Friar Society
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The Friar Society is the oldest honor society at the University of Texas at Austin.
Origins
The Friar Society was founded in 1911 by Curtice Rosser and Marion Levy. Eight members were initially selected in the charter group. Originally, four men were chosen from the junior and senior classes every year on the basis of a significant contribution to The University of Texas.Twenty five years later, the Friars decided to start taking larger classes to accommodate the growing size of the university. Women were first admitted to the Friar Society on March 25, 1973.
In April of 2011, the Friar Society celebrated the 100 year anniversary of its founding.
Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship
The Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship is an annual award given to a UT professor who has demonstrated excellence at the undergraduate teaching level. With a prize of $25,000, the award is the largest monetary award annually given to a UT professor.In 1982, the Friars decided to create a teaching fellowship in honor of the upcoming centennial celebration for The University of Texas. Friar alumni raised $100,000 for this purpose, and this amount was matched by the Board of Regents to create an endowment.
In 2006, the Friar Society also created the Tany Norwood Award to honor one staff member or administrator a year.
Notable alumni
- Beauford H. JesterBeauford H. JesterBeauford Halbert Jester was a U.S. political figure, the son of George Taylor Jester and his second wife, Frances Gordon Jester. He served as the 36th Governor of Texas from 1947 until 1949, when he died of a heart attack...
, 36th Governor of Texas - Allan ShiversAllan ShiversRobert Allan Shivers was a Texas politician who led the conservative faction of the Texas Democratic Party during the turbulent 1940s and 1950s...
, 37th Governor of Texas - John ConnallyJohn ConnallyJohn Bowden Connally, Jr. , was an influential American politician, serving as the 39th governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard M. Nixon. While he was Governor in 1963, Connally was a passenger in the car in...
, 38th Governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Treasury - Dolph BriscoeDolph BriscoeDolph Briscoe, Jr. was a Uvalde, Texas rancher and businessman who was the 41st Governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979....
, 41st Governor of Texas, largest single landowner in Texas - Lloyd DoggettLloyd DoggettLloyd Alton Doggett II is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He previously represented from 1995 to 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
, current United States Representative - Frank Ikard, former United States Representative
- J.J. PickleJ.J. PickleJames Jarrell Pickle , also known as J.J. 'Jake' Pickle, was a United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1963 to 1995....
, former United State Representative - Ed GossettEd GossettEd Lee Gossett was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in a sawmill camp known as Yellow Pine, near Many, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Gossett moved to Texas in 1908 with his parents, who settled on a farm near Henrietta, Clay County.He attended the rural schools of Clay and Garza Counties,...
, former United States Representative - Jack B. Brooks, former United States Representative serving for more than 40 years
- Diane Wood, current Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Joe Greenhill, former Texas Supreme Court Justice
- John HillJohn Hill-Politics:*John Hill , MP for Dorchester *John Hill , United States Representative from Virginia...
, former Texas Attorney General and former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court - Harry Lee HudspethHarry Lee HudspethHarry Lee Hudspeth is a United States federal judge.Born in Dallas, Texas, Hudspeth received an A.B. from the University of Texas in 1955 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1958. He was a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve from 1958 to 1959. He was a trial attorney of...
, current United States Federal Judge - George P. Kazen, current Senior United States Federal Judge
- Ben Connally, former United States Federal Judge
- Harold Barefoot Sanders, former United States Federal Judge
- Peter R. Coneway, former United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, prominent Investment Banker
- Stanley Louis McLellandStanley Louis McLellandStanley Louis McLelland from San Antonio, Texas, became a director of Nustar GP LLC in October 2005. He has also served as director of Nustar GP Holdings since July 2006 and as a director of two privately held companies since November 2003 and June 2004, respectively...
, former United States Ambassador to Jamaica - Lloyd Hand, former Chief of Protocol of the United States
- Arno Nowotny, founder of the Texas CowboysTexas CowboysTexas Cowboys is an honorary men's service organization at The University of Texas at Austin. Founded in 1922, its members include some of the University's most distinguished students and alumni...
- Wilson Homer ElkinsWilson Homer ElkinsWilson Homer "Bull" Elkins was an American educator and university administrator. He served as the president of the University of Maryland from 1954 to 1978. Elkins received an A.B. and an M.A. from the University of Texas in 1933, where he was also a star college football quarterback...
, President of the University of Maryland, 1954–1978 - Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.Benno Charles Schmidt, Sr. was an American lawyer and venture capitalist who was active in New York City civic affairs and played an important role in the initiation of the War on Cancer....
, American lawyer and venture capitalist - Robert KeetonRobert KeetonRobert Ernest Keeton was an American lawyer, jurist, and legal scholar. As a law professor at Harvard Law School and a federal judge he was known for his work on torts, insurance law, and practical courtroom tactics...
, lawyer, jurist, and legal scholar - Barr McClellanBarr McClellanOliver Barr McClellan, entrepreneur, counsel and author, born in 1939 in Cuero , Texas, became widely known by his 2003 book Blood, Money & Power on the Kennedy assassination. He has also written on globalization.-Life & Career:...
, former lawyer and author - Ricardo RomoRicardo RomoRicardo Romo became the fifth president of The University of Texas at San Antonio in May 1999. As president, he leads one of the fastest growing institutions of higher education in Texas....
, President of the University of Texas at San AntonioUniversity of Texas at San AntonioThe University of Texas at San Antonio, commonly referred to as UTSA, is a state university in San Antonio, Texas. With an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, it is the third-largest of nine universities and six health institutions in the University of Texas System and the eighth-largest in... - Roy SpenceRoy SpenceRoy Spence is the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of the advertising agency GSD&M Idea City and author of the books The Amazing Faith of Texas and It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven By Purpose.-Early life:Roy was born in Brownwood, Texas in 1948...
, founder and CEO of GSD&M Idea City - Steve PoiznerSteve PoiznerStephen Leo "Steve" Poizner is an American businessman/entrepreneur and conservative Republican politician, who was elected State Insurance Commissioner of California in November 2006, and concluded the 4 year term in January 2011...
, California State Insurance Commissioner, billionaire entrepreneur - Earl CampbellEarl CampbellEarl Christian Campbell , nicknamed The Tyler Rose, is a former professional American Football running back. He, Paul Hornung and O.J Simpson are the only people to have won the Heisman Trophy , were first overall National Football League draft picks and are in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame...
, Hall of Fame NFL running back - Mark McKinnonMark McKinnonMark McKinnon is a Republican political advisor in the United States, Global Vice-Chairman of Hill & Knowlton, Inc., a leading international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational and global clients, and the President of Maverick Media. Originally a Democrat,...
, Republican political advisor - Bryan Garner, current editor of Black’s Law Dictionary
- Paul BegalaPaul BegalaPaul Edward Begala is an American political consultant and political commentator. He was an adviser to President Bill Clinton. Begala was a chief strategist for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign, which carried 33 states and made Clinton the first Democrat to win the White House in sixteen years...
, political consultant and commentator - Major ApplewhiteMajor ApplewhiteMajor Lee Applewhite is the Co-Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Coach for the University of Texas. Prior to Texas, Applewhite served as offensive coordinator at Rice University under Todd Graham in 2006, and at the University of Alabama under Nick Saban in 2007...
, current Texas football coach and former quarterback - George Prescott Bush, nephew of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
- Cat OstermanCat OstermanCatherine Leigh "Cat" Osterman , is an American athlete and was one of the pitchers on the USA Women's Softball Team which won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the silver medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics....
, American softball player - Doug DawsonDoug DawsonDouglas Arli Dawson was a National Football League offensive lineman from 1984 through 1994. Dawson attended the University of Texas where he was a member of the Friar Society. He currently works for Northwestern Mutual in Houston....
, former National Football League offensive lineman - Patrick RosePatrick RosePatrick Michael Rose was a Texas Democratic politician, who served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from House District 45 which comprises Blanco, Caldwell and Hays counties in Central Texas from 2002–2010...
, youngest member of the Texas House of Representatives - Mary WalshMary Walsh (journalist)Mary Walsh is a producer at CBS News. She graduated from University of Texas at Austin College of Communication in 1977. At UT she was a member of the Friar Society.She won a 2002 and a 2004 duPont-Columbia Award. She was a media gamer in Dark Winter....
, National Security Producer at CBS News - Hines H. Baker, President of Humble Oil Company
- Terree Bowers, former U.S Attorney for Central District of California and international war crimes prosecutor
- Bob ArmstrongBob ArmstrongJoseph Melton James is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships throughout the Southeastern United States...
, Former Under Secretary of Interior, Former Texas Land Commissioner - Edwin Dorn, former Under Secretary of Defense
- Sam AchoSam AchoSamuel Onyedikachi Acho is an American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals. Acho played college football at the University of Texas.-Early years:Acho attended St. Mark's School in Dallas, Texas...
. American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals - Lindsey CarmichaelLindsey CarmichaelLindsey Ann Carmichael is a Paralympic Bronze Medalist.-Early years:She spent her first years in Uvalde, TX, and then moved to Austin and then Lago Vista, TX where she attended middle and high school...
, Paralympic Bronze Medalist