College of Agriculture and Life Sciences former students earn highest Texas A&M honor
The Association of Former Students names 12 Distinguished Alumnus Award honorees
Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is celebrating four former students who were recently recognized with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a former student by Texas A&M University and The Association of Former Students.
Tyrus “Ty” Timm ’34 ’36, Ph.D.; Allan Marburger ’60; Gerald A. Sullivan ’67; and Patrick Conway ’96, M.D., are among 12 graduates recognized over the past two months for their accomplishments.
The honor recognizes former students who have achieved exceptional distinction in their careers and reflect the highest standards of integrity and service. Since the inception of the award in 1962, only 366 Aggies have been recognized for the excellence they achieved in their chosen professions and meaningful contributions to Texas A&M University and their local communities.
Tyrus “Ty” Timm ’34 ’36, Ph.D.
Timm, an agricultural economist, professor and longtime leader of the Department of Agricultural Economics, was recognized posthumously. He spent more than 40 years at Texas A&M, starting as a student and culminating with serving as the department head for 20 years, from 1953 to 1973.
As a member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, Timm graduated as a second lieutenant and served as a Ross Volunteer. He received a teaching fellowship in the department to continue graduate coursework.
Timm started his career as an agricultural economist at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, became a farm management specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, now Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and later a professor of agricultural economics and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, now the Department of Agricultural Economics. He ended his career working part-time as a research economist, retiring in 1975.
In his role as department head, he advanced education and research at a time when mechanization, changing foreign markets and expansion toward larger agribusiness enterprises were creating great volatility. He was considered an authority regarding the emergence of the European Common Market, serving on multiple federal task forces.
Timm served on the advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Crop and Livestock Estimate Service, as well as several national and state positions, including the American Bankers Association Agricultural and Rural Bankers Committee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Environment and Agriculture Committee, and the Farm Foundation’s National Agricultural Policy Committee.
Allan Marburger ’60
Marburger, of Paige, is a rancher in Bastrop County. As a student in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, he was involved in various organizations and campus activities, including serving as a delegate to the 1960 Memorial Student Center Student Conference on National Affairs, the Agronomy Society and the Cotton Pageant and Ball Fundraiser.
He was a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Ross Volunteers and represented Texas A&M at the Ralston Purina month-long summer fellowship in St. Louis, Chicago and Lake Michigan.
Marburger received an Endowed Opportunity Award as a student, which provided $1,000 for four years, and that experience prompted him to help other students. He initially funded four Endowed Opportunity Awards and a President’s Endowed Scholarship and has since funded several more scholarships.
He established the Allan A. Marburger ’60 Endowed Scholarships in Agriculture, with the scholarships primarily spread across the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the Corps of Cadets and The Association of Former Students.
A past recipient of the College’s Outstanding Alumni Award and member of the College of Agriculture Development Council, Marburger continues to leave his mark on the agricultural industry with his endowment, allowing agricultural students to have a chance to leave their mark.
Gerald Sullivan ’67
Sullivan is owner of Westport Marine Terminal in Galveston and co-owner of the Santa Rosa Ranch in Crockett and Navasota, which is the largest registered producer of Brangus and Ultrablack cattle in the state. He is a fifth-generation Texan who grew up in the Galveston public school system, where he was actively involved in the Shamrock 4-H Club, showing cattle at the Houston Fat Stock Show, now known as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
In 1963, he started his own dirt-moving business, which became a springboard to entrepreneurial life, and he enrolled at Texas A&M that fall. While pursuing a degree in agricultural economics, Sullivan was a member of Squadron Six in the Corps of Cadets.
After graduation, he enrolled at South Texas College of Law, and then joined his brother to start Sullivan Enterprises, which they ran for 42 years. Throughout his business career, he founded and sold numerous businesses, including ranching, real estate development, barge and towboats, marine terminals, international shipping, and commercial and residential construction.
A Tyrus Timm Registry inductee, Sullivan has served on The Association of Former Students Board of Directors, the former Corps of Cadets Development Council, Chancellor’s Century Council, and is a lifetime director for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
He opened his businesses to provide valuable experience for Department of Agricultural Economics students interested in international agricultural economics and marketing. The students receive first-hand experience and inside knowledge of shipping, logistics and arbitrage of several commodities important to Texas agriculture, including crude oil and minerals.
Patrick Conway ’96, M.D.
Conway, CEO of Optum, UnitedHealth Group, and past CEO of Optum Rx and Care Solutions, is a practicing pediatric hospitalist.
Conway grew up in College Station. He began his higher education journey as a genetics major in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and he graduated summa cum laude. He earned his master’s in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Baylor College of Medicine, with residency training at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Attending Texas A&M on an academic scholarship, he served as a Fish Camp co-chair, a student senator and a chair of MSC Town Hall. Along with friends, he founded MSC Coffeehouse, which is a part of MSC Town Hall. He credits the experience he gained in his role as MSC president during his senior year with providing his greatest lessons in leadership, management and business.
Conway has remained connected to Texas A&M. He is a member of the Division of Student Affairs Development Council, which supports the Vice President of Student Affairs to help promote the student experience at Texas A&M and assist in fundraising and development strategy efforts.
He also has endowed the Champe Fitzhugh International Honors Leadership Seminar, which is now called the Conway-Fitzhugh International Honors Leadership Seminar. It focuses on understanding global leadership, exploring its various aspects, and applying it to personal development and involvement at Texas A&M.
