In other business, the Board of Trustees:

• Approved the re-election of eight trustees of the Class of 2001 to four-year terms
• Named four new trustees
• Approved the re-election of John V. Roach as chair of the board and Jean Walbridge as secretary of the board
• Elected two trustees to Trustees Emeriti
• Passed resolutions honoring the long-time board service of trustees Vernon S. Smith, Wayne Moore and the late John S. Justin Jr.
• Approved for promotion, tenure and election to emeritus status faculty recommendations as submitted by the chancellor

Budget plan approved
Roach garners national award for 20 years as TCU trustee

By Alisha Brown
Staff Reporter

The Association of Governing Boards honored TCU Board of Trustees Chairman, John Roach, with the Distinguished Service Award in Trusteeship, Sunday at a conference in San Francisco, Calif.

The AGB gives the award annually to one representative from both a public and a private institution out of 1,800 colleges across the nation for extraordinary contributions to their educational institutions.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said an award like this puts the university in a new spotlight.“Out of all the Princetons and Harvards and Yales, our chairman was chosen to receive this award,” Ferrari said.

Roach, who is still in California, was unavailable for comment.

Ferrari nominated Roach for the award based on his outstanding service to TCU and Fort Worth. Roach has served on the board since 1981, and he was named its chairman in 1990, according to a press release from the AGB.

Larry Lauer, vice chancellor for marketing and communications, said Roach has been a valuable asset to the university.

“He’s literally overseen everything we’ve done,” said Lauer.

Lauer said Roach led the effort to build the $25 million William E. and Jean Jones Tucker Technology Center, which will house the James A. Ryffel Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

He also helped recover the athletics program by recruiting community leaders and by leading the marketing campaign to move TCU from the Southwest Conference, in 1994, to the Western Athletic Conference and again to Conference USA beginning next fall, Ferrari said.

According to the AGB, Roach also led the strategic-planning effort of TCU’s first comprehensive fund-raising campaign, which brought in more than $126 million.

“I can’t imagine that there would be a trustee anywhere who has done more than John has done for TCU,” Lauer said.

Roach is also nationally recognized as the former chief executive officer of the Tandy Corporation. He created the Tandy Technology Scholars Program, which recognizes outstanding high school teachers and students. TCU administered the program until 1999.

“Through his enormous commitment of time, his sharing of his talents, his ability to listen and to build consensus, his profound contributions to the university’s intellectual purposes and his personal generosity, John Roach exemplifies the very best of academic trusteeship,” AGB President Richard T. Ingram said.

The recognition from the AGB also comes with a $10,000 nominating grant for the university.

Alisha Brown
a.k.brown2@student.tcu.edu