Leaders in the banking industry, a global activist and an inventor received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Awards, the highest award SMU can bestow upon its former students. Recipients honored at the November DAA celebration are Darrell Lafitte (’54), Malcolm S. Morris (’68), Gary E. Pittman (’53) and Richard Ware (’68). The Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni who have graduated within the past 15 years, was presented to community activist and minister Richie L. Butler (’93).
Darrell Lafitte
Darrell Lafitte
Darrell Lafitte pursued a business career with the same focus he displayed as a guard on the Mustang football team. He was named to the Academic All American and All Southwest Conference teams before receiving his B.B.A. degree in 1954.
After graduating, Lafitte began a distinguished career in banking. He was chair of Compass Bank Dallas from 1993-98 and remains on the bank’s board. Previously he was CEO of Cornerstone Bank, which he helped to found. Now semi-retired, he is an investments manager.
Lafitte remains involved with University activities. He is a former Alumni Association president and member of the Board of Trustees. He has been honored with the SMU Letterman’s Silver Mustang Award and the Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award.
Malcolm S. Morris
Malcolm Morris
Malcolm S. Morris advocates on behalf of clean water initiatives in the developing world. He serves as a board member and former chair of Living Water International, now operating in 27 countries. He founded and chairs the Millennium Water Alliance, consisting of American nonprofit organizations dedicated to bringing potable water and sanitation to 500 million people by 2015. He hosted the Millennium Water Challenge to communicate the importance of water issues in U.S. foreign policy.
Morris is chair and co-CEO of Stewart Information Services Corporation and chair and CEO of Stewart Title Guaranty Company. He received his B.B.A. from SMU in 1968. After completing his first year of law study at SMU, he earned J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Gary E. Pittman
Gary Pittman
Gary E. Pittman co-invented the light-emitting diode (LED) while working at Texas Instruments in the 1960s. The revolutionary technology, used in products ranging from traffic lights to digital clocks, transformed the optical communications business.
After leaving TI, he served as an executive with several major companies. He currently is engaged in research on residential energy reduction and the improved use of medical statistics.
The Galton Institute in London published Pittman’s book on Sir Francis Galton, the developer of modern statistical methods. SMU’s DeGolyer Library now houses his collection of Galton materials.
Pittman, who graduated with honors in 1953 with a B.S. degree in chemistry, received the Lazenby Outstanding Alumnus Award from the SMU Chemistry Department in 2008.
Richard Ware
Richard Ware
Richard Ware combines his profession with service to his community and alma mater. He follows a family tradition as president of Amarillo National Bank, one of the largest family-owned banks in the country.
Ware received a B.B.A. degree with honors from SMU in 1968 and later earned an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He served on SMU’s Board of Trustees from 1980-92 and 1994-2008. He was vice chair of the Board and chair of the standing committees on Trusteeship, Student Affairs and Buildings and Grounds. SMU students named him Outstanding Trustee of the Year in 1987, 1995 and 1998.
He also has served on the National Board of Big Brothers of America and the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
Recognizing An Emerging Leader
Richie Butler
Richie L. Butler is an activist for improved housing and economic development in South Dallas. He helped create Unity Estates, a planned community of 285 single-family homes sponsored by the 70-member African American Pastors’ Coalition in Dallas.
Butler earned B.A. degrees in psychology and religious studies in 1993 from SMU, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow, and a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard University in 1996. He is a principal, governance committee member and senior vice president for CityView, which finances urban residential developments nationwide.
In addition, he founded Union Cathedral, for which he is senior pastor. The church includes more than a dozen ministries and a nonprofit community development corporation.
Honoring A Few Good Alumni
Nominations for the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award and Emerging Leader Award are being accepted and must be made by Dec. 31, 2008. Recognition is open to SMU alumni who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary service and achievement in a particular discipline, organization or cause.
Any individual may nominate an alumna and/or alumnus for this award. To nominate SMU alumni for DAA or Emerging Leader Award consideration, please complete the nomination form that can be found at smu.edu/daa.
Once nominated, the individual’s name remains in nomination for a total of three consecutive years, including the initial year in which they were nominated. After that time, the individual may be nominated again.
Nominations may be made online or by mailing the completed form to: Southern Methodist University, Attention: Nominations, P.O. Box 750173, Dallas Texas 75275-0173.
For more information, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or 1-888-327-3755, e-mail smualum@smu.edu or visit smu.edu/daa.