The Texas A&M Foundation Board of Trustees on Wednesday recognized the Ed Rachal Foundation and Thomas and Joan Read as recipients of the Sterling C. Evans Medal. The award is the Foundation’s highest honor.
Recipients of the Evans Medal support Texas A&M University through demonstrated philanthropy, volunteerism and leadership. Their devotion to Texas A&M and desire to motivate others to strengthen the university encapsulate the spirit of the medal’s namesake, who was a visionary among Aggie philanthropists.
“This year’s winners embody the true spirit of giving,” said Tyson Voelkel, president of the Texas A&M Foundation. “They realize that supporting Texas A&M University is about much more than writing a check. It is about collaborating as partners to advance Texas A&M toward the future. We are endlessly grateful for their tireless support and friendship.”
For nearly two decades, the Foundation’s trustees have selected annual recipients of the award. To be selected, recipients must demonstrate a long-term commitment to Texas A&M.
“It’s important to our Board of Trustees to recognize and thank our most generous supporters both for their time and financial contributions,” said George Hickox, board chairman. “We continue to be astounded by the level of giving these donors demonstrate; the diversity of areas they support; and the differences their gifts have made to individuals, Texas A&M and the world.”
The Ed Rachal Foundation and Tom and Joan Read join a small but prestigious group of Evans Medal recipients. See a full list of recipients.
Ed Rachal
The Ed Rachal Foundation
The Ed Rachal Foundation is a Corpus Christi, Texas, nonprofit established after the deaths of Ed Rachal Jr. and his wife Louise. A rancher from Falfurrias, Texas, Ed Rachal stipulated in his will that his estate be used to establish a foundation benefiting “charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes within the State of Texas.” The Rachal Foundation has contributed more than $21.4 million to Texas A&M University. This amounts to almost one-third of the Ed Rachal Foundation’s total distributions in its over 52 years of existence.
Support for Texas A&M through the Rachal Foundation began with scholarships for Brooks County and Falfurrias students. Later, the Rachal Foundation added dozens of other gifts to support the university. In 2014, the Rachal Foundation gave $1 million to establish the JoAnn ’92 and Bob ’58 Walker Singing Cadets Endowment to honor the Texas A&M fundraising executive with whom they had collaborated for many years. To date, the Rachal Foundation has funded 31 scholarships at Texas A&M, including multiple Corps scholarships and a President’s Endowed Scholarship.
They have also supported five faculty chairs in four colleges: Mays Business School, the College of Science, the College of Engineering and the College of Education and Human Development. Additionally, they have established multiple professorships and faculty fellowships, and have contributed to the Corps’ Hollingsworth Leadership Excellence Program for cadets who choose corporate careers.
Joan C. and Thomas A. "Tom" Read
Thomas and Joan Read
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Thomas and Joan Read knew each other as children but married only after they crossed paths again in Houston in 1956. Joan worked in a bank and later at an advertising firm, while Tom joined the U.S. Army and became a World War II bomber pilot. After the war and three years of college in Ohio, Tom started working in Houston for Crawford Fitting Co., which manufactured and distributed pipe fittings to petrochemical companies. In 1951, with $860 in capital, he founded Thomas A. Read & Co. to distribute Crawford products.
As part of their lifelong dream to help those less fortunate, in 1978 the Reads opened a camp in Magnolia, Texas, to serve underprivileged boys. They partnered with Texas A&M University to get support for the camp in the form of supervision, coaches and students-turned-counselors.
Since Tom’s death in 1991, Joan has managed the Deerfoot Youth Camp and its partnership with Texas A&M. Each year, health and kinesiology majors work at the camp to put their coaching skills into practice. Joan has also continued the couple’s legacy of giving to the university, which includes:
- Scholarship support for students at Texas A&M University at Galveston and for former Deerfoot Youth Camp campers
- Memorial scholarships in honor of Thomas Read, William S. Clark and Jimmy Demarat
- An endowment for the Thomas A. and Joan Read Research Center in Industrial Distribution
- An endowed chair in surgery to the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
- An endowed chair in Health and Kinesiology in the College of Education & Human Development in honor of Leonard D. Ponder, former department head
- The Joan C. Read Deerfoot Youth Camp Project Excellence Endowment
In total, about 800 Aggies in various disciplines have been supported by Read scholarships, and many Aggies have had the opportunity to learn through serving at Deerfoot Youth Camp, which has supported approximately 3,384 campers. Over the years, the camp added a one-week summer session for children treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Joan also plans to extend scholarships for former campers to attend trade schools.
Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation is a nonprofit organization that solicits and manages investments in academics and leadership programs to enhance Texas A&M’s capability to be among the best universities.
To learn more about scholarships, fellowships and program-focused giving to benefit Texas A&M University, contact the Foundation at info@txamfoundation.com, (800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-8161.
For additional information and photographs, contact Monika Blackwell at mblackwell@txamfoundation.com or (979) 845-7468.
