Austin College will honor five graduates and two faculty members for distinguished professional accomplishment and service to the college on Friday during Homecoming events on the campus. Awards will be presented during a dinner in Mabee Hall of Robert J. and Mary Wright Campus Center. For information, contact the Office of Alumni Engagement at 903-813-2335.

Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize those who have distinguished themselves in their profession and in their communities, exemplifying leadership and ethical standards in their interactions. First Decade Award recipients are selected on the same basis, but for accomplishments within 10 years of graduation. Austin College Alumni Board president Kirsten Brandt James of Dallas, Class of 1985, and Dr. Marjorie Hass, president of Austin College, will present the awards to alumni.

2014 Distinguished Alumni Awards

Craig Florence, Class of 1984, of Dallas is a partner and trial attorney with Gardere Wynne Sewell in Dallas. He has been recognized for his work by Chambers USA: Americas Leading Lawyers for Business, Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, and holds an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating. He earned a law degree, cum laude, from Baylor University School of Law.

Tara Jo Gibson Myers, Class of 1978, of Jersey Village headed to University of Texas Medical School at Houston upon completing her Austin College education and earned her M.D. in 1983. She completed her residency at UTMS Houston in internal medicine before beginning private practice in 1986. She continued in private practice in internal medicine until 1995 when she began the hospital-based practice in emergency medicine she continues today. She has held many leadership roles within her professional career, including serving as medical director for several services and serving as state commander for the Disaster Medical Assistance Team.

Kim Powers, Class of 1979, of New York City, New York is the senior writer for ABCs news magazine 20/20, for which he received the Edward R. Murrow Award for continuing excellence this year. During his nearly 20-year career at ABC News, he also won Emmy and Peabody Awards for his 9/11 reporting for Good Morning America. He also wrote the popular What Would You Do? Series, hosted by John Quinones, and has written numerous primetime TV specials for the leading ladies of ABC News: Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Robin Roberts, and Katie Couric.

First Decade Award

Abbas Ravjani, Class of 2004, of Washington, D.C. completed his Austin College degree in political science and Middle East studies, having enjoyed a semester abroad at Oxford University and served as student body president back on campus. In the intervening 10 years, he has had an impressive array of experiences, including selection as a Truman Scholar, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, and a Center for a New American Security Next Generation National Security Leader. He spent two years working for the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, then served as law clerk for the Honorable Barbara Lynn in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. In 2012, he returned to Washington, D.C., where he is an attorney in the U.S. State Department.

Heywood C. Clemons Volunteer Service Award

The Clemons Award is given to alumni or friends of Austin College in honor of continued service and commitment to the College. The award is named to honor longtime Austin College Board of Trustees chair Heywood Clemons of Fort Worth, Texas. The 2014 recipient is Billy Core.

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AC to honor alumni at homecoming