Sept. 26, 2003

Karen P. Hughes, Major General Craig R. McKinley, Pastor Zan W. Holmes, And Marshall Terry To Receive SMU Distinguished Alumni Award

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DALLAS (SMU) -- The “most powerful woman in the White House,” according to Time magazine, the Commander of the 1st Air Force, a civil rights minister, and an English professor will receive the highest honor SMU bestows upon its graduates, the SMU Distinguished Alumni Award. This year’s recipients are Pastor Zan W. Holmes, Karen P. Hughes, Major General Craig R. McKinley, and Professor Marshall Terry.

Each was selected for their extraordinary service and achievement to a particular discipline, organization or cause.

The honorees will be recognized at a formal presentation and dinner at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, October 30, at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas. Tickets for the event are $125 per person. For reservations call Mindy Rowland at 214-768-2586, or send e-mail to mindy@smu.edu. VISA/MasterCard are accepted.

PASTOR ZAN W. HOLMES ('59, '68)

The Reverend Zan Holmes, legendary Dallas church and civic leader, arrived at SMU in 1956 with few resources. But with the help of a scholarship, he earned a Bachelor of Divinity and a Master of Sacred Theology degree. He served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1969 to 1974. From 1974 to 1978 he was associate director of the intern program and from 1978 to 2002 he was an adjunct professor of preaching.

For more than 47 years, Rev. Holmes influenced Dallas as a teacher, legislator, author, pastor, and political mediator. Born in San Angelo, Texas, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and an honorary doctorate from Huston-Tillotson College in Austin and an honorary doctorate from Dillard University. As senior pastor for 28 years, he inspired the growth of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church into a 6,000-member congregation. He also served as Texas state representative; pastor of Hamilton Park United Methodist Church; and on the University of Texas Board of Regents and member of the judicial council of the United Methodist Church.

Rev. Holmes’ awards include the Linz Award; Black Academy of Arts and Letters’ Living Legend Award, Dallas Peace center Peace Maker Award, the Tom Unis Valuing Diversity Award from the Greater Dallas Community Relations Commission, and recognition as one of the civil rights movement’s “invisible giants” in the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Alabama.

KAREN P. HUGHES ('77)

Karen Hughes merged journalism skills with political savvy to become presidential adviser to George W. Bush. Time magazine called her the most powerful woman in the White House during her tenure there. Her role as trusted adviser, instinctive strategist, and forceful communicator for Bush began in 1994 when she joined Mr. Bush's gubernatorial campaign as director of communications, remaining in that position during his term as Texas governor and his historic re-election in 1998. The following year, she joined Bush's presidential campaign, and when he assumed office in 2001 she became White House counselor where she oversaw all press relations, speech writing and presidential appearances. She returned to Austin from Washington in 2002 and continues to advise the president and assist with major speeches.

Born in France to a military family, Hughes spent her childhood in Panama and later moved to Dallas, where she attended W.T. White High School. Hughes earned degrees in English and journalism at SMU, where she credits her professors with teaching her how to think critically. Following graduation Hughes worked as a reporter for a local television station until 1984, when she switched to handling media relations for the Reagan-Bush re-election campaign in Texas.

Last fall, Hughes gave the third annual Rosine Smith Sammons Lecture in Media Ethics at SMU.

MAJOR GENERAL CRAIG R. MCKINLEY ('74)

Major General Craig R. McKinley plays a key role in the war against terrorism as Commander of the 1st Air Force, Air Combat Command, and as Commander, US North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, at Tyndall Air Force Base. The 1st Air Force is responsible for organizing, equipping, and operating air defense forces for the commander of NORAD, providing tactical warning, threat assessment, and counterdrug forces for the North American continent. He is a command pilot with more than 4,000 hours in eight different aircraft.

Gen. McKinley received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from SMU in 1974 and was named the Distinguished Graduate of the SMU Air Force ROTC program. He earned a Master’s degree in management and economics at Webster College in 1979, followed by a Master’s degree in national security strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. His charismatic leadership style and team-building skills have led to a rapid rise through the Air Force ranks in positions of trust, including serving as Deputy Inspector General overseeing criminal investigations and counterintelligence operations. He has set a leadership example over issues of diversity within the Air National Guard through the advancement of women and minorities to high-level positions.

Among his major awards are the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

MARSHALL TERRY ('53, '54)

Marshall Terry, E. A. Lilly Distinguished Professor of English, has influenced generations of SMU students as a gifted teacher, mentor, and writer. His unique role in both the English Department and the wider University remain a major influence in SMU’s progress. He helped write the Master Plan with President Willis M. Tate in 1963, which articulated the mission and values of SMU and lays the foundation for the Strategic Plan in place today.

Terry earned a Bachelor of Arts (‘53) and Master of Arts (‘54) from SMU. In addition to twice chairing the English Department at SMU, he introduced the creative writing specialty into the English major, founded the nationally recognized SMU Literary Festival, and has directed SMU programs in Madrid, Oxford, and Taos.

Among Terry’s nationally praised novels and short stories are Old Liberty, Tom Northway, My Father’s Hands, Land of Hope and Glory, and Angels Prostate Fall. He also has earned distinction as a critic and essayist and for his history of SMU, From High on the Hilltop: A Brief History of SMU. His lifetime achievement was honored in 1991 when he received the Barbara McCombs/Lon Tinkle Award for a “career of excellence in letters,” the highest honor of the Texas Institute of Letters. He has also received the Institute’s Jesse H. Jones Fiction Award and the Short Story Award as well as the PEN Texas Award, the SMU Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award three times and the SMU Willis Tate Award for Outstanding Faculty twice.