12 young former students honored for their accomplishments and service
Each year, The Association of Former Students’ 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight recognizes a dozen Aggies who have graduated within the past 12 years for their business accomplishments, civic or military service, philanthropic efforts, and outstanding representation of Texas A&M University’s core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service. The 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight was conceived by the Young Alumni Advisory Council, a selected body of younger former students who advise The Association’s staff on ways to better connect with the hundreds of thousands of recent graduates of A&M.
Among the 2015 honorees are a physician, a veterinarian, a dentist, a photographer, an engineer, attorneys, business leaders, servicemen and a veteran, but all 12 of them are much more than their career achievements, their advanced degrees and their impressive awards.
They are also mentors, volunteers and selfless servants, dedicated to the betterment of Texas A&M, their communities and the world. You can read much more about each of these impressive young men and women at tx.ag/12u12.
We congratulate these fine young men and women on their accomplishments, and we thank them for their service and for their outstanding representation of Texas A&M and the Aggie Spirit.
MORE AGGIES ON THE RISE
The 12 Under 12 spotlight honors only a dozen former students, but many more young Aggies are making their marks. From the 2014 applications, here are nine more impressive young Aggies who ranked just outside the top 12: Matthew Bush ’02 • Shawn Fawell ’02 • Josh Lipscomb ’02 • Josh Rosinski ’02 • Travis Rapé ’03 • Marcella Burke ’04 • Valerie Walker ’04 • Juan Alfaro ’05 • Keaton Askew ’06
JARED HARRELL ’02
The 12.48 Foundation (from the Biblical verse “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required”) cofounded by Harrell raises funds to support the youth of Fort Worth’s Como neighborhood, where a third-grader he began mentoring years ago is now a teenager—Harrell recently took him to his driver’s license test. Harrell is an attorney at Phelps Dunbar, a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Rising Star in Texas Monthly’s Super Lawyers for 2013 and 2014. With the Fort Worth/Tarrant County A&M Club, Harrell has been vice president, a scholarship committee member and a multi-year director. He is a Gold Century Club donor to The Association and served on the boards of the Downtown YMCA and Alzheimer’s Association North Central Texas.
CASEY OLIVER ’02
Two parts of Oliver’s life that already overlapped came together when A&M acquired a law school, “being an alum of Texas Wesleyan, the law school, and also being an alum of Texas A&M,” she said. At Wesleyan, she was part of the acquisition’s core team, and she’s now director of marketing and external affairs at the school, where she is integrating Aggie traditions such as using Fish Camp as the inspiration for a first-year-student retreat. Oliver serves on the board of the Texas Aggie Bar Association, a chartered constituent network of The Association of Former Students, and is a member of The Association’s Century Club. She helps guide young leaders with Leadership Fort Worth. For Warm Place, a grief support organization, she chaired a gala fundraising campaign that exceeded the $250,000 goal.
HOLLIE SHIREY ’02
Alongside academic achievement at A&M, teaching at the A&M Health Science Center and building a successful dentistry practice, Shirey’s service to others has been a constant, from church leadership to advising students to volunteer dentistry for homeless and underserved populations in Dallas and on international missions. But perhaps her greatest passion for helping centers on the Houston-based Terry Foundation, which sent 200 students to A&M last year and for which Shirey has been helping select scholarship winners since the days when she was one herself. Shirey is an advisory board member, an interview chair and an officer with the Dallas-area Terry alumni. She is a Silver -level donor to The Association’s Century Club and sponsors and volunteers at Dallas A&M Club events such as the annual golf tournaments, Coach’s Night and Muster.
MIKE YANTIS ’02
As he has advanced to president and CEO of the Yantis Co. land development construction firm, Yantis has managed more than $800 million in construction infrastructure projects and led remarkable growth that landed the company on the Aggie 100 list repeatedly. He’s chairman this year of the Valero Alamo Bowl, having previously been a scholarship committee member and served on the board of directors. In his chairmanship of the philanthropic committee last year, he said, “We worked on a plan to get the scholarships up to $410,000 a year” from $200,000, a goal he was passionate about that benefited San Antonio high school students. Yantis is a Silver-level donor to The Association’s Century Club, supports A&M athletics and with his father established a Business Development Honors endowment at the Mays Business School.
RAE ADAMS ’04
Adams’ honors at Texas A&M Family Medicine Residency include outstanding third-year resident, chief resident and outstanding resident teacher in 2011, a 2014 outstanding teaching faculty award and inclusion in the 2012 and 2013 Texas Monthly Texas Super Doctors Rising Stars. She is an attending physician, an assistant professor and a faculty physician for the residency, helping mentor 27 residents each year. “To see the progression over three years is really rewarding,” she said. A Gold-level donor to The Association’s Century Club, Adams teaches Sunday school with her husband, and they lead a group of young married couples at their church. She has worked on medical mission trips to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Ghana and did relief work for hurricanes Katrina and Rita; today she volunteers at the Health for All clinic in Bryan.
JOHN BARRETT ’04
An Air Force captain, Barrett helps 25 partner nations share and aid in civil and military transportation as U.S. representative to Movement Coordination Centre Europe, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. He earned a Bronze Star by helping ensure the reintegration of 17 Taliban in northern Afghanistan. After attacks on an Afghan army outpost, Barrett, in partnership with a multinational force, led an emergency resupply; anti-government forces eventually turned themselves in. He volunteered time to restore a memorial to the first American killed in the war in Afghanistan, CIA officer Mike Spann. A Boy Scout Master and Explorer Scout Master who was in Corps of Cadets Company K-2, Barrett has raised funds for the Red Cross, Susan B. Komen Foundation and Idaho Children’s Hospital and conducted more than 5,000 hours of English-language immersion training in Afghanistan
RANDAL FORD, JR. ’04
“It was a chance to serve that kind of fell in my lap,” Ford said about the fundraiser he conceived for a little girl in Pennsylvania. Ford’s photography appears in national magazines and advertisements from Time to AT&T, PepsiCo and Target. He’s totaled 19 Texas Monthly covers, including the September 2013 Johnny Manziel image. When he heard about a 3-yearold leukemia patient’s fondness for his images of chameleons, he created a “Prints for Jackie” fundraiser that garnered $16,000 for her family. A winner of multiple international awards, Ford also mentors a young Aggie photographer. His charity and volunteer efforts include supporting the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Any Baby Can and the American Youth Works Gala in Austin. “At my core, I believe in giving my time and assets to serve others,” he said.
MATTHEW JOSEFY ’04
The motif of mentorship recurs from Josefy’s first days at A&M, where he founded a peer mentoring organization and was student body president, through his early accounting and banking career and in his return to A&M as a lecturer, leader and now doctoral student. He was active with A&M Clubs in London and Hong Kong, hosted young Aggie visitors and served on A&M’s Vice President for Student Affairs Advisory Board. Returning to A&M, Josefy lectured at the Mays School of Business, earning a 2011 award for exceptional contributions and mentoring. He is a Silver-level donor to The Association’s Century Club, a Class Agent and member of the Memorial Student Center Board of Directors. An in-demand speaker for student groups and campus events, Josefy was a Fish Camp namesake in 2011
AARON ZORN ’05
An Air Force captain and engineer, Zorn has led large-scale operations at home and abroad. At Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, his achievements included the relocation of more than 100 facilities housing airlift squadrons. “I often find myself focusing on others completing their missions as my first priority,” Zorn said—an approach he credits to his days at A&M, where he was in the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, and O.R. Simpson Honor Society and served on Class Council. Zorn is a member of The Association’s Century Club, volunteered for and spoke at Aggie Ring Day at Texas A&M University at Qatar and organized Muster at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Zorn was recently the deputy engineering flight chief in the 56th Civil Engineer Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Next stop: Kabul.
JOHN BOERSTLER ’06
The largest network of post-9/11 veterans in Texas aids more than 6,000 members: the Lone Star Veterans Association, founded by Boerstler. When he came from the Marine Corps to A&M as a nontraditional student, he said, he immersed himself in student organizations and believes that helped fuel his desire to keep serving his country and community. Boerstler worked for the Wounded Warrior Project and coordinated a veterans’ resources initiative in the Houston mayor’s office. Two years ago, he cofounded Bayou City Bike Tours, which hires veterans and is TripAdvisor.com’s top-rated Houston tourist activity. “It’s part of the mission, but at the same time it’s my way of delivering Houston’s unique history and culture,” he said. He is business development manager at Veteran Energy, which also hires vets and supports veterans charities.
PATRICK HEBERT ’06
A Ross Volunteer, junior and senior yell leader and Most Outstanding Senior Cadet when he was at A&M, Hebert has gone on to achieve numerous professional honors and awards as a marketing representative for Federated Mutual Insurance and also with previous employer Streetman Homes. Hebert is president of the Montgomery County A&M Club and says that helping interview students for the Club’s scholarships is one of his most rewarding acts. On the board of directors of the Conroe Lions Club, he’s involved with several service programs, particularly mentoring elementary school students. A member of The Association of Former Students’ Century Club, Hebert stays active with the Association of Former Yell Leaders and acts as a resource for new yell leaders, as well as hosting current Ross Volunteers at the Conroe “Go Texan” Parade.
AARON RAINER ’98 AND ’06
When we spoke to Rainer, he was on his way to A&M to help lead an ethics discussion with veterinary students, exemplifying his long-term commitment to helping vet students and peers. Rainer, a small-animal veterinarian in Richmond, graduated from A&M in 1998. In 2006, he earned a master’s degree from the A&M Health Science Center, his veterinary degree from A&M and the Buck Weirus Spirit Award. He has served on the Texas Veterinary Medical Association’s executive committee and board of directors, helped select incoming A&M veterinary students and mentors recent graduates. TVMA named him a 2008 Recent Graduate Practitioner of the Year; the American Veterinary Medical Association chose him as its 2010 Emerging Leader from Texas; and in 2014, A&M’s vet school gave Rainer its first Rising Star Award.
