Announcing the 2013 Distinguished Alumni

By Rose Cahalan in Association, TXEX on May 29, 2013 at 11:25 am | No Comments

Since 1958, the Distinguished Alumnus Awards have been the Texas Exes’ highest honor, reserved for an elite group of alumni whose professional successes and service to the University go far beyond expectations. Governors and high-powered attorneys, scientists and movie stars, business and military leaders—our Distinguished Alumni are an accomplished bunch.

Their number just got a new dose of talent. Linda Addison, Charles Fraser, Wallace Jefferson, Janiece Longoria, Robert Rowling, and James Truchard will receive the University’s most coveted award at a Nov. 1 ceremony at the LBJ Library. Below, meet the 2013 Distinguished Alumni:

 

 

 

Linda L. Addison, BA ’73, JD ’76, Life Member, is global head of dispute resolution and litigation at Norton Rose Fulbright, where she also serves on the Global Executive Committee. A founder and president of the Center for Women in Law at The University of Texas School of Law, she was named one of the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America.” Addison made UT history in the 1970s when she became the first female managing editor of the Texas Law Review. She is the daughter of Nazi concentration camp survivors Marcus and Theresa Leuchter, and her first language is Polish.

 

 

 

 

Charles D. Fraser, Jr., BA ’80, Life Member, is a pediatric heart surgeon and surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where he pioneered the first artificial heart specialized for newborns. Fraser is also a professor of surgery and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. He has performed more than 10,000 surgeries on infants and children with life-threatening heart conditions. Learn more about his work in the 2008 Alcalde story “To Save a Child’s Heart.”

 

 

 

 

 

Wallace B. Jefferson, JD ’88, is the first African-American chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. He has served as a director of the San Antonio Public Library Foundation, the San Antonio Bar Foundation, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Alamo Area. Before his appointment to the state Supreme Court, Jefferson worked in private practice in San Antonio. He has served as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, an association of chief justices from the 50 U.S. states and territories.

 

 

 

 

 

Janiece Longoria, BA ’76, JD ’79, Life Member, is a partner in the firm of Ogden Gibson Broocks, Longoria & Hall. As chairman of the Port of Houston Commission, she oversees the second-busiest port in the United States. She is a former vice chairman of the UT System Board of Regents and a founder of the Center for Women in Law at The University of Texas School of Law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert B. Rowling, BBA ’76, Life Member, is an investor and philanthropist who has also served on the UT System Board of Regents and has chaired the UT Investment Management Company. The McCombs’ School of Business new graduate building will be named Rowling Hall in his honor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

James J. Truchard, PhD, BS ’64, MA ’67, PhD ’74, Life Member, leads one of the United States’ most successful tech companies, National Instruments. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and has been recognized with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship for his community involvement.

Tags: 2013, awards, Bob Rowling, Charles Fraser, daa, distinguished alumni, Distinguished Alumnus Award, James Truchard, Janiece Longoria, Linda Addison, Wallace Jefferson