AUSTIN, Texas—Dr. William H. Cunningham, Frank W. Denius and Dr. William S. Livingston have been selected to receive the prestigious Presidential Citation Awards for 2005 at The University of Texas at Austin, according to Dr. Larry R. Faulkner, president of the university.
The Presidential Citation recipients will be presented on Sept. 14 at the university’s anniversary observance, “The University at 122,” an annual program during which Faulkner will present the President’s Address on the State of the University. Other prestigious awards also will be presented during the 4 p.m. ceremony in Jessen Auditorium, Homer P. Rainey Hall.
The Presidential Citation was created in 1979 to recognize the extraordinary contributions of individuals who personify the university’s commitment to the task of transforming lives. The university does not award honorary degrees, and these citations are designed to salute those whose service exemplifies the values shared by The University of Texas at Austin community. In honor of each recipient, a Presidential Citation Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to three students.
Cunningham, who holds the James L. Bayless Chair for Free Enterprise in the Department of Marketing Administration, McCombs School of Business, has served the university in many leadership roles during his academic career. He was president of The University of Texas at Austin from 1985-92 and was chancellor of The University of Texas System from 1992-2000. Prior to his presidency, he was dean of the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Business.
Cunningham has won seven UT teaching awards and has published 11 books. During his tenure as president, he worked to shape campus policy and build consensus on issues regarding free speech, race relations, hazing, the quality of undergraduate education, enrollment management and minority retention. He introduced the Preview Program to support the academic success of minority students at UT and he joined with Texas AandM University to establish the University Outreach Program to prepare promising minority junior high and high school students for college-level work. One of the major academic advances during his presidency was the development of a molecular biology program and the financing of a $25 million laboratory and classroom building. In 1991, Dr. Cunningham created the Littlefield Society to recognize the university’s most generous benefactors.
Denius, a 1949 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Law, has a distinguished record of sharing his professional talents and personal resources to benefit academic and athletic programs at the university for more than 50 years. He has served The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas System, the Austin community and the state in leadership roles on numerous councils, commissions and committees. Denius is an attorney and director of the Southern Union Company and Chase Bank-Austin. He was president of the Texas Exes from 1964-66, during the construction of the Alumni Center on campus, and contributed substantially to the expansion of the center in the 1980s. His commitment to developing future leadership in Texas led him to endow the President’s Leadership Awards. He has served on the university’s Development Board, the Centennial Commission, the Campaign Executive Council of the “We’re Texas” campaign, the Commission of 125, and as chairman of the Leadership Austin Council. He is president of the Cain Foundation, which has funded the fine arts, athletics and such areas as photojournalism and the Normandy Scholars Program. In 1991, Frank Denius received the university’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. Because of his outstanding support of Longhorn athletics, the Frank Denius Fields, including the indoor football practice facility, are named in his honor.
Livingston, senior vice president at The University of Texas at Austin, has served the university in an array of key faculty and administrative roles for more than five decades. The political scientist has been a faculty member since 1949 and in 1982 was named to the Jo Anne Christian Professorship in British Studies. He has held a number of university administrative positions, including chairman and graduate adviser of the Government Department, chairman of the university’s Faculty Senate, vice president and dean of graduate studies and acting president of the university. He was appointed senior vice president in 1995.
Livingston has been instrumental in establishing several prominent programs at The University of Texas at Austin, including the Michener Center for Writers, the Graduate Assembly, the Faculty Seminar on British Studies, the Clark Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies, and the Normandy Scholars Program. He was chairman of the two committees that planned and developed the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He is the author and editor of books and articles on federalism, democracy and education. For his outstanding scholarship, campus leadership and classroom popularity, he has received such distinctions as the Pro Bene Meritis Award, the Forty Acres Award and the Award of Distinction from the UT Parents’ Association.
For more information contact: Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
