As he slowly regained consciousness, William “Bill” Huffman ’53 realized his arms were tightly wrapped around an animal trying to escape. Keeping a firm grip, the teenager opened his eyes and struggled to refocus his attention.
He soon determined that he was grasping a small calf and that several boys were hovering nearby, hoping the youngling would escape. But Bill, who had crashed into a concrete wall and knocked himself out while grabbing the animal, was resolute. “I quickly secured the calf and dragged him across the finish line,” he said.
Bill took his four-legged prize from the 1948 Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition’s calf scramble home to Harrison County, but he also left the arena with the hand of destiny on his shoulder. Thanks to his tenacious performance, Bill was now in the running for a higher stakes award: a scholarship to attend Texas A&M University.
Now 78 years after his fateful catch, Bill and his wife, Barbara, are being recognized for their long commitment to giving future generations of Aggies the chance to grab their own winning ticket. As a result of consistently dedicating their time, talent and treasure to Texas A&M, the Huffmans have been named the 2026 Sterling C. Evans Medal honorees.
Presented by the Texas A&M Foundation’s Board of Trustees, the Evans Medal is awarded to recipients who have a long history of supporting the university through philanthropy, service and leadership. Established in 1998 and named for renowned former university regent and philanthropist Sterling C. Evans, Class of 1921, the award recognizes honorees who have supported student development and academic innovation that is instrumental in maintaining Texas A&M’s place among the world’s top public higher education institutions.
Show Stopper
At the 1948 Houston Fat Stock Show and Livestock Exposition, Bill Huffman ’53 found success in the calf scramble and unknowingly earned his ticket to Texas A&M University.
The Houston Fat Stock Show offered an early glimpse of Bill’s gift for consistently capitalizing on a stroke of luck. He was just 15 when he traveled from his family’s farm on the outskirts of Longview, Texas, to attend the event as an alternate. The odds were against him: His participation would require a contestant’s withdrawal or failure to show up and then his name being selected from the alternates list.
When that far-fetched scenario came to fruition, Bill quickly stepped up to the starting line, facing 21 other contestants who were vying for 11 calves. Although he wasn’t the fastest, he was doggedly determined. “I caught the last calf left, the smallest in the scramble,” he remembered.
Returning home, he named his prize Huffy’s Pride. He also immediately turned his sights toward the 1949 Houston Fat Stock Show, where he wanted to show his calf and compete for a newly announced Texas A&M scholarship. “Money was tight while I was growing up,” Bill said. “My parents probably could have scraped together enough to put me through college, but I hoped to pay my own way.”
Bill, who dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, committed himself to caring for Huffy’s Pride. He kept meticulous records throughout the year and regularly showed the calf at 4-H shows.
A year later, Bill’s father drove his son and Huffy’s Pride through a snowstorm to compete in the Houston event. The teenager’s efforts paid off. Huffy’s Pride earned three ribbons and sixth place out of 150 entries in the Scramble Class. Bill also won first prize for his record-keeping efforts.
A newspaper clipping documents Bill Huffman ’53 earning a record four-year scholarship to study agriculture in Aggieland (left). He met with Texas A&M University dignitaries following his win (right).
Thanks to those combined honors, he was named the recipient of Texas A&M’s Jim Tucker Scholarship, a four-year award worth $2,000. “Newspapers reported that it was the largest scholarship that had ever been awarded for the study of agriculture in the United States,” Bill said.
Testing His Mettle
That scholarship made college financially possible for Bill, but more challenges soon tested his resolve. As an incoming freshman, he was required to take a battery of tests designed to guide academic placement decisions. “At that point, you had to be approved to register for classes, so I met with a counselor,” Bill recalled. “He said, ‘I’m not going to let you register for pre-vet; you’ll never make it because you don’t have enough high school science courses. I’m going to put you in animal science, but I don’t think you’ll make it there, either.’”
The counselor’s pronouncement initially seemed prophetic as Bill struggled in his freshman chemistry course. Fortunately, one of his barrack mates at the Annex excelled in the subject and agreed to tutor Bill, who went on to earn an A in the class.
Bill Huffman ’53 (far right) was a member of Texas A&M University’s lauded poultry judging team while he was a student.
He soon began to find his rhythm, thanks in large part to a poultry course taught by Professor Cecil Ryan ’47, who took a personal interest in his students. “He asked us about our plans after graduation,” Bill recalled. “I said I had no idea what I wanted to do after the counselor wouldn’t allow me to register for pre-vet courses. Cecil told me, ‘Don’t let somebody tell you that you can’t make it if you’re willing to work hard enough.’”
That advice resonated. Bill shifted his major to poultry science, where he excelled. Prior to his junior year, he was invited to join Texas A&M’s four-member poultry judging team, which went on to win the national championships. The next year, he competed on the senior judging team, where he earned the highest individual score at the national contest while the team placed second. He went on to graduate in 1953, earning multiple academic honors.
Becoming a Legal Eagle
In 1954, Bill began active military duty. Eventually stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, he was assigned to serve as a defense counsel in special court martial proceedings. His work impressed his company commander, who encouraged him to consider a law career. Bill took that advice and enrolled in The University of Texas’ School of Law. His determination kicked in again, helping him earn the highest grade among the school’s January 1959 graduates and the highest grade on the March 1959 Texas Bar exam.
He opened his law practice in Marshall, Texas, in late 1959. The firm represented individuals, banks, businesses, school districts, utilities, major corporations and an occasional Fortune 500 company for nearly 40 years. Although he closed his office in 1998, he still practices on a limited basis.
The relationships we’ve built in Aggieland amaze me and mean the world to us.
His life changed again in 1961 when friends set him up on a blind date with Barbara Hemmenway. Barbara, who hailed from Nederland, Texas, had moved to Marshall to attend then-East Texas Baptist College, where she served as vice president of the Student Government Association. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and was teaching students in fourth through sixth grades when she met Bill.
The couple dated for almost two years before marrying and eventually had two children, William Huffman Jr. ’88 and Gay Lynn Huffman Snelson ’92. Barbara left teaching to become a stay-at-home mother until she became the receptionist and bookkeeper for Bill’s law firm. She also grew active in the community, including serving in leadership roles in her alma mater’s alumni association and helping to establish its alumni volunteer center in 2011, where she served as coordinator until 2015.
Creating an Aggie Family
Over the years, the Huffmans regularly trekked the 200 miles to College Station as their ties to Aggieland continued to grow. Initially, Bill’s involvement was through The Association of Former Students, where he’s been a Century Club Member for over six decades and where he and Barbara have given more than 950 active Century Club Memberships to students. The couple made their first substantial gift to the Texas A&M Foundation in 1986 to support the Cecil Ryan Endowment in Poultry Science, a President’s Endowed Scholarship and an endowment in the College of Medicine.
Barbara and Bill Huffman ’53 were named 2026 recipients of the Texas A&M Foundation’s prestigious Sterling C. Evans Medal for their philanthropic contributions to Aggieland. (Photo by Aiden Norvell)
Their largesse has continued to expand and encompass much of campus. Their Foundation giving has bolstered other College of Agriculture and Life Sciences departments, Mays Business School, the Bush School of Government and Public Service, the Corps of Cadets, the Maroon Coats and Fish Camp. They’ve also supported construction of the John D. White ’70 – Robert L. Walker ’58 Music Activities Center and the Buzbee Leadership Learning Center on the Quad, as well as renovations to the Memorial Student Center and Kyle Field. Most recently, the pair were the lead donors for the Poultry Science Teaching, Research and Extension Center and established a planned gift as part of their estate that will create or supplement scholarships, faculty support and programs in the Department of Poultry Science, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Mays Business School, the Bush School of Government and Public Service, and the Foundation.
After relocating to College Station in 2013, the couple began extensively sharing their time and talent across the university. Barbara serves as a member of the Texas A&M University Press Advancement Board and the College of Education and Human Development Advisory Board, while Bill’s been involved on the Department of Poultry Science Advisory Board and served as the 2018 Muster speaker at the Baytown A&M Club. The Huffmans are also volunteers for The Association of Former Students’ Advocacy Network and the Aggie Speakers Bureau, served on the Brazos County A&M Club Board of Directors, were named “Honorary Maroon Coats” by the Foundation in 2017 and were recognized as Outstanding Supporters of Poultry Science in 2022.
Today, Barbara and Bill Huffman ’53 are being recognized for their contributions in time, talent and treasure that have touched Aggies across campus. (Photo by Case Rhome)
Looking back, Bill — who was inducted into the Corps’ Hall of Honor in 2016, named a Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus in 2017 and an Outstanding Alumni of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2018 — has come full circle from that defining moment during the 1948 calf scramble. Fittingly, his and Barbara’s Evans Medal recognition comes a year after the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo received the 2025 award.
Despite the long list of accolades, the Huffmans quickly narrow the focus when asked about their legacy. Both point to the creation of reciprocal relationships with Texas A&M’s students, faculty, administrators and staff and those at the Texas A&M Foundation and The Association of Former Students in what Barbara describes as “a family.”
These caring relationships have been instrumental in supporting the couple in times of need. As one example, Bill recalled a two-month period in 2024 when Barbara was hospitalized. “Early on, former Corps of Cadets Commandant John Van Alstyne ’66 called me and said, ‘You need some help, and I’m a good sitter,’” Bill recounted. “He sat with her more days and more hours in the hospital than any other individual because he wanted to and because of our friendship. The relationships we’ve built in Aggieland amaze me and mean the world to us.”
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