AUSTIN Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe will receive the Agricultural Leader of the Year award during a special reception on Jan. 25 at the Austin Club.
The award, sponsored by the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership, is designed to pay tribute to Texas leadership, explained Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz.
Briscoe is the chair of the advisory board for TALL, an intensive leadership training program, and has given much time and financial support to the program. TALL alumni choose the winner.
A native of Uvalde, Briscoe served as Texas governor from 1973 until 1979 after serving in the Texas Legislature from 1949 until 1957.
“Texas cattlemen have long been involved in state politics, and Dolph Briscoe Jr. embodies that tradition,” Mazurkiewicz said.
In 1949, Briscoe provided leadership to legislation to establish a farm-to-market road program that helped develop rural Texas.
During his six years as governor, Briscoe kept his promise of no new taxes, the first and last administration to hold the line on taxes since World War II.
As governor, he signed into law the 1973 Texas Open Records Act, which protects the public’s right to access to government agencies and records.
As president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, he headed a group that raised $3 million in voluntary contributions to encourage the federal and state governments to launch a screwworm eradication program in Texas and the Southwest. The success of this program is considered by livestock growers to be the most important and beneficial development in the history of the industry, saving livestock producers millions of dollars each year.
Briscoe and his wife, Janey, returned to their Uvalde ranch after he was defeated in the 1978 Democratic primary, and they remained active in community activities. She died in October.
Briscoe serves as senior chairman of the First State Bank in Uvalde, is active in all phases of cattle ranching and is still considered an elder statesman of politics, Mazurkiewicz said.
As part of their intensive two-year training process, members of the seventh TALL class will be in Austin the week of the reception to learn about the legislative process.
The TALL program teaches volunteer leaders in agriculture to deal creatively with change so they can improve the quality of life in their communities and work places, Mazurkiewicz added. Former classes have included farmers, ranchers, communicators, chemists and business professionals.
Other destinations of the current class include other cities in Texas, Washington D.C., New York, Russia and Poland.
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