Honored alumni
Six university awards were presented at the annual Alumni Awards Dinner April 8. The event honors alumni and others who have provided service and support to the university as well as alumni who have achieved prominence in their fields. This year's honorees were:
Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award
The university's most prestigious award for alumni, given to individuals who have achieved distinction in their professions and made significant contributions to society, therefore bringing credit to UNT
 Ray Moseley ('52) of London. Moseley was a reporter and European correspondent for the Chicago Tribune for 24 years. He began his career in Texas as a reporter for three newspapers, including the now defunct Dallas Times-Herald. He then worked for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, Detroit Free Press and Philadelphia Bulletin before joining United Press International as an overseas correspondent. Moseley later became chief of the UPI Moscow bureau and the international news editor for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He joined the Chicago Tribune in 1977 and three years later was working in Nairobi as an African correspondent. He also worked in London as a chief European correspondent, in Washington, D.C., as a diplomatic correspondent and in Berlin as a senior European correspondent. A Pulitzer Prize nominee in 1981 for international reporting, Moseley was awarded the Member of the British Empire award in 2003 by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain for his services to journalism. Moseley is the author of two books, Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of Il Duce and Mussolini's Shadow, The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano. He retired from the Chicago Tribune in 2001.
 Jerry W. Pinkerton ('62) of Dallas. Pinkerton is a certified public accountant, auditor and controller. He serves on the board of directors of Holly Energy Partners LP and is chair of its audit committee. He also served as accounting consultant to TXU Corp. from 2000 to 2003 and TXU Corp. comptroller from 1997 to 2000, as well as chief accounting officer and controller for ENSERCH Corp./Lone Star Gas Co. from 1988 to 1997. He is co-chair of the UNT College of Business Administration's Dean Search Committee and Strategic Planning Committee and serves on the college's advisory board. He is a board member of the UNT Foundation and a life member of the UNT President's Council. He is also a mentor in the UNT Professional Leadership Program. Professionally, he was a chair and member of the Accounting and Reporting Standards Committee for the Texas Society for Certified Public Accountants from 1993 to 1995. From 1993 to 1994 he was a chair and member of the TSCPA Audit Committee. He was inducted into the UNT College of Business Hall of Honor in 2000.
 Martha Fuller Turner ('62) of Houston. Turner is founder and chief executive officer of Martha Turner Properties. Previously an elementary school teacher, she started her Houston-based real estate company in 1981 with two other people and a borrowed office. Today, the company serves local, national and international markets and last year averaged $9.5 million in real estate sales. She is a member of the UNT President's Council and was a member of the Board of Regents from 1997 to 2000. She is a lifetime member and on the advisory board of the 100 Club of Houston and a member of the Cultural Arts Council as well as a founding member of United Cerebral Palsy. Professionally, she served on the advisory board of the Christie's Great Estates Network, as director of the Houston Association of Realtors and on the board of directors of the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Some of her honors include being a member of the Alexis De Tocqueville Society of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, an honoree of the Houston Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 2003 and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Finalist in 2002.
Green Glory Award
Presented to individuals, not necessarily alumni, whose assistance to the university has enabled it to have "a substantial margin of excellence in its endeavors":
 James F. ‘Jim' McDonald ('60) of DeSoto. McDonald has been a State Farm agent in Duncanville since 1965. With State Sen. Royce West and the Best Southwest Partnership, he helped establish the UNT Dallas Campus and secured a $100,000 grant from the State Farm Foundation for the campus. He serves on the advisory boards of the College of Business Administration, the Department of Management, the Professional Leadership Program and the Murphy Enterprise Center and is a member of the UNT President's Council and life member of the North Texas Exes. He has also established a UNT Dallas Campus student scholarship; an endowment for scholarships in honor of C.L. Littlefield, his former faculty adviser and mentor; and an accounting scholarship in honor of former UNT faculty member Horace Brock.
 Al ('64, '68 M.Ed.) and Jo Ann Miller ('71, '90 M.Ed.) of Arlington. Al served as an elementary school principal in Arlington before retiring. Jo Ann works as an assistant principal at Amos Elementary School in Arlington. They are both life members of the UNT President's Council and the North Texas Exes, and members of the UNT Athletic Advisory Committee and the Mean Green Club. They are co-founders of two scholarships, the Bill and Marge Webb Memorial Scholarship in Education and the Alvin and Lillian Miller Memorial Scholarship in Education, which honor their parents. Al also sits on the board of directors for the North Texas Exes.
Honorary Alumnus/Alumna Award
Awarded to individuals who were never students at UNT, but whose outstanding devotion to the university has been clearly demonstrated.
 Hazel Harvey Peace of Fort Worth. Peace is a veteran educator best known for her work promoting reading with small children. The Hazel Harvey Peace Youth Center at the Fort Worth Central Library is named in her honor. Peace began her career as a teacher at her alma mater, the Fort Worth Colored School -- now known as I.M. Terrell High School. There she served as counselor, dean of girls and vice principal. After retiring, she became dean of women at Bishop College in Dallas. Last year, the UNT School of Library and Information Sciences, with the assistance of friends and former students of Peace, created the $350,000 Hazel Harvey Peace Professorship in Children's Library Services to recognize her accomplishments. It is the first professorship at a four-year state-funded institution in Texas named for an African American woman.
 Joseph O. and Betty A. Roy of Denton. Joe is president of Denton Consultants, specializing in Japanese business interactions. He is retired from Exxon Mobil Corp., where he served mostly in international operations, including 17 years abroad in Thailand and Japan. Betty is a former travel coordinator. The Roys created the Joseph and Betty Roy Music Scholarship at UNT and served as volunteer community liaison coordinators for UNT International Studies and Programs. They are life members of the UNT President's Council. Joe has served the College of Music through the Community Advisory Council, the Denton committee of Campaign North Texas, the Dallas Advisory Board and the Dean's Camerata. A frequent guest lecturer in UNT business classes, he created the College of Business Administration Department of Management Advisory Board Scholarship.
Outstanding Alumnus/Alumna Service Award
Given to alumni who have "rendered volunteerism of exemplary nature" to the university
 Olaf Harris ('69) of Dallas. A registered interior designer in the state of Texas, Harris is president of Harris Design Inc. in Dallas, owner of Bosque County Emporium in Clifton and partner of Harris Smith Design Inc., a full-service architectural and interior design firm in New York. He is a member of the UNT School of Visual Arts Advisory Board, the UNT Interior Design Advisory Board, Design Professional's Principals Roundtable in Dallas, the International Interior Design Association, the International Facility Management Association and CoreNet. He also served on the UNT Alumni Awards Selection Committee from 2002 to 2003.
 Christopher F. Hill ('81) of Dallas. Hill is the founder and president of Pinnacle Graphics in Addison, which he founded in 1993 . He has served on the advisory boards of the Department of Management and the Murphy Enterprise Center. He has also contributed more than $25,000 in printing costs to the center during the past four years and is a regular sponsor for its annual Leadership Luncheon. In addition, he assisted with developing, printing and publishing the College of Business Administration's first college magazine and has served as a guest speaker to classes in the college. He is a member of the UNT President's Council and the Mean Green Club.
President's Citation
Awarded to individuals who have given extraordinary service and support to UNT either in enhancing its reputation or in helping the university accomplish its mission
 Robert Blocker ('70 M.M., '72 D.M.A.) of Clinton, Conn. Blocker is professor and dean of the School of Music at Yale University. An international concert pianist and award-winning educator, he has performed in the United States, Europe, Mexico, China and several Pacific Rim countries. He appears regularly on national radio and television as an artist and commentator, and Steinway and Sons featured him with Van Cliburn and Billy Joel in a film in 2000 commemorating the 300th anniversary of the invention of the piano. Blocker chairs the Board of Visitors for the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. He has received numerous awards, including outstanding professor awards at Baylor University in Waco and Brevard College in Brevard, N.C.
 Ron Shanklin (awarded posthumously and accepted by his family). Shanklin, who died in 2003, was a former professional football player and North Texas coach. He played wide receiver for North Texas from 1967 to 1969 and was the second-round draft pick of the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers in 1970. During his first three seasons in the NFL, he led the Steelers in receptions. He was selected the team's Most Valuable Player in 1973, the same year he was selected to the Pro Bowl. The following season, he played in Super Bowl IX, which the Steelers won 16-6 over the Minnesota Vikings. After retiring from the NFL, Shanklin coached at North Texas from 1982 to 1991 and was named to the university's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. The Ron Shanklin Memorial Scholarship has been established in his memory.
Ulys Knight Spirit Award
Awarded to a UNT alumnus, alumna or group that has made noteworthy efforts to sustain spirit among the UNT family. Ulys Knight ('28) was on North Texas' championship basketball team in the early 1920s and was named the most popular student on campus. He was later known as "Mr. North Texas" for his participation in alumni activities.
 Joseph Raymond ‘Ray' David Jr. ('89) of Pilot Point. David is president of PointBank in Denton, only the seventh president of the family-owned bank in its 112-year history. He is a life member of the North Texas Exes and a member of the UNT President's Council and the Mean Green Club. His civic work includes serving as a board member for the United Way of Denton County, the Denton County Chamber of Commerce and the Cross Timbers Council of Girl Scouts of America. He is also a member of the Denton Young Professionals, the Aubrey Chamber of Commerce and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
 Nancy White of Denton. White, now an elementary school teacher, is the retired executive director of the North Texas Exes. In addition to working for the alumni association, she served as an administrative assistant for the UNT Centennial Extravaganza and is a life member of the North Texas Exes. She is a member of the Ariel Club and Denton Panhellenic and serves on the boards of the Denton Public School Foundation and the First United Methodist Church. She is also a past officer of the Denton County Dental Auxiliary and past vice president of the Denton Benefit League. |
