January 2 2017  Gene Powell and the T-Ring Reflection

After reading your article about the “T-Ring” Billy, I am very glad to have provided a little bit of your inspiration to write the article.  You are correct that achievements obtained early in life mean so much to all of us because those achievements form the foundation of who we are and what we can achieve in the future.  When you go forward and achieve other successes later in life, those early successes are always the foundation of the later achievements.  Many times you have seen the devastation of a tornado, hurricane, or explosion.  The house is gone, but the concrete foundation is always there and intact!  No matter how we might stumble or fall when we look down at our right hand, there is an indelible sign that we can get up, dust ourselves off, adjust our chin strap, and succeed because we have done it before! 

When I read your article this morning, I quickly ran through a mental list of my early successes in life and thought about how all of them led up to my T-Ring and how the T-Ring then led to numerous other achievements.  ……. I always wore a T-Ring on my right hand, and that meant that I had earned that ring with four long, hard, brutal years of work……..

When I first met Rick Perry in the fall of 2000, it was at Memorial Stadium, and one of the first things he noticed was my T-Ring, and he asks me about it.  That gave me the chance to tell him the story about my father being an Aggie and my “escaping” to the 40 Acres in the fall of 1964.  To this day that story remains a joke between the two of us, and he always says “I was never impressed with Gene’s T-Ring, but I WAS impressed that an Aggie raised him.  And I know that being raised by an Aggie is really what made him who he is today.”  That is all funny, but it would not have made any impression on him without the T-Ring! 

And I know that I have told you that when I was sworn in as a Regent in the spring of 2009, it was very important to me that (a) I have my T-Ring on for the swearing-in and (b) that Edith and Darrell be in attendance. ……   Since 1957, there have been approximately 90 regents at UT, and to my knowledge, only two of them earned a T-Ring.  And it so happens that both of us were from the class of 1964, and both of us ended up being Chairman.  Tom Loeffler and me. 

October 2016 Inductee Gene Powell

The Hall of Fame award is the highest honor given by the McCombs School of Business.

 It recognizes individuals for their exemplary work in many areas, including civic, educational, and philanthropic activities, and makes outstanding professional contributions to the business and educational community. 

William Eugene (Gene) Powell, BBA ’68, MBA ’70, is an innovator, community leader, and longtime supporter of education. He is currently the chief executive officer of Bitterblue, Inc., a real estate development company. In 2004, he co-founded the medical software company AirStrip Technologies. He served a six-year term on The University of Texas System Board of Regents from February 2009 through March 2015 and served as chairman of the board from February 8, 2011, through August 22, 2013. Powell is a member of the Real Estate Council, the Greater San Antonio Builders Association, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Chamber of Commerce of San Antonio, and a National Council Member of the Aspen Music Festival and School. He is the founder of the Responsible Growth Alliance. He has served on the Executive Committees of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Los Compadres de la Missiones and the Executive Board of the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

During his years as Chairman of the Board of Regents, Gene changed things to how they should be, not like how they are. Gene is presently on the Alamo Endowment Board. The board’s mission is to preserve and protect the Shrine of Texas Liberty. A noble and worthwhile goal.  To learn more about the Alamo Endowment, please visit the link below. 

http://alamoendowment.org/oldsite/AEOnlineContributionForm.pdf

Gene Powell Left His Hometown Of Weslaco To Attend UT On A Football Scholarship. The Former Linebacker And Defensive End Still Proudly Wears A “T” Ring Given Him By Legendary Coach Darrell Royal.  

Gene Says That His Appreciation Of The Power Of Education Was Fostered When He Saw People Who Were Economically Disadvantaged Go On To Become Lawyers, Doctors, And Bankers.  Ricardo Romo, President Of UT-San Antonio Who Lived At Moore Hill Hall With Gene Said, ” Gene Was One Of The Studious Guys, And  “We’d Run Into Each Other Going To The Library Or An 8 O’clock Class.” Romo  Said He Has Always Had An “ Upbeat, Nose-To-The-Grindstone Approach”  To Life, And His Present Tenacious Commitment To UT As Chairman Of The Board Of Regents Is “Vintage Powell.”

In An Article Written By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz At The Austin American Statesman On March 4th, 2011, Gene Says “We Have To Remember. … It’s Always About The Students”. “We Have Some Challenges, But We Should Not Talk About Them In Draconian Terms. They’re Simply Challenges.” The New Leader Wants To Focus On Improving The Quality Of Education, Increasing Enrollment, And Graduation Rates, Ramping Up Online Learning And Expanding Commercialization Of Technology Invented On Campuses-All While Reducing Costs.

In An Article In The Atlantic Monthly By Ben Wildavsky Written 20 Months After The Statesman Article Gene’s Vision Is In Full Bloom.  The Article Dated November 2012 Ask The Question “What Sort Of Populist Liberal Firebrand Would Set Out To Slash Tuition, Prioritize Undergraduate Instruction Over University Research, And Push To Enroll More Low-Income, First-Generation  Students”?  In Fact, “He’s A Conservative Republican Appointed By Governor Rick Perry. “  “Powell Has Emerged As A Champion Of The Movement To Rethink How Colleges Can Operate Creatively-And, With A Boost From Education Technology, Cheaply.  He Called For Halving Tuition While Expanding Enrollment. And, Echoing A Proposal Made By Governor Perry, Powell A Real-Estate Developer And Tech Entrepreneur, Wants The System To Establish A Degree That Costs $10,000 For All Four Years.”  

Because Of Gene’s Progressive Vision, The Atlantic Monthly Named Him One Of The “Brave Thinkers” For 2012.

AS OCCURS WITH ANYONE WHO IS IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION AT A MAJOR UNIVERSITY, GENE’S CHANGES WERE CHALLENGED BY PROMINENT UT EXES AND POWERFUL POLITICAL FIGURES WHO WANTED ANSWERS TO LEGITIMATE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HIS VISION. 

Regardless Of All The Internal Political Battles At UT, By The Time Jennifer R. Lloyd Wrote An Article In The San Antonio Express On August 23rd, 2013 That States  “ Under Powell’s Reign, The Regents Made Significant Progress Toward Creating A New University In The Rio Grande Valley That Will Have Its Own Medical School, Adding A Medical School To The Flagship University, Exploring The Frontier Of Online Education And Approving Projects For UTSA And San Antonio’s UT Health Science Center.” 

Red  McCombs Said, “I Don’t Know Of Anybody In That Short Period Of Time That’s Created As Much Change As He Has As A Leader.”