Tejas Foundation

Awards & Recognition

Tejas Centennial Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Recipients:

Awarded on April 6th, 2025 during our Centennial Celebration.

The Tejas Foundation recognizes Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, James Arth, Micheal Baker, William (Bill) Martin, and Angus Sladen as Distinguished Life Members for having realized a more complete life through their significant support to the Tejas Club.

Please see below for more information on these recipients and our historical awards as well.

"The club always retained its diversity,” Romeo “Rock" Hinojosa recalls. "Every college was represented, and we were an independent bunch. We had both sophisticates and bumpkins. It was a good mixture."
Click here for a more in-depth look at Rolando’s life.

Jim Arth grew up in a military family and lived in various exotic locales in the midwest and southwest of the USA. He first heard about Tejas from his brother-in-law and former Xinesi, Randy Pharo, who in about three minutes had convinced him to abandon his long held plans to attend Texas A&M and attend UT. You don’t want to live in College Station, he said, you want to live in Austin. He was right, of course. Jim was asked to join Tejas in the spring of 1978. While in Tejas Jim served as March 2nd Chair, BMOT, VP and Xinesi.
After graduation Jim worked in an Austin bank for four years before attending law school at Texas Tech University. After his three year banishment to the high plains, Jim returned to Austin and started a solo law practice. He eventually concentrated his practice in Family Law and became Board Certified in that area in 1998. Besides representing clients in Family Law, Jim advocated for LGBT issues and has served on the board of OutYouth and the Austin Travis County HIV Planning Council. On March 1, 2012, Jim was appointed as Associate Judge for the Travis County District Courts concentrating in Family Law.
Jim has two daughters, Beatrice and Scout. Beatrice is an Ensign in the Navy attending and soon to graduate from Intelligence School. Scout is a community banker in San Clemente, California. Besides spending time with his Rottie, Milo, Jim likes to travel, garden and spend time at his family’s farm in Pilot Grove, Missouri. Jim also bakes quite a bit and is known for his home made pies and cakes.

Michael Baker was born in Memphis, TN, but considers Lemoore, CA home. He attended the University of Texas from 1971-1975 as a Navy ROTC student and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering.
He was a member of the Tejas Club from 1972-1975 and lived at the house in 1973. He is a retired U.S. Navy Captain. While in the Navy he flew the A-7 Corsair off the U.S. Midway which was homeported in Japan. He is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and was an instructor at both the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and the Empire Test Pilot School in Boscombe Down, England. He was selected as a NASA Astronaut in 1985 and flew 4 Space Shuttle missions between 1991 and 1997. His last mission was the fifth docking mission with the Russian Space Station, Mir. From 1997-2002 he served as the Assistant Center Director of Johnson Space Center for Human Space Flight Programs in Russia. Upon his return to Houston from Moscow he was assigned to the International Space Station Program as the Manager for International Operations and later as the Manager for Soyuz Launch and Landing Integration.
After leaving NASA in 2017 he served as the President and CEO of RD AMROSS, a joint venture between Energomash, a Russian rocket engine manufacturer, and Pratt and Whitney, a US rocket and jet engine manufacturer. The joint venture manufactured and sold the RD-180 rocket engine to United Launch Alliance that used it as the first stage of the Atlas V Rocket.
Michael retired in late 2019 but continues to make public appearances at the NASA Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center Visitors Centers, support STEM education programs and serve as an Advisor to a small Biotech company to put Biotech payloads in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

Bill Martin grew up in Loraine, Texas – a town in Mitchell County that had a population of 508 in 2023. He originally attended McMurry College in Abilene for 2 years before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin to pursue an architectural degree which he graduated with in 1958.
He joined the Tejas Club in 1956 and lived at the Club in ’57 – ’58 where he was involved in all maintenance, repairs and service calls on the house off and on for more than 25 years (including responses to false fire alarms during house parties!).
After graduation, Bill worked in Austin for the Architectural Firm of Wilson Stoeltje Martin, AIA where he worked on projects for the City of Austin, State of Texas, University of Texas, numerous military bases throughout Texas for the US Army Corps of Engineers and Texas Army National Guard, the City of Fort Worth, Texas A&M University, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department among many others.
One large project he was involved in at UT was the creation of the Family Student Housing complex on Lake Austin Blvd. (This project replaced the WWII Barracks known as the Brackenridge Apts., which were on the Brackenridge Tract southwest of campus near Lake Austin).
After leaving Wilson Stoeltje Martin, he worked for TECOM, Inc. and then eventually started his own company W. Martin, AIA Associates Property Tax Advisors, LLC. for the last 27 years.
Bill is still involved in many community organizations such as the Austin Downtown Founder Lions Club where he is Vice Chair – Texas Lions Camp for Disabled Children; Rawson Saunders School for Dyslexic Children where he is a Board Member; Mary Lee Foundation where he is a Board Member; Tejas Foundation and the Industry Council of the Environment where he is the Chair; Government Affairs; among many others.

I arrived in August 1970 at UT at Austin knowing virtually no one, but enjoyed the extraordinary contrast from my life at boys boarding schools in England from eight to eighteen!
I had not planned on university in the States (I had a place lined up at a Scottish one) but when the opportunity presented itself through family friends in Nacogdoches only a few months earlier I took it, and graduated in 1973, majoring in Geography.
In early 1971 the daughter of a neighbour of these friends in Nacogdoches was dating a Tejas member, Larry Laden, and he introduced me to the Club. I think I was probably the first British member, and possibly the first foreigner as I was often called the Bloody Foreigner!
The long lasting friendships (sometimes with a decade or two between meeting up again!) included Austin Ligon, Ronnie Volkening, John Lay, John Feather, Steve King, Shawn Casey, Pete Bricker, Don Marshall, Jack Rutledge, and Wayland Wong, along with many others.
I went to work at Lloyd’s of London in 1974, eventually being CEO and part owner of a company managing several insurance syndicates there. I am still a member of Lloyd’s.
Over the years some of you came and stayed in Scotland on the estate we had, and also our house in Hampshire which is about an hour west of London, and my wife Sarah and I have really enjoyed meeting all the age groups. Quite a number have had dinner at Boodle’s in London (providing they have a dark suit and tie!), and I had the bright idea at an alumni gathering at the Tejas Club in 2015 that a dinner in Boodle’s for alumni and their other halves, and actives, could be fun. So a tuxedo dinner for around 85 at Boodle’s took place for the 2016, 4th July weekend, complete with various entertainments.
I really enjoyed organising it, with lots of long distance help from a committee.
That wasn’t the end of it as I was constantly asked about doing it again. So in July 2022 there was a repeat, this time with nearly 140 sitting down to dinner, again with lots of help from a number of alumni, in particular Brent Chaney and Ethan Balsamo, and of course John Feather. Our guest of honour was Amparo Villablanca, Dr Jack Rutledge’s widow, who awarded the first scholarship in his name at the dinner ( I believe it is the most generous scholarship at UT )
At each of those dinners, actives were very welcome, their dinner paid for by alumni (and at the 2022 the 15 actives attending had their accommodation paid for very generously by Austin Ligon).
There is indeed a plan for another one in July 2026 too - details to follow…

Recognizing 2020 Recipients From the 95th

The 95th was sadly cancelled and not able to be rescheduled. Although these men received a physical award for this recognition, they were not publicly cheered.

Cal has been active in Dallas Civic Activities and was President of the American Association of Medical Society Executives from 2008-2009. He received The American Medical Association Medical Executive Lifetime Achievement Award on November 14, 2015.
Cal Chaney's Tejas Years were 1972-1976. He had been encouraged by Ed Elmore and Hale Martin to join the Tejas Club. He was in Law School where he graduated in 1978 and participated in many Tejas activities during that time. Former Tejas Member, Jim Mahon was a celebrated Bankruptcy Attorney in Dallas at that time and offered Cal a position in his firm. Cal moved to Dallas and joined Jim Mahon's busy firm. He married Clare Buie, (much to the chagrin of her Old Houston Family) and has lived in marital bliss since then.
Cal was Tejas Foundation President from 2005-2007. He chaired improvements of the Tejas House including lighting, the fence (that deterred vagrants from sleeping on our front porch) and the installation of the sprinkler system and hardy grass in the yard.

John is a member of the faculty of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT and has focused his career on improving the lives of older people. Until his retirement at the end of 2020, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Grantmakers in Aging. Previous positions included CEO of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, Director of the AARP's charitable foundation, and Clinical Associate Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Dr. Feather has served on the Board of Directors of 17 national nonprofit organizations, and has received many awards for his work, including being selected as one of the '50 Influencers in Aging' by PBS, and lifetime achievement awards from the American Society on Aging and the National Hispanic Council on Aging. Grantmakers in Aging created an annual award in his name to recognize philanthropic organizations that embody diversity, equity and inclusion in all that they do.
Dr. Feather received his undergraduate education at UT and his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In 2020, completed a Master of Arts with Honors in Egyptology at the University of Manchester (England).

Robert graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and post-graduate studies in Real Estate Finance at Southern Methodist University in 1988. He holds several professional licenses in Texas, including architecture, interior design, and real estate brokerage. His diverse expertise encompasses design, land planning, programming, construction, development, and comprehensive real estate consulting and brokerage services. Over the past 50 years, he has made significant contributions to numerous high-profile architectural, land planning and real estate development projects. Currently, he works as a real estate consultant, specializing in consulting and brokerage services for corporate clients and private investors throughout Texas.
Robert's architectural achievements include the AIA Statement of Significance Award and the prestigious AIA Design Award. In the realm of real estate, he has received multiple nominations and awards, including being a finalist for the Dallas Business Journal Best Real Estate Deal (1995, 1997, 2005, and 2008), and winning the award in 1994.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Robert is deeply committed to community service. He has served as a deacon at Highland Park Presbyterian Church and is a founding member of the Preston Center Rotary Club. His civic involvement includes participation in the following organizations: Tejas Club (1974-1975), Tejas Foundation Board of Trustee (2007-2008), Dallas Bicycle Advisory Committee, and he is the founder of both Bike Friendly North Dallas & West Dallas and the West Kessler Native Arbor Tree Initiative. Additionally, he played a key role in initiating and coordinating several projects, including the Quanah Parker Family - Medicine Mound Gathering, as well as the planting of Comanche and Caddo Indian Marker memorial trees.

Clift Price was born in Bonham, TX, February 8, 1924, and lived as a young child among a large extended family in Honey Grove, near Paris, TX, and later around Texas and Arkansas as the family moved with his father's work as a highway construction engineer, eventually to Dallas, where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1940, and finally to Austin, where at age 16 he entered the University of Texas. He excelled academically as a pre-med major and was a member of Alpha Phi Omega, Tejas Club, Texas Cowboys, and was elected to the Friars Society, after being named one of four Outstanding UT seniors due to his excellent scholarship and campus leadership.
He graduated UT Austin in 1943 and completed medical school at UT Medical Branch in Galveston, internship in Philadelphia, and pediatric residency in Galveston and Corpus Christi. Clift then served as a Navy medical officer on a troop carrier and one of only two doctors on board during the Korean Conflict. When his tour in the Navy ended in March 1953, Clift and family returned to Austin where he started his pediatric practice, joining the Children's Medical Center at 108 West 30th.
In 1977 after 24 years in private practice he left to become the chief of Texas Maternal and Child Health at the Texas Health Department, until he retired in 1990 and took up pro bono lobbying for the Texas Pediatric Society (1990-1997) during which he continued his lifelong efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of all Texas children. During his pediatric practice, Clift helped lead Austin's campaign to fluoridate the city's water supply, a science based practice to reduce dental cavities, despite some who alleged it was government overreach.

Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Recipients (prior to 2020)

The selection of Distinguished Life Members is based on the following criteria:

Prominence or Distinction in Personal or Professional Life: The nominee should have achieved notable success or impact in their career or personal endeavors.
An Exemplary, Accomplished Life: The individual should exhibit contributions to government, society, religion, or other worthwhile causes.
Significant Contributions to the Tejas Club or University: This includes efforts that have directly supported the Tejas Club, the Tejas Foundation, or the University of Texas.

Alex Cranberg

Austin Ligon

Chuck Reeder

Daniel E. Polter

David Mincberg

Ernest H. Groppe, Jr.

Frank C. Cooksey

George Fleming

Glenn Richter

J. C. "Zeke" Zbranek

Jack G. Johnson

James S. Mahon