Former U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway and former National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Jim McAdams have been selected as recipients of leadership awards from the Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership, TALL, program of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Conaway will be honored with the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Achievement Award, while McAdams will receive the Distinguished TALL Alumnus Award at the Aug. 13 TALL XVI cohort graduation ceremony at the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center in College Station.

Former U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway, sitting in front of the U.S. flag. Conaway will be honored by the TALL organization.
Former U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway will be recognized by the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership program.

The ceremony will also honor the current graduating TALL class, which celebrates the completion of a two-year curriculum.

“Both Mike Conaway and Jim McAdams have made far-reaching agricultural contributions nationally and throughout Texas,” said Jim Mazurkiewicz, Ph.D., TALL program director. “Their leadership exemplifies what the TALL program stands for, and we are truly honored to recognize both of them as distinguished honorees.”

Conaway retired from Congress in 2020 after serving eight terms as U.S. Representative from District 11 in West Texas. Prior to his election to Congress, Conaway was a certified public accountant for more than 30 years in both public and private practice.

McAdams, a Huntsville native, is a 1972 graduate of Texas A&M University and served as officer and president of NCBA from 2000-2006. He also served as director and president of CattleFax from 1998-2004.

Tickets for the evening graduation and awards dinner may be purchased in advance: $35 adults, $15 children by Aug. 9 at 979-845-1554 or email [email protected]. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner program at 7 p.m.

Former National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Jim McAdams stands in an outdoor setting with trees behind him. McAdams will be honored by the TALL organization.
Former National Cattlemen’s Beef Association president Jim McAdams will be recognized by the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership program.

Preparing future agriculture leaders

TALL, a two-year program led by AgriLife Extension, provides intensive study of agriculture worldwide, enhancing industry professionals with leadership skills in their respective fields. Participants are represented from a cross-section of professional interests, including traditional crop producers, ranchers, bankers and attorneys, as well as those who work in lumber, food processing, agricultural corporations and horticultural industries from all geographic regions of Texas.

“TALL is a competitive leadership development program that includes seminars with experts, on-site visits, meetings with business and government leaders, international study and personal skills improvement,” Mazurkiewicz said.

Prior TALL Award Recipients

Texas Agricultural Lifetime Achievement Award:

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – 1999

Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. – 2001

Hal Hillman – 2003

James Powell – 2005

Charlie Stenholm – 2007

Kika de la Garza – 2009

Larry Combest – 2011

Jim Prewitt – 2013

Marcus Hill – 2015

Bob Stallman – 2017

Dan Taylor – 2019

Distinguished TALL Alumni Award:

Mike Petter – 1999

Jimmie Wedel – 2001

Albert Purnell – 2003

Barry Evans – 2005

Ben Weinheimer – 2007

Charles Ring – 2009

Clint Robinson – 2011

Glenn Schur – 2013

Garry Merritt – 2015

Jennifer Yezak – 2017

Tanya Foerster – 2019

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