Four graduates were recognized last night at the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Awards held in a large clear tent constructed for the event on the Dallas Hall Lawn.
Business leader Joseph M. “Jody” Grant (’60), investor Jeanne Roach Johnson (’54), and community leader Peggy Higgins Sewell (’72) were honored, as well as the 2013 Emerging Leader Award winner Brittany Merrill Underwood (‘06).
Following remarks from President R. Gerald Turner and Brad Cheves, the vice president for development and external affairs, guests enjoyed a three-course meal before hearing Underwood’s story.
Underwood founded the Ugandan American Partnership Organization in 2006 after a life-changing trip to Uganda. She raised $1 million to build a three-story orphanage and moved there after earning her B.A. degree from SMU with a major in journalism and minor in political science. While working in Uganda Underwood also established the Akola Project, a nonprofit social business that has elevated more than 1,200 women out of poverty with vocational training, education programs, support groups and savings and loans associations. Along with the orphanage, Underwood’s organization has built more than 23 clean water wells, two vocational training centers and a social business for women whose products are sold in more than 220 U.S. boutiques. Current SMU students continue to be involved in Underwood’s nonprofit.
Grant, who will be inducted into the Texas Ballroom Hall of Fame next month, celebrated his alumni award last night along with the one-year anniversary of the opening of Klyde Warren Park. Grant chaired the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation Board and raised approximately $100 million for the park. Grant attended SMU on a swimming scholarship, winning four individual Southwest Conference championships before earning his BBA in 1960. He became CEO of Texas American Bank in 1986 and launched Texas Capital Bank in 1998. Grant is currently on the board of SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and served on the Board of Trustees from 1980 to 1988.
Johnson also joined the Distinguished Alumni for her dedication to her alma mater and community. She established the Johnson Women in Business Scholarship for women leaders pursuing an MBA in the Cox School of Business. Because of her love of music, Johnson also supports Meadows School of the Arts with funds and initiatives for the piano program. The Jeanne Johnson Piano Guest Artists Endowment Fund provides students learning opportunities from visiting national and international pianists.
Sewell was recognized for her volunteer work for community organizations. She earned a BFA in art history from SMU in 1972. Sewell serves on the Executive Board of Meadows and she and her husband, Carl, have co-chaired the SMU Annual Giving Campaign. They established the Sewell Meadows Scholarships.
Sewell’s current service includes the Dallas Museum of Art Board of Trustees, Salvation Army of Dallas Advisory Board, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) Board of Visitors and the board of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation.
Other notable alumni in attendance included Michael M. Boone, Gerald J. Ford, Terrybeth N. Ford, Linda Harris Gibbons, Robert W. Haley, Mona Sheinfeld Hersh-Cochran, Ward L. Huey, Walter J. Humann, William E. Joyce, Christine Ann Loock, John Lopez III, Bobby B. Lyle, Harriet E. Miers, George T. Reynolds III, William C. Roberts, Karen Livesay Shuford, Regina A. Taylor and Garry
A. Weber.
Current students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members ended the award ceremony with the singing of “The Varsity.”
