When members of the Austin College Class of 2016 receive diplomas during Commencement exercises May 15, the College also will award five honorary doctoral degrees.
Austin College President Marjorie Hass will award honorary doctorates to the Honorable Michael S. Rawlings, Mayor of Dallas and the Commencement speaker; and to the Reverend Felipe Martinez, 1988 alumnus of the College; pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Indiana; and Baccalaureate speaker for the class at the Saturday evening service.
Dr. Hass also will present honorary doctorates to 1972 alumna Carmen Tafolla, a prolific and well-known author, speaker, and performance artist who serves as Poet Laureate of the State of Texas; Clarice Tinsley, the longest-serving news anchor in the Dallas/Fort Worth market; and Anna Laura Page, accomplished musician and composer who served the College as first lady throughout the presidency of Oscar C. Page from July 1994 to June 2009.
2016 Honorary Degree Recipients
Michael S. Rawlings, a Borger, Texas, native, moved to Dallas in 1976 and worked his way up from an entry-level position at TracyLocke advertising agency to become its CEO. He led Pizza Hut to record sales before becoming chair and managing partner of the private equity firm, CIC Partners, where he now is vice chair. A 1976 Boston College graduate, Rawlings also was committed to public service, and he previously served as chair of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau and as park board president. He was elected mayor of Dallas in June 2011 election and launched GrowSouth, his signature initiative to spur economic development south of the Trinity River. He also has sought to improve public education, combat poverty, revitalize Fair Park, develop the Trinity River corridor, and elevate the city’s international profile. Elected to a second four-year term in May 2015, Rawlings continues to put Dallas in the national spotlight, in part through his post as an executive committee member for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He also sits on the Jesuit College Preparatory School Board of Trustees.
Felipe N. Martínez is a fourth-generation Presbyterian, born in Monterrey, Mexico. He came to the U.S. to enroll in high school at Presbyterian Pan American School in Kingsville and then earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and French from Austin College. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1992 and completed his Doctor of Ministry degree there in 2005. His work in ministry began in Illinois in 1992, where he served as pastor, moderator of presbytery, and chair of General Council. He later accepted a call to Whitewater Valley Presbytery where his work led to the start of a bilingual bicultural congregation in Indianapolis. During his ministry in Indianapolis, Felipe served as co-chair for the Hispanic/Latino Forum of the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis, and as facilitator of a dialogue group sponsored by the Church Federation between African American and Hispanic/Latino clergy. After a one-year stint as the Transitional General Presbyter and Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Great Rivers, based in Peoria, Illinois, he was called back to congregational ministry, becoming the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Indiana in December 2015.
Anna Laura Page is a widely published composer of choral and handbell music, as well as a teacher, clinician, and organist. Her publications include choral works for children, youth, and adults, and compositions for handbells, organ, and piano. She served on the Music Committee of the Southern Baptist 1991 Hymnal Committee and as Handbell Editor for the Supplemental Music Resources for the Celebrating Grace Hymnal that released in 2010. Among her most prominent choral works is the anthem “Creation Will Be at Peace,” which was performed at the dedication of the Holocaust Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the 50th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy Beach. Many other works have been commissioned for special occasions, including the 50th anniversary of Austin College’s Wynne Chapel in 2008. Mrs. Page received a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Music Education with a concentration in piano and a Master of Music degree in Music Theory with a concentration in organ from the University of Kentucky. During her career, she was an adjunct faculty member at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. She also served as director of the Austin Peay Community Children’s Chorus in Clarksville, Tennessee, for three years and later served 11 years as Handbell Music Editor for Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.
Clarice Tinsley has been the voice of daily news for millions in the North Texas region in her career with KDFW Fox, where her 38 years make her the longest serving news anchor in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. A Michigan native, Tinsley graduated from Wayne State University with her B.A. degree in radio, television, and film and began her career in news in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before joining the staff at KDFW in 1978. Tinsley has received many awards for her work, including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, a DuPont-Columbia Citation, two Emmy Awards, three Dallas Press Club Katie Awards, and two Awards of Excellence from American Women in Radio and Television. She also has been honored with the Best Investigative Reporting Award from Texas Associated Press, the Texas Headliner Award for Investigative Reporting, the Journalistic Award for Excellence from the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Director’s Community Leadership Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tinsley is a member of the Board of Directors of Girls Scouts of Northeast Texas is an Advisory Board Member of St. Philip’s School in South Dallas and the School of Journalism at Southern Methodist University. A member of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, she has served as the master of ceremonies for the annual Each Moment Matters luncheons hosted by the Presbyterian Communities and Services Foundation. She is active in many other community events and organizations.
Carmen Tafolla is Poet Laureate of the State of Texas and widely recognized as an award-winning poet, author, storyteller, performance artist, speaker, and professor. Author of more than 20 books, her work appears internationally—in newspapers, journals, magazine, books, posters, on the sides of city buses, and engraved in sidewalks and museum walls. Her work, which has been published in English, Spanish, French, German, and Bengali, has received many awards, including the prestigious Americas Award presented at the Library of Congress in 2010. She also has received two International Latino Book Awards, the Art of Peace Award and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Book Award, to name only a few, and has been recognized by the National Association of Chicano and Chico Studies for work that “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.” Tafolla earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Austin College and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas. She has taught graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of Mexican American Studies, bilingual bicultural education, literature, women’s studies, creative writing, and arts education for more than 40 years. Inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters, she serves as vice president of the organization and will assume its presidency in 2018.
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 36 percent of students representing ethnic minorities. A residential student body of 1,250 students and a faculty of more than 100 allow a 12:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. The College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.