or call (512) 471-8861 to receive more information.
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes support from corporations and foundations. Forming partnerships with the private and nonprofit sectors has enabled the college to strengthen its investment in scholarship, its research enterprise, and to foster opportunities for companies and foundations to have a measurable and positive impact on education as it relates to the liberal arts.
Consider joining the community of supporters who believe in the mission to continue a tradition of excellence in the Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. Make an unrestricted gift today.
All endowment funds are placed in long-term accounts, where the principal remains intact. Funding from endowments is drawn from the earned interest.
Endowments offer the donor an opportunity to support an area about which they are passionate, and the funding source created by the endowment will continue for generations. Endowments can be created through a one-time payment or through installments over a 5-year period. The College of Liberal Arts benefits from several types of endowments.
Endowment areas - Minimum to establish
Faculty
Dean's Chair - $5,000,000
Department Leadership Chair - $3,000,000
Distinguished University Chair - $3,000,000
Chair - $2,000,000
Distinguished Professorship - $1,000,000
Professorship - $500,000
Faculty Fellowship - $250,000
Endowed Excellence Fund - $25,000
Students
Distinguished Graduate Fellowship - $1,000,000
Endowed Presidential Fellowship - $250,000
Endowed Presidential Scholarship -$250,000
Graduate Fellowship - $100,000
Undergraduate Scholarship - $50,000
http://giving.utexas.edu/giftplanning
Gifts that Provide Income for Life and Tax Savings
In addition to establishing a legacy that will benefit the college for years to come, planned giving can often provide income for life and/or tax savings. Here are some examples of planned giving options.
Bequests to the College of Liberal Arts
A bequest is one of the most powerful and flexible expressions of your support. If you are considering naming the College of Liberal Arts as a beneficiary of your will we can provide language to you and your attorney to ensure that your intentions are properly carried out. A carefully planned bequest is an excellent way to leave a significant legacy while reducing, and in some situations, eliminating estate taxes.
Gifts of Life Insurance to Leverage Low Premiums
Life insurance can offer an attractive way to leverage low-premium payments to make a major gift to the College of Liberal Arts. If you name the college as the irrevocable beneficiary and owner of your policy, you obtain an immediate charitable tax deduction. You have the ability on your insurance beneficiary form to specify the college as the school on campus you wish to benefit.
A Qualified Retirement Plan for Financial Security
Qualified retirement plans are an excellent way to build financial security for retirement. Should you pass away however, leaving these funds as part of your estate, your heirs could face double taxation—estate and income tax—spiraling up to 85 percent. You can avoid this penalty with proper planning.
Mr. James Allen, 45, a new supporter of the College of Liberal Arts, designates his wife as primary beneficiary of his well-funded qualified retirement plan. He understands, however, that at least 70 percent of his retirement plan assets could be depleted by taxes if Mrs. Allen predeceases him and leaves these assets to his children. His CPA advises Mr. Allen that he could name the College of Liberal Arts as the secondary beneficiary and provide for children through his estate plan with other assets that are not subject to double taxation. At Mr. Allen’s death, if Mrs. Allen has predeceased him, his retirement plan assets will create an endowed graduate fellowship program at the college.
Charitable Gift Annuity
The charitable gift annuity is similar to a commercial annuity, providing immediate fixed payments for life, but the funds remaining at the termination of the contract are distributed to the College of Liberal Arts. A deferred charitable gift annuity provides an immediate and larger tax deduction and a higher rate of return by deferring the start of the annuity payments to a future year you designate.
Rose Myers, 75, wants to make a stock gift to the College of Liberal Arts but is concerned about giving up the dividend income from the stock. After speaking with her financial advisor, Mrs. Myers learns that charitable giving and retaining an income stream are not mutually exclusive. She establishes a charitable gift annuity funded with stock that she acquired several years earlier for $20,000, which has appreciated in value to $50,000. Mrs. Myers is happy with the results:
- Mrs. Myers establishes a gift annuity valued at $50,000.
- Her gift earns her a charitable tax deduction of $21,338.
- At her 28 percent tax bracket, this deduction saves her $5,975.
Pooled Income Fund
The Pooled Income Fund operates like a mutual fund and pays quarterly distributions for life. The fund combines gifts from many donors for investment purposes, shares the net income proportionately among them, and distributes the remainder to the College of Liberal Arts upon the death of the surviving income recipients.
Charitable Remainder Trust
Establishing a charitable remainder trust (CRT) is a wonderful way for you to increase your spendable income and save on income and capital gains taxes while providing lasting benefits for the College of Liberal Arts. The concept is simple: you irrevocably transfer cash, securities or other property to a trust and designate a person or persons who will receive income (you may be one of them). A CRT lasts for a fixed number of years not exceeding twenty or for the income recipient’s life. During the term of the trust, the income recipients you chose receive a set payout percentage from the CRT. When the trust term ends, any remaining trust property passes to the college.
Todd and Lisa Jenkins , 64 and 58, want to make substantial future gifts to the College of Liberal Arts but are concerned about avoiding capital gains tax on highly appreciated stock. They also would like to enhance their income during retirement. The Jenkins learn that a charitable remainder unitrust would enable them to avoid any capital gains tax on the contributed stock while increasing their income. They establish a trust with 5 percent return, funded with a stock valued at $500,000 and a 1.5 percent dividend payout rate. Here are the results:
- The Jenkins establish a unitrust valued at $500,000
- Their gift earns them a charitable tax deduction of $153,205
- At their 39.6 percent tax bracket, this deduction saves them $60,669
- Avoidance of capital gains tax on $400,000 appreciation saves them $80,000
- A 5 percent unitrust payout yields a first-year payment of $25,000*
*Future years’ payments will vary, based on five percent of the unitrust’s market value at the beginning of each year.
Making a Tax-Wise Loan to the College of Liberal Arts
By “lending” assets to the college for a designated period of time through a charitable lead trust, you can pass those assets to your heirs and at the same time greatly reduce or eliminate federal estate and gift transfer taxes that could consume up to 55 percent of your legacy. This type of gift is particularly beneficial if the assets have a great potential to appreciate. Assets most commonly used to fund a lead trust are closely held stock, marketable securities and partnership interests.
Remainder Interest in a Personal Residence or Farm
When you deed a remainder interest to the college, you can continue to live in your primary residence, vacation, home, or farm for the rest of your life. The property passes to the college after your lifetime. At the time of the gift, you will receive a charitable tax deduction based on the market value of the property and your age. You may designate the college to receive the proceeds from the sale of your property after your lifetime.
Outright Gifts of Real of Personal Property
For a gift of real estate you have held for one year or more, you may take a charitable income tax deduction of the fair market value of the donated property—up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income in the year of the gift—and carry forward any excess deduction for up to five additional years. Outright donations of assets such as equipment, farm property, closely held stock, and many other forms of property can also result in a substantial deduction.
Corporate and Foundation Gifts
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes support from corporations and foundations. Forming partnerships with the private and nonprofit sectors has enabled the college to strengthen its investment in scholarship, its research enterprise, and to foster opportunities for companies and foundations to have a measurable and positive impact on education as it relates to the liberal arts.
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes support from corporations and foundations. Forming partnerships with the private and nonprofit sectors has enabled the college to strengthen its investment in scholarship, its research enterprise, and to foster opportunities for companies and foundations to have a measurable and positive impact on education as it relates to the liberal arts.
- How to Make a Gift
You can submit your gift online through our secure online web form or we welcome the opportunity to meet with you and seek your guidance in assisting the college. If you would like to send in your gift, please mail your gift to:
Justin Michalka, Executive Director of Development
College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
University Development Office
P.O. Box 7458
Austin, Texas 78713You may also e-mail Justin Michalka at jmichalka@austin.utexas.edu or call (512) 471-8861 to receive more information.
- Types of Giving
- Unrestricted Gifts
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes support from corporations and foundations. Forming partnerships with the private and nonprofit sectors has enabled the college to strengthen its investment in scholarship, its research enterprise, and to foster opportunities for companies and foundations to have a measurable and positive impact on education as it relates to the liberal arts.
Consider joining the community of supporters who believe in the mission to continue a tradition of excellence in the Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. Make an unrestricted gift today.
- Endowments
All endowment funds are placed in long-term accounts, where the principal remains intact. Funding from endowments is drawn from the earned interest.
Endowments offer the donor an opportunity to support an area about which they are passionate, and the funding source created by the endowment will continue for generations. Endowments can be created through a one-time payment or through installments over a 5-year period. The College of Liberal Arts benefits from several types of endowments.
Endowment areas - Minimum to establishFaculty
Dean's Chair - $5,000,000
Department Leadership Chair - $3,000,000
Distinguished University Chair - $3,000,000
Chair - $2,000,000
Distinguished Professorship - $1,000,000
Professorship - $500,000
Faculty Fellowship - $250,000
Endowed Excellence Fund - $25,000
Students
Distinguished Graduate Fellowship - $1,000,000
Endowed Presidential Fellowship - $250,000
Endowed Presidential Scholarship -$250,000
Graduate Fellowship - $100,000
Undergraduate Scholarship - $50,000
- Estates and Trusts
http://giving.utexas.edu/giftplanning
Gifts that Provide Income for Life and Tax Savings
In addition to establishing a legacy that will benefit the college for years to come, planned giving can often provide income for life and/or tax savings. Here are some examples of planned giving options.
Bequests to the College of Liberal Arts
A bequest is one of the most powerful and flexible expressions of your support. If you are considering naming the College of Liberal Arts as a beneficiary of your will we can provide language to you and your attorney to ensure that your intentions are properly carried out. A carefully planned bequest is an excellent way to leave a significant legacy while reducing, and in some situations, eliminating estate taxes.
Gifts of Life Insurance to Leverage Low Premiums
Life insurance can offer an attractive way to leverage low-premium payments to make a major gift to the College of Liberal Arts. If you name the college as the irrevocable beneficiary and owner of your policy, you obtain an immediate charitable tax deduction. You have the ability on your insurance beneficiary form to specify the college as the school on campus you wish to benefit.
A Qualified Retirement Plan for Financial Security
Qualified retirement plans are an excellent way to build financial security for retirement. Should you pass away however, leaving these funds as part of your estate, your heirs could face double taxation—estate and income tax—spiraling up to 85 percent. You can avoid this penalty with proper planning.
Mr. James Allen, 45, a new supporter of the College of Liberal Arts, designates his wife as primary beneficiary of his well-funded qualified retirement plan. He understands, however, that at least 70 percent of his retirement plan assets could be depleted by taxes if Mrs. Allen predeceases him and leaves these assets to his children. His CPA advises Mr. Allen that he could name the College of Liberal Arts as the secondary beneficiary and provide for children through his estate plan with other assets that are not subject to double taxation. At Mr. Allen’s death, if Mrs. Allen has predeceased him, his retirement plan assets will create an endowed graduate fellowship program at the college.
Charitable Gift Annuity
The charitable gift annuity is similar to a commercial annuity, providing immediate fixed payments for life, but the funds remaining at the termination of the contract are distributed to the College of Liberal Arts. A deferred charitable gift annuity provides an immediate and larger tax deduction and a higher rate of return by deferring the start of the annuity payments to a future year you designate.
Rose Myers, 75, wants to make a stock gift to the College of Liberal Arts but is concerned about giving up the dividend income from the stock. After speaking with her financial advisor, Mrs. Myers learns that charitable giving and retaining an income stream are not mutually exclusive. She establishes a charitable gift annuity funded with stock that she acquired several years earlier for $20,000, which has appreciated in value to $50,000. Mrs. Myers is happy with the results:
- Mrs. Myers establishes a gift annuity valued at $50,000.
- Her gift earns her a charitable tax deduction of $21,338.
- At her 28 percent tax bracket, this deduction saves her $5,975.
Pooled Income Fund
The Pooled Income Fund operates like a mutual fund and pays quarterly distributions for life. The fund combines gifts from many donors for investment purposes, shares the net income proportionately among them, and distributes the remainder to the College of Liberal Arts upon the death of the surviving income recipients.
Charitable Remainder Trust
Establishing a charitable remainder trust (CRT) is a wonderful way for you to increase your spendable income and save on income and capital gains taxes while providing lasting benefits for the College of Liberal Arts. The concept is simple: you irrevocably transfer cash, securities or other property to a trust and designate a person or persons who will receive income (you may be one of them). A CRT lasts for a fixed number of years not exceeding twenty or for the income recipient’s life. During the term of the trust, the income recipients you chose receive a set payout percentage from the CRT. When the trust term ends, any remaining trust property passes to the college.
Todd and Lisa Jenkins , 64 and 58, want to make substantial future gifts to the College of Liberal Arts but are concerned about avoiding capital gains tax on highly appreciated stock. They also would like to enhance their income during retirement. The Jenkins learn that a charitable remainder unitrust would enable them to avoid any capital gains tax on the contributed stock while increasing their income. They establish a trust with 5 percent return, funded with a stock valued at $500,000 and a 1.5 percent dividend payout rate. Here are the results:
- The Jenkins establish a unitrust valued at $500,000
- Their gift earns them a charitable tax deduction of $153,205
- At their 39.6 percent tax bracket, this deduction saves them $60,669
- Avoidance of capital gains tax on $400,000 appreciation saves them $80,000
- A 5 percent unitrust payout yields a first-year payment of $25,000*
*Future years’ payments will vary, based on five percent of the unitrust’s market value at the beginning of each year.
Making a Tax-Wise Loan to the College of Liberal Arts
By “lending” assets to the college for a designated period of time through a charitable lead trust, you can pass those assets to your heirs and at the same time greatly reduce or eliminate federal estate and gift transfer taxes that could consume up to 55 percent of your legacy. This type of gift is particularly beneficial if the assets have a great potential to appreciate. Assets most commonly used to fund a lead trust are closely held stock, marketable securities and partnership interests.
Remainder Interest in a Personal Residence or Farm
When you deed a remainder interest to the college, you can continue to live in your primary residence, vacation, home, or farm for the rest of your life. The property passes to the college after your lifetime. At the time of the gift, you will receive a charitable tax deduction based on the market value of the property and your age. You may designate the college to receive the proceeds from the sale of your property after your lifetime.
Outright Gifts of Real of Personal Property
For a gift of real estate you have held for one year or more, you may take a charitable income tax deduction of the fair market value of the donated property—up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income in the year of the gift—and carry forward any excess deduction for up to five additional years. Outright donations of assets such as equipment, farm property, closely held stock, and many other forms of property can also result in a substantial deduction.
Corporate and Foundation Gifts
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes support from corporations and foundations. Forming partnerships with the private and nonprofit sectors has enabled the college to strengthen its investment in scholarship, its research enterprise, and to foster opportunities for companies and foundations to have a measurable and positive impact on education as it relates to the liberal arts.
Mid-Year Impact Report
Read a little about what we've been able to accomplish midway through the 2020-21 fiscal year with your help:
Pro Bene Meritis Award
The Pro Bene Meritis award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. The purpose of the award is to honor individuals who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service related to the College of Liberal Arts. In addition to expressing appreciation to those distinguished individuals so honored, the College of Liberal Arts, through this award, is seeking to heighten public awareness of the critical role played by the liberal arts in education and society today.
The award is presented annually at a dinner in the spring. The alumni, faculty, students and staff of the college take pride in these individuals and the legacy of their character and achievements.
Jacqueline Jones, Ph.D. is the Ellen C. Temple Chair in Women’s History and Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History. She is the author of several books, including, most recently, Goddess of Anarchy: The Life and Times of Lucy Parsons, American Radical (2017), and A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama’s America (2013). A Dreadful Deceit and Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work and the Family from Slavery to the Present (25th Anniversary Edition, 2010) were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize; Labor of Love won the Bancroft Prize for 1986. Her other works include Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, 1854-1872 (2008); Creek Walking: Growing Up in Delaware in the 1950s (2001); A Social History of the Laboring Classes from Colonial Times to the Present (1999); American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor (1998); The Dispossessed: America’s Underclasses from the Civil War to the Present (1993); and Soldiers of Light and Love: Northern Teachers and Georgia Blacks, 1865-1873 (1992). She has won numerous grants and awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship (1999-2004). She served as Vice President for the Professional Division of the American Historical Association from 2011 to 2014, and beginning in 2020 will serve as AHA’s President-Elect. Her current project is a study of the African American community in Boston during the Civil War era. She has served as Chair of the History Department since 2014.
Michael B. Stoff, Ph.D. received his B.A. from Rutgers College and Ph.D. from Yale University. He is currently Associate Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor and an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer. He was the director of the nationally acclaimed Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin from 2006-2017. He is the author of Oil, War and American Security, co-editor of The Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Age, series co-editor of The Oxford New Narratives in American History and co-author of five American history textbooks. He has been honored many times for his teaching, including the UT system-wide Regents Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012. In 2015, he was recognized for his contributions with induction into the Philosophical Society of Texas. In 2012, The Michael B. Stoff Plan II Excellence Endowment was created by students, professors, and alumni in honor of his 11 years as Director of the Plan II Honors Program. Dr. Stoff is currently working on a book about Nagasaki and the meaning of the atomic bomb.
Stuart W. Stedman is the president of Stedman West Interests, Inc., a family investment office that manages the assets of the Stedman West family. He attended The University of Texas at Austin where he received a B.A. in Plan II (1979), a J.D. (1985), and an M.B.A (1985). Stuart serves on the Advisory Board of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and has been involved in wildlife research and conservation for many years. He has supported and designed numerous research projects focused on the white-tailed deer and has written numerous articles on white-tailed deer management. He received the Texas Outdoorsman of the Year award in 2009, the DAR Conservation Committee award in 2012, and the Harvey Weill Sportsman Conservationist of the Year award in 2014. He is also the past chairman of Texas Parks & Wildlife’s Operation Game Thief committee. In March 2016, Stuart was appointed to a three-year term on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by Governor Greg Abbott. Stuart served as the Chair of the Liberal Arts Advisory Council (2017-2019), and he is member of the University of Texas Development Board and the Blanton Museum’s National Leadership Board. He is also a member of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute board of directors in Houston. Mr. Stedman formerly served as a trustee of the Texas Children’s Hospital and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Jason S. Lamin is the Founder of Lenox Park Solutions and oversees all aspects of the firm. Before founding Lenox Park, Jason was a Director in Merrill Lynch’s Fixed Income Structured Credit group in New York. In that role, Jason was instrumental to Asset Management due diligence for a highly selective Investor base. He began his career in Investment Banking working on M&A transactions for Financial Institutions, then helped launch a start-up group in London focused on deepening Merrill Lynch’s most lucrative institutional client relationships. Jason graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Economics and was a member of the prestigious organization, The Texas Cowboys. He now serves on the advisory boards for the Department of Economics and the Department of Black Studies. Jason is an active member of the United Nations Private Sector Forum, where he has served as Co-Chair of the Private Sector Working Group for the 10th principle UN’s Global Compact – Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption; and delivered keynote speeches to the General Assembly on matters relating to Capital Access and Infrastructure Investing on the Continent of Africa. In 2008, Jason founded Nyawa Funding Group, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to improve living standards in Sierra Leone.
Inaugural Dean’s Pro Bene Meritis Award Recipients
Randy and Mary Diehl
Nominations
The registration period is now closed and will not open until September 1, 2020. Click here for a list of all Past Recipients
To nominate distinguished alumni, faculty members, and friends of the College of Liberal Arts for the Pro Bene Meritis award, please visit our Nominations page.
Harry H. Ransom, Ph.D. | 1984
Mr. C. B. Smith, Sr. | 1984
Mrs. Sue Spivey Killam | 1985
Mr. Lowell H. Lebermann, Jr. | 1985
Stanley R. Ross, Ph.D. | 1985
Rev. Everett H. Jones | 1986
Mr. Lenoir M. Josey II | 1986
Mr. Willis W. Pratt | 1986
Mrs. Annette G. Strauss | 1986
Robert and Nancy Dedman | 1987
Winfred P. Lehmann, Ph.D. | 1987
Clarence and Henriette Cline | 1988
Bernard and Audre Rapoport | 1988
Archibald A. Hill, Ph.D. | 1989
Wolfgang and Marian Michael | 1989
Walt and Elspeth Rostow | 1989
Nettie L. Benson, Ph.D. | 1990
Robert D. King, Ph.D. | 1990
Charles and Sarah Seay | 1990
Mr. Morton H. Meyerson | 1991
Mr. and Mrs. Larry E. Temple | 1991
Baine and Mildred Kerr | 1992
William S. Livingston, Ph.D. | 1992
S. Chad Oliver, Ph.D. | 1992
Margaret C. Berry, Ph.D. | 1993
Mrs. Liz Carpenter | 1993
Ira Iscoe, Ph.D. | 1993
James R. Roach, Ph.D. | 1993
Warner J. Barnes, Ph.D. | 1994
James and Mari Michener | 1994
The Honorable J. J. Pickle | 1994
Walter I. Firey, Jr., Ph.D. | 1995
Edwin and Rebecca Gale | 1995
James L. Kinneavy, Ph.D. | 1995
Robert A. Divine, Ph.D. | 1996
Mr. William B. Hilgers | 1996
William O. S. Sutherland, Ph.D. | 1996
Lucy S. Meritt, Ph.D. | 1997
John R. Silber, Ph.D. | 1997
Stanley N. Werbow, Ph.D. | 1997
James T. Willerson, M.D. | 1997
Mr. Rex G. Baker, Jr. | 1998
Wales and Abby Madden, Jr. | 1998
Americo Paredes, Ph.D. | 1998
Sheldon Ekland-Olson, Ph.D. | 1999
Mr. Gordon Appleman | 2000
James B. Ayres, Ph.D. | 2000
Mrs. Ann B. Brinkerhoff | 2001
W. Roger Louis, D.Phil. | 2001
Ms. Barbara M. Myers | 2001
Mrs. Sandra E. Snyder | 2001
Mr. Creekmore Fath | 2002
William Goetzmann, Ph.D. | 2002
James W. McKie, Ph.D. | 2002
Paul B. Woodruff, Ph.D. | 2002
Elizabeth Fernea, Ph.D. | 2003
Betty Sue Flowers, Ph.D. | 2003
Joe and Terry Long | 2003
Charls Walker, Ph.D. | 2003
Mrs. Carrin Patman | 2004
Bernth O. Lindfors, Ph.D. | 2004
John R. Trimble, Ph.D. | 2004
Robert Helmreich, Ph.D. | 2005
Shannon Ratliff | 2005
Prudence Mackintosh | 2005
Larry D. Carver, Ph.D. | 2006
Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, Ph.D | 2006
Denton Cooley, M.D | 2007
David Oshinsky, Ph.D. | 2007
Robert Solomon, Ph.D. | 2007
Julius Glickman | 2008
Judith Langlois, Ph.D. | 2008
Lynn Schusterman | 2008
Tom Staley, Ph.D. | 2008
Leslie D. Blanton | 2009
Maureen H. Decherd | 2009
Sidney Monas, Ph.D. | 2009
Frances B. Vick | 2009
Frank Denius | 2010
W. Parker Frisbie, Ph.D. | 2010
Ellen Clarke Temple | 2010
Martin W. Dies III | 2011
Austin Ligon | 2011
Howard Miller, Ph.D. | 2011
Carolyn and Peyton Townsend | 2011
H.W. Brands, Ph.D. | 2012
Thomas M. Cable, Ph.D. | 2012
O. Howard Frazier, M.D. | 2012
Michael L. Gillette, Ph.D. | 2012
The Honorable Ben Barnes | 2013
Toyin Falola, Ph.D. | 2013
Jeanne and Michael Klein | 2013
Marion Mark, Ed.D. | 2013
Robert Henry Dedman, Jr. | 2014
James Garrison, Ph.D. | 2014
Judith W. Perkins | 2014
Peggy Beckham | 2015
Austin Gleeson, Ph.D. | 2015
Bill Powers | 2015
Stephen Ballantyne | 2016
Elizabeth Cullingford, Ph.D. | 2016
Max Miller, Ph.D. and Sylvia Miller | 2016
Edmund T. Gordon | 2017
Robert L. Patton, Jr. | 2017
Keith D. Sharman | 2017
Bianna Golodryga | 2018
Richard Harper, M.D. | 2018
Jeremi Suri, Ph.D | 2018
Sara C. Bronin | 2019
Dr. Brian Levack | 2019
J. Thomas Ward | 2019
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The Pro Bene Meritis award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. The purpose of the award is to honor individuals who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service related to the College of Liberal Arts. In addition to expressing appreciation to those distinguished individuals so honored, the College of Liberal Arts, through this award, is seeking to heighten public awareness of the critical role played by the liberal arts in education and society today.
The award is presented annually at a dinner in the spring. The alumni, faculty, students and staff of the college take pride in these individuals and the legacy of their character and achievements.
Jacqueline Jones, Ph.D. is the Ellen C. Temple Chair in Women’s History and Mastin Gentry White Professor of Southern History. She is the author of several books, including, most recently, Goddess of Anarchy: The Life and Times of Lucy Parsons, American Radical (2017), and A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama’s America (2013). A Dreadful Deceit and Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work and the Family from Slavery to the Present (25th Anniversary Edition, 2010) were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize; Labor of Love won the Bancroft Prize for 1986. Her other works include Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, 1854-1872 (2008); Creek Walking: Growing Up in Delaware in the 1950s (2001); A Social History of the Laboring Classes from Colonial Times to the Present (1999); American Work: Four Centuries of Black and White Labor (1998); The Dispossessed: America’s Underclasses from the Civil War to the Present (1993); and Soldiers of Light and Love: Northern Teachers and Georgia Blacks, 1865-1873 (1992). She has won numerous grants and awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship (1999-2004). She served as Vice President for the Professional Division of the American Historical Association from 2011 to 2014, and beginning in 2020 will serve as AHA’s President-Elect. Her current project is a study of the African American community in Boston during the Civil War era. She has served as Chair of the History Department since 2014.
Michael B. Stoff, Ph.D. received his B.A. from Rutgers College and Ph.D. from Yale University. He is currently Associate Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor and an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer. He was the director of the nationally acclaimed Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin from 2006-2017. He is the author of Oil, War and American Security, co-editor of The Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Age, series co-editor of The Oxford New Narratives in American History and co-author of five American history textbooks. He has been honored many times for his teaching, including the UT system-wide Regents Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012. In 2015, he was recognized for his contributions with induction into the Philosophical Society of Texas. In 2012, The Michael B. Stoff Plan II Excellence Endowment was created by students, professors, and alumni in honor of his 11 years as Director of the Plan II Honors Program. Dr. Stoff is currently working on a book about Nagasaki and the meaning of the atomic bomb.
Stuart W. Stedman is the president of Stedman West Interests, Inc., a family investment office that manages the assets of the Stedman West family. He attended The University of Texas at Austin where he received a B.A. in Plan II (1979), a J.D. (1985), and an M.B.A (1985). Stuart serves on the Advisory Board of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and has been involved in wildlife research and conservation for many years. He has supported and designed numerous research projects focused on the white-tailed deer and has written numerous articles on white-tailed deer management. He received the Texas Outdoorsman of the Year award in 2009, the DAR Conservation Committee award in 2012, and the Harvey Weill Sportsman Conservationist of the Year award in 2014. He is also the past chairman of Texas Parks & Wildlife’s Operation Game Thief committee. In March 2016, Stuart was appointed to a three-year term on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by Governor Greg Abbott. Stuart served as the Chair of the Liberal Arts Advisory Council (2017-2019), and he is member of the University of Texas Development Board and the Blanton Museum’s National Leadership Board. He is also a member of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute board of directors in Houston. Mr. Stedman formerly served as a trustee of the Texas Children’s Hospital and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Jason S. Lamin is the Founder of Lenox Park Solutions and oversees all aspects of the firm. Before founding Lenox Park, Jason was a Director in Merrill Lynch’s Fixed Income Structured Credit group in New York. In that role, Jason was instrumental to Asset Management due diligence for a highly selective Investor base. He began his career in Investment Banking working on M&A transactions for Financial Institutions, then helped launch a start-up group in London focused on deepening Merrill Lynch’s most lucrative institutional client relationships. Jason graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Economics and was a member of the prestigious organization, The Texas Cowboys. He now serves on the advisory boards for the Department of Economics and the Department of Black Studies. Jason is an active member of the United Nations Private Sector Forum, where he has served as Co-Chair of the Private Sector Working Group for the 10th principle UN’s Global Compact – Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption; and delivered keynote speeches to the General Assembly on matters relating to Capital Access and Infrastructure Investing on the Continent of Africa. In 2008, Jason founded Nyawa Funding Group, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to improve living standards in Sierra Leone.
Inaugural Dean’s Pro Bene Meritis Award Recipients
Randy and Mary Diehl
Nominations
The registration period is now closed and will not open until September 1, 2020. Click here for a list of all Past Recipients
To nominate distinguished alumni, faculty members, and friends of the College of Liberal Arts for the Pro Bene Meritis award, please visit our Nominations page.
Harry H. Ransom, Ph.D. | 1984
Mr. C. B. Smith, Sr. | 1984
Mrs. Sue Spivey Killam | 1985
Mr. Lowell H. Lebermann, Jr. | 1985
Stanley R. Ross, Ph.D. | 1985
Rev. Everett H. Jones | 1986
Mr. Lenoir M. Josey II | 1986
Mr. Willis W. Pratt | 1986
Mrs. Annette G. Strauss | 1986
Robert and Nancy Dedman | 1987
Winfred P. Lehmann, Ph.D. | 1987
Clarence and Henriette Cline | 1988
Bernard and Audre Rapoport | 1988
Archibald A. Hill, Ph.D. | 1989
Wolfgang and Marian Michael | 1989
Walt and Elspeth Rostow | 1989
Nettie L. Benson, Ph.D. | 1990
Robert D. King, Ph.D. | 1990
Charles and Sarah Seay | 1990
Mr. Morton H. Meyerson | 1991
Mr. and Mrs. Larry E. Temple | 1991
Baine and Mildred Kerr | 1992
William S. Livingston, Ph.D. | 1992
S. Chad Oliver, Ph.D. | 1992
Margaret C. Berry, Ph.D. | 1993
Mrs. Liz Carpenter | 1993
Ira Iscoe, Ph.D. | 1993
James R. Roach, Ph.D. | 1993
Warner J. Barnes, Ph.D. | 1994
James and Mari Michener | 1994
The Honorable J. J. Pickle | 1994
Walter I. Firey, Jr., Ph.D. | 1995
Edwin and Rebecca Gale | 1995
James L. Kinneavy, Ph.D. | 1995
Robert A. Divine, Ph.D. | 1996
Mr. William B. Hilgers | 1996
William O. S. Sutherland, Ph.D. | 1996
Lucy S. Meritt, Ph.D. | 1997
John R. Silber, Ph.D. | 1997
Stanley N. Werbow, Ph.D. | 1997
James T. Willerson, M.D. | 1997
Mr. Rex G. Baker, Jr. | 1998
Wales and Abby Madden, Jr. | 1998
Americo Paredes, Ph.D. | 1998
Sheldon Ekland-Olson, Ph.D. | 1999
Mr. Gordon Appleman | 2000
James B. Ayres, Ph.D. | 2000
Mrs. Ann B. Brinkerhoff | 2001
W. Roger Louis, D.Phil. | 2001
Ms. Barbara M. Myers | 2001
Mrs. Sandra E. Snyder | 2001
Mr. Creekmore Fath | 2002
William Goetzmann, Ph.D. | 2002
James W. McKie, Ph.D. | 2002
Paul B. Woodruff, Ph.D. | 2002
Elizabeth Fernea, Ph.D. | 2003
Betty Sue Flowers, Ph.D. | 2003
Joe and Terry Long | 2003
Charls Walker, Ph.D. | 2003
Mrs. Carrin Patman | 2004
Bernth O. Lindfors, Ph.D. | 2004
John R. Trimble, Ph.D. | 2004
Robert Helmreich, Ph.D. | 2005
Shannon Ratliff | 2005
Prudence Mackintosh | 2005
Larry D. Carver, Ph.D. | 2006
Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, Ph.D | 2006
Denton Cooley, M.D | 2007
David Oshinsky, Ph.D. | 2007
Robert Solomon, Ph.D. | 2007
Julius Glickman | 2008
Judith Langlois, Ph.D. | 2008
Lynn Schusterman | 2008
Tom Staley, Ph.D. | 2008
Leslie D. Blanton | 2009
Maureen H. Decherd | 2009
Sidney Monas, Ph.D. | 2009
Frances B. Vick | 2009
Frank Denius | 2010
W. Parker Frisbie, Ph.D. | 2010
Ellen Clarke Temple | 2010
Martin W. Dies III | 2011
Austin Ligon | 2011
Howard Miller, Ph.D. | 2011
Carolyn and Peyton Townsend | 2011
H.W. Brands, Ph.D. | 2012
Thomas M. Cable, Ph.D. | 2012
O. Howard Frazier, M.D. | 2012
Michael L. Gillette, Ph.D. | 2012
The Honorable Ben Barnes | 2013
Toyin Falola, Ph.D. | 2013
Jeanne and Michael Klein | 2013
Marion Mark, Ed.D. | 2013
Robert Henry Dedman, Jr. | 2014
James Garrison, Ph.D. | 2014
Judith W. Perkins | 2014
Peggy Beckham | 2015
Austin Gleeson, Ph.D. | 2015
Bill Powers | 2015
Stephen Ballantyne | 2016
Elizabeth Cullingford, Ph.D. | 2016
Max Miller, Ph.D. and Sylvia Miller | 2016
Edmund T. Gordon | 2017
Robert L. Patton, Jr. | 2017
Keith D. Sharman | 2017
Bianna Golodryga | 2018
Richard Harper, M.D. | 2018
Jeremi Suri, Ph.D | 2018
Sara C. Bronin | 2019
Dr. Brian Levack | 2019
J. Thomas Ward | 2019
Dean's Circle
The College of Liberal Arts is proud to recognize alumni and friends who have committed to making an impact through annual gifts. Through their sustained generosity, donors create invaluable opportunities for innovative researchers and deserving students. Click here to view a listing of Dean's Circle members.
- What is the Dean’s Circle?
The Dean’s Circle is a group of donors who provide critical support that allows the college to seize opportunities as it strives toward its goal of excellence in Liberal Arts. All members will be invited to an annual Dean’s Circle event each fall. In addition, members are recognized on the Liberal Arts website and will receive periodic updates from the Dean.
- How does the Dean’s Circle make an impact?
The college continues to expand to benefit students, and has grown increasingly competitive on the national and international stages. To foster programs, scholarships, and research that shape the leaders of tomorrow, the college relies on the generosity of its donors.
Join us as we continue a tradition of excellence in the Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. Become a part of this community that is changing the world.
- What does it mean to be a Dean’s Circle member?
$500-2,499, Friend Donors
$2,500-9,999, Bronze Donors
$10,000-19,999, Silver Donors
$20,000+, Gold DonorsBenefits of Membership:
- Electronic updates from the college
- Website recognition
- Invitation to annual Dean’s Circle Event
For questions about the Dean's Circle, email changinglives@austin.utexas.edu.
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Lifelong Learning
Your education does not end at commencement.
The College of Liberal Arts provides opportunities to enrich the lives of our friends and alums with a variety of in-person and online educational offerings. Through our MOOCs, SMOCs, podcasts, TED Talks, faculty blogs, or professional development courses, we want to cultivate your desire for lifelong learning.
Liberal Arts Online Courses
The College of Liberal Arts offers numerous online courses.
- University Extension offers evening credit and non-credit courses for college credit, professional development, or self-enrichment. Enroll here.
Professional Development and Continuing Education
- Master of Arts in Human Dimensions and Organizations (HDO) - HDO is a program focused on understanding the people who drive today’s global marketplace. The program offers two types of innovative education opportunities: a Master of Arts degree for leaders in the business and nonprofit sectors and one-day professional seminars.
- Master of Arts in Economics - The MA program offered by the Department of Economics offers a rigorous curriculum with quantitative training in economics. The program began in the 2013-14 academic year, with an initial cohort of 40 students.
Annual Impact Report
The value of a liberal arts education is not only in the topics we study, but also the skills we develop. Our classes instill the ability to think critically and independently, to write and reason, and to communicate clearly, all lifelong assets to Longhorn students. Achieving excellence in education and in research, our faculty are making contributions that are transforming lives.
There is so much of which to be proud in the College of Liberal Arts. I invite you to read our 2019-20 Annual Impact Report and see what your support makes possible on the Forty Acres and beyond.
Ann Huff Stevens, Dean
David Bruton, Jr. Regents Chair in Liberal Arts