Tarleton unveils portraits of 14 past university presidents

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STEPHENVILLE (February 16, 2017) — Tarleton State University’s yearlong Centennial Celebration as a founding member of The Texas A&M University System continues Monday, Feb. 20, with the unveiling of a past presidents’ gallery featuring the work of Stephenville artist Mary Waters.

Coinciding with the national Presidents’ Day holiday, Tarleton will pay tribute to the university’s past 14 presidents whose pen and ink portraits will be unveiled during a 3 p.m. ceremony presided over by Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio, Tarleton’s current and 15th president.

The portraits will be on permanent display inside Tarleton’s Administration Building, in the second floor hallway near the president’s office suite.

Following the unveiling, a reception in the Administration Building foyer is planned at approximately 4 p.m., featuring immediate past-president Dr. Dennis P. McCabe and family members of several former presidents, including relatives of Dr. Barry B. Thompson, William O. Trogdon, E.J. Howell and J. Thomas Davis, as well as local artist Waters who created the artworks.

Waters, a former Stephenville High School teacher, retired to pursue her passion for art. Creating pieces in a variety of media, her works include painting, sculpture and photography. Waters, who has a bachelor’s degree in secondary art education from Asbury College in Kentucky, continues to teach small group community art classes and was commissioned to create the pen and ink drawings of Tarleton’s past presidents.

Past presidents of Tarleton include: W.H. Bruce (1899-1900), E.E. Bramlette (1900-06), Frank M. Martin (1906-08), J.D. Sandefer (1908-09), Elzy Dee Jennings (1909-11), George J. Nunn (1911-12), Roswell Rogers (1912), James Duncan Hughlett (1913), James F. Cox (1913-19), J. Thomas Davis (1919-45), E.J. Howell (1945-66), William O. Trogdon (1966-82), Barry B. Thompson (1982-91) and Dennis P. McCabe (1991-2008).

To view brief biographies on the university’s past leaders, visit www.tarleton.edu/president/about/pastpresidents.

For more centennial happenings—including an international rocket competition this summer, a birthday party in September and a concert in November at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth—watch Tarleton’s calendar of events at www.tarleton.edu/centennial.

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