AUSTIN, Texas– The football playing field at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium has been named the Joe Jamail Field in honor of the Houston attorney who has made multimillion-dollar contributions to The University of Texas at Austin, including a recent $5 million pledge to athletics. UT System Board of Regents approved the naming of the field at their meeting Thursday (Aug. 14) in Dallas.
The $5 million pledge, $1.8 million of which has been received, was given to the Longhorn Legacy, a $30 million campaign for UT athletics. The program's purpose is to increase endowed funds for UT athletics and to renovate and expand the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and other University sports facilities. A significant feature of the campaign is the inclusion of individual naming opportunities as appropriate donor recognition.
"Joe Jamail has given generously of his time and resources to academic and athletic programs throughout the University. We are proud to give his name to the field that has been the site of outstanding Longhorn athletic competition," said UT Austin President ad interim Peter T. Flawn. "We are grateful for the support that Joe and Lee Jamail have provided to our efforts to renovate and upgrade Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium."
Jamail is recognized as one of the nation's leading trial lawyers. He has been lead counsel in more than 200 personal injury cases where recovery, either by victory or settlement, has been in excess of $1 million. He has won more than $12 billion in jury verdicts and more than $13 billion in verdicts and settlements. In the landmark 1983 Pennzoil vs. Texaco case, Jamail represented a client who received the largest jury verdict in history.
Earning bachelor's and law degrees from UT Austin, Jamail has been associated with the University for more than 50 years. He and his wife, Lee, who attended UT, are major benefactors of the UT School of Law, having created four endowed chairs, an endowed library, an excellence fund and an endowed dean's fund. They also have funded endowed scholarships in business, communication, education, fine arts, nursing, the Plan II Honors Program and women's athletics. In recognition of the Jamail's gift to the Texas Swim Center, the UT regents renamed the facility the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Many other educational and cultural institutions have benefited from the Jamails' philanthropy.Jamail is a recipient of the University's Distinguished Alumnus Award and the UT School of Law's Outstanding Alumnus Award. Both of the Jamails have been named Distinguished Alumni of the Houston Ex-Students' Association.
Jamail is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, as well as a member of numerous other national and international professional organizations. He received the 1989 Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the 1993 Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the 1993 War Horse Award from the Southern Trial Lawyers Association.
In other action, regents changed the name of the V.F. "Doc" Neuhaus-Darrell K Royal Athletic Center to the W.A. "Tex" Moncrief, Jr.-V.F. "Doc" Neuhaus Athletic Center in recognition of Moncrief's many contributions to UT, including a $5 million pledge to the Longhorn Legacy. Regents believe the name change is appropriate in view of the recent designation of the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Royal's name was added to the stadium in August of 1996.
Regents also voted to name the Longhorn Dining Hall in Beauford H. Jester Center-East the B.M. "Mack" Rankin, Jr. Longhorn Dining Hall in recognition of the Dallas businessman. In addition, regents approved the naming of the Centennial Room on the ninth floor of Bellmont Hall the Carpenter-Winkel Centennial Room in recognition of Mrs. Carol Carpenter Winkel's contributions to the University.
