New Gifts

Good Things Come in Threes

Thomas “Tom” A. Moore ’60 hoped his three sons would attend Texas A&M University and join the Corps of Cadets, just as he did. However, for a variety of reasons, none of them did.

All these years later, his son Jeff and daughter-in-law Becky decided to create three $100,000 Corps of Cadets 21st Century Scholarships in Tom’s honor through a planned gift. They surprised him with a plaque commemorating the Thomas A. Moore Corps of Cadets Scholarships on the weekend of the Texas A&M vs. Auburn football game last November.

“My wife and I wanted to create these scholarships so that he could still send three kids to Texas A&M, even if they aren’t his own,” Jeff said. Corps 21 Scholarships defray the cost of tuition and expenses by $16,000 to $18,000 over four years for recipients.

“Through these scholarships, we hope three deserving students can receive the education they may not have otherwise been afforded,” said Becky. “Since the recipients will be cadets, we also hope they embrace the Aggie values held so dear by the Corps and establish lifelong friendships, just like Tom did.”

Scholarship Surprise

To do something out-of-the-box for their great-niece Abby Mayfield ’18, Margo and Bill Harrison ’62 surprised her by creating a scholarship in her honor to support other students in her field of study—agricultural leadership, education and communications.

“Several years ago,” explained Bill, “we made an estate gift to fund an endowed scholarship. But after moving to College Station two years ago, we felt we were missing out on the joy and inspiration of personally meeting our scholarship recipients, so we decided to make a current gift.”

Their scholarship was awarded to its first recipient, Katie Hohne ’18, last spring. “We were so pleased that Katie received the scholarship,” Bill said. “She is a truly outstanding student leader.”

Since Abby will serve in international missions during the next two years, it was important to the Harrisons that she and Katie—both of whom graduated in May—meet before graduation. The couple arranged an introduction on Valentine’s Day.

“Investing in the futures of deserving students is essential to supporting Texas A&M’s role and leadership in all areas of academic outreach,” Bill said. “Besides that, it just feels good to play a small part in something so much bigger than ourselves.”

International Impact

A generous gift from Linda and Steve Vincent ’73 created an excellence endowment for programs in the Bush School of Government and Public Service. The couple hopes their gift will fund research that will have an international impact or projects that seek to improve global education and health care policies.

Steve was drawn to attend Texas A&M because of the university’s core values. His bachelor’s degree in engineering technology later served him well during a service trip in Africa, where he established and managed a group to provide a hospital with electricity. Previously, its doctors were performing surgery by holding flashlights in their mouths. His group has worked on similar assistance projects in Liberia and Honduras.

“Education is so crucial to developing countries,” he said. “I believe that when Aggies see a problem, they find a solution and implement it. This is particularly true for students and faculty at the Bush School, who demonstrate the Aggie core value of selfless service in their roles as public servants.”

Linda is also a major proponent of serving others through education. With a master’s degree in reading from The University of Texas, she has taught adult literacy classes for many years. “We’re proud to support the Bush School, because it stands for global inclusion,” Linda said. “We’d like our gift to have an impact on others on an international scale.”

Committed to Coaches

While athletes execute the plays that decide a game, an effective coach puts a team in a position to win. Better still, a coach who is engaged in player development can help those individuals succeed in life. Educating coaches on how to build winning teams, while motivating and leading their athletes, is the guiding premise of the Texas A&M University Coaching Academy, part of the College of Education and Human Development.

Inspired by the academy’s mission to prepare and support world-class coaches at the K-12, university and professional levels, Susan and Michael J. Plank ’83 established a $100,000 endowed scholarship for undergraduate students pursuing a coaching career.

“We understand the value and impact a coach can have on young athletes,” Michael said. “Scholarships like this will allow Texas A&M to recruit students who strive to be remarkable coaches. As the program develops, we will have an abundance of best-in-class Aggie coaches leading by example and positively impacting athletes across the country.”

Michael’s time at Texas A&M fostered a sense of social responsibility that has encouraged the Planks to give back. They've also funded the Plank Leadership Learning Center on the Quad and are substantial supporters of the new Zachry Engineering Education Complex and Texas A&M athletics.