Four alumni have received the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award SMU can bestow upon its alumni. Recipients are Linda Pitts Custard (’60, ’99), James B. Gardner (’55), The Honorable Antonio O. "Tony" Garza Jr. (’83) and Rick Herrscher (’58). The Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni who have graduated within the past 15 years, was presented to Nathan Allen (’00). They were honored at the DAA celebration in November.
Linda Custard
Linda Pitts Custard, an active volunteer in Dallas, sustained her demanding civic activities while earning an M.B.A. degree in 1999 from Cox School of Business. She previously attended SMU with the class of 1960 before graduating from Mills College.
Among her activities, Custard chaired the opening events for the Meadows Museum and the Greer Garson Theatre. She is a director of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and chairs its President’s Advisory Board. Her support of SMU includes an endowment for President’s Scholarships.
Custard is a trustee of SMU and the Hoblitzelle Foundation and secretary of Communities Foundation of Texas, among others. Recent honors include the Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award, Maura Award for Women Helping Women and TACA/Neiman Marcus Silver Cup Award.
James Gardner
James B. Gardner, an investment adviser to financial institutions, co-founded and serves as chair of Commerce Street Holdings, LLC. He previously served as senior managing director of Samco Capital Markets Inc., after a 40-year career in banking. He is an organizer and member of the Independent Bankers Capital Fund, LP, investment committee and past president of the Dallas Bankers Association.
Gardner earned his B.B.A. in finance from Cox School of Business in 1955. He has served SMU as a member of the Executive Board of Perkins School of Theology and convener of the Dean’s Roundtable at Perkins.
Gardner’s community service includes chair of the Japan-Texas Conference and the International Committee of the North Texas Commission, board member of the Dallas Opera and director of United Way of Greater Dallas. The Salvation Army awarded him the Order of Distinguished Service.
Tony Garza
The Hon. Antonio O. "Tony" Garza Jr. has served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico since 2002. His previous service as chair of the Texas Railroad Commission made him the first Hispanic Republican elected (1998) to statewide office in Texas.
Garza earned a B.B.A. from UT-Austin in 1980 and a J.D. degree from SMU School of Law in 1983. Elected Cameron County Judge in 1988, he was the first Republican elected to countywide office in traditionally Democratic South Texas. Garza was appointed in 1994 by then-governor-elect George W. Bush as Texas’ secretary of state and a senior adviser. He also was a partner in the law firm of Bracewell & Patterson, L.L.P.
Garza, who delivered SMU’s commencement address in 2004, has been honored with the Outstanding Young Texas Exes Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Dedman School of Law, which he serves as a member of its Executive Board. Hispanic Business magazine has twice named him one of its Top 100 Influential Hispanics and one of the 25 Most Powerful Hispanics in the United States.
Rick Herrscher
Rick Herrscher, who earned a B.A. degree in 1958 through the pre-medical studies program, was a member of the varsity baseball and basketball teams. He played in the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in 1956 and was Southwest Conference Player of the Year in 1958.
After SMU, he played professional baseball for five years, concluding his career with the New York Mets. He later earned a D.D.S. degree from Baylor College of Dentistry. After two years in the Navy, he returned to Baylor for an advanced degree in orthodontics. He spent 20 years in private practice before serving on UT-Southwestern’s cranial-facial faculty. He returned to private practice in 1994.
Herrscher has served on boards of the Mustang Club, Alumni Association and Lettermen’s Association. He was founder and organizing director of the Hilltop Sports Camp. Other board service includes Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Dental Health Programs and Salesmanship Club of Dallas.
Nathan Allen
Nathan H. Allen has taken the Chicago theatre scene by storm since receiving his B.F.A. in theatre from Meadows School of the Arts in 2000. Accompanied by other Meadows alumni, Allen moved to Chicago and founded The House Theatre of Chicago, of which he is artistic director.
Allen came to SMU as a Hunt Leadership Scholar. He spent his junior year studying at the British American Drama Academy in London, which inspired him to establish a theatre company combining American pop culture with European spectacle. The result is The House, now in its fifth season. In 2007 the League of Chicago Theatres named The House as the inaugural recipient of the Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theater Award.
Nominations for 2008 DAA and Emerging Leader recipients must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2007. To nominate alumni, call 214-768-2586, e-mail smualum@smu.edu or visit www.smu.edu/alumni/daa.