2021 Annual Report
Impact
Our Impact
Since the establishment of its scholar and veteran award program in 1986, the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation has become one of the most prominent merit-based awards in the state of Texas. The impact of these investments grows every day. Countless TBHF alumni have gone on to be transformational leaders in their businesses and communities. Not only have they have remained some of our most loyal advocates and supporters; they have pioneered new and creative avenues to pay forward the support TBHF gave them early in their success, to others now pursuing their own entrepreneurial journey.
786
scholar and veteran award recipients
$6 Million
in funding awarded to entrepreneurs
23
participating universities
2021 Award Recipients
Sophia Fitz Randolph
Rice University
T.T. & W.F. Chao “Chairman’s” Award
Devanshi Yogeshkumar Patel
University of Texas at San Antonio
AT&T Future Legend First in Family Award
(in honor of Richard Fisher)
Tokunbo Falohun
Texas A&M University
The Brett Wiggs
Innovative Leadership Award
Jaideep Patil
University of Texas
The Mitchell Family
Innovative Leader Honorary Award
Keisha Riser
Baylor University
Future Texas Business Legend Award
Grace Elizabeth Elliott
Dallas Baptist University
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
Forest Shoults
Dallas Baptist University
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
Chelsea Lester
Houston Baptist University
The Stewart Morris Award
Dion Tran
Lamar University
The Ben J. Rogers Award
Garrett Robert Neville
Rice University
T.T. & W.F. Chao Award
Shannon Martin
Sam Houston State University
The SWBC Foundation Award
Irewole Akande
Southern Methodist University
The Lucy Billingsley
Future Texas Business Legend Award
Ruan Justus Meintjes
Southern Methodist University
The Robert H. Dedman Award
Daniela Maria Duran Garcia Prieto
St. Mary’s University
The Carlos & Malú Alvarez Award
Tarah Williams
St. Mary’s University
The William E. “Bill” Greehey Award
William Chase Kammerer
Texas A&M University
The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship
Future Texas Business Legend Award
Austin Davis
Texas Christian University
Future Texas Business Legend Award
Kordel Johnson
Texas Southern University
Future Texas Business Legend Award
Joshua Travieso
Texas State University
Future Texas Business Legend Award
Darce Ross
Texas Tech University
The Pefanis Family Award
Matthew Spencer Hood
Trinity University
The Doug & Martha Hawthorne
Family Fund Award
Zara Atiq
University of Dallas
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
Dustin Mathis
University of Dallas
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
John Paul Thomas
University of Dallas
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
Anil Gurung
University of Houston
T.T. & W.F. Chao Award
Luis Aaron Jimenez Guillen
University of the Incarnate Word
The H-E-B Award
Juanika K. McClendon
University of North Texas
Future Texas Business Legend Award
B. Patrice Bartlett
University of Texas
The Mike A. Myers Award
Mercedes Johnson
University of Texas – Dallas
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
Rohit Shenoy
University of Texas – Dallas
The Mitchell Family Foundation Award
Alejandra Jimenez
University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley
James and Kathleen Collins & Vantage Bank
Texas Future Texas Business Legend Award
David Robinson, Jr.
University of Texas – San Antonio
The Harvey Najim Future
Texas Business Legend Award
Justin Bradshaw
Veteran – University of Texas
The Douglas L. Foshee
Future Texas Legend Veteran Award
Steve Jimenez
Veteran – Rice University
Nau Future Texas Legend
Marine Corps Veteran Award
Robert E Strong, Jr.
Veteran – Bunker Labs
The Greg Armstrong
Future Texas Legend Veteran Award
Travis P. Washington
Veteran – University of Texas
Future Texas Legend Veteran Award
Alumni Spotlights
Vice President and Founder, Trumbull Unmanned, Houston
“The organization has connected me with leaders and innovators that I otherwise might not have met. That has helped increase my confidence in our potential. No path is easy but getting those tools and techniques is invaluable. The support and access has also been extremely helpful. Having the opportunity to ask innovators and Legends about areas where they’ve grown, failed, or succeeded is tremendous as a growing company.”
Founder & Partner Dark Horse Investments Group, Founder Integro Bancorp, Inc., Dallas
“Being selected for the Future Texas Business Legend Scholar Award in 2016 gave me confidence to try. I’m so thankful I had that nudge as a twenty-one-year-old kid. All the funds from the TBHF scholarship went directly towards founding Dark Horse and helped sustain us through the 2020 crash. Between that scholarship and saving aggressively for a couple years, we were able to self-fund without taking on outside commitments. Every person I’ve interacted with in the TBHF network has been phenomenal. I have learned so much listening to the legends and alumni. It really feels more like a family than anything. I am so excited to stay involved in TBHF going forward.”
AT&T Director Data Platform
“Being a part of this network is really inspiring. I’ve enjoyed being able to meet so many people and attend such a wide variety of events whether it be a virtual Titan Talk, the annual Induction ceremony, or a city-based get-together. I find it particularly interesting to learn about what is going on in other industries. We have so many members in real estate, oil and gas, supply chain, and so forth. Now that the world is becoming more unified with technology, I see more overlap in the business world. No matter what industry you are in, it is incredibly valuable to have a deep understanding of other industries, and we have so many experts in our TBHF network. Being around like-minded individuals who share that drive is incredible.”
2021 Award Recipient Demographics
In 2021, we awarded 36 scholar and veteran entrepreneurs from across the state.
Gender
66.6% male
33.3% female
Identify As
44.4% Caucasian
27.8% African American
16.7% Hispanic or Latin American
11.1% Asian
First-generation students
30.6% first generation
69.4% non first generation
Veteran Status
20% veterans
80% non veterans
Founders
80.6% founded one or more companies
19.4% have not yet founded a company
Degree
80.6% Graduate
19.4% Undergraduate
2021 Annual Scholar & Veteran Award Luncheon
On October 28th, 2021, The Texas Business Hall of Fame hosted its annual Scholar & Veteran Award Luncheon at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas. The luncheon featured the presentation of awards to this year’s 36 recipients, as well as a Q&A discussion featuring the 2021 Legends and master of ceremonies, Kendra Scott. This luncheon was made possible through the generous support of Frost Bank.
The awardees were among over a hundred finalists nominated across our state, and were hand-selected by our Directors, for their entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and sense of duty to their state and community. We are incredibly proud of all these entrepreneurs have accomplished so far in their careers and can’t wait to see what they do next.
You can watch the full 2021 Legend Q&A here.
2021 University Partners
Baylor University
TBHF Future Texas Business Legend Award
Dallas Baptist University
The Mitchell Family Foundation Awards
Houston Baptist University
The Stewart Morris Award
Lamar university
The Ben J. Rogers Award
rice university
T.T. & W.F. Chao Award
SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY
The SWBC Foundation Award
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
The Robert H. Dedman Award
The Lucy Billingsley Award
ST. MARY’S UNIVERSITY
The Carlos and Malu Alvarez Award
The William E. “Bill” Greehey Award
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship Future Texas Business Legend Award
TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
TBHF Future Texas Business Legend Award
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
TBHF Future Texas Business Legend Award
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
TBHF Future Texas Business Legend Award
TEXAS TECH
The Pefanis Family Award
The McLane Company Reading Program Award
TRINITY UNIVERSITY
The Doug & Martha Hawthorne Family Fund Award
UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS
The Mitchell Family Foundation Awards
University of houston
T.T. & W.F. Chao Award
UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD
The H-E-B Award
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
TBHF Future Texas Business Legend Award
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
The Kelcy Warren Graduate Fellowship for Engineering
University of Texas at austin
The Mike A. Myers Award
University of Texas At dallas
The Mitchell Family Foundation Awards
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY
James & Kathleen Collins Future Texas Business Legend Award
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
TBHF Future Texas Business Legend Award
2021 Programming
Despite the challenges our organization, state, and nation faced this past year due to COVID-19, The Texas Business Hall of Fame worked tirelessly to create opportunities for engagement, learning, and networking. With the help of our network we were able to provide a series of high-quality virtual events throughout the year, featuring some of Texas’ greatest business icons, offering personalized advice and anecdotes to our members.
We saw great turn out and engagement from our alumni on these calls. These events would not have been possible without the generous help of our network, including the Alumni, Directors, and Legends who volunteered their time to help put on these sessions.
- Moving Your Business Forward in 2021 featuring Mary Bass, Christine Hollinden, and Jason McCann
- TBHF Titan Talk – An Economic Outlook for Texas sponsored by SWBC featuring Richard Fisher
- TBHF Titan Talk – Retail Innovation & Managing Through Crises featuring Craig Boyan of H-E-B sponsored by SpawGlass
- Maximizing your Strengths as a Leader and Organization featuring Graham Weston
- TBHF Titan Talk – Energy: The Future sponsored by API
- Building a Successful Co-Founder Partnership featuring Charlie Amato and Gary Dudley of SWBC
- In Conversation with Carlos Alvarez: The Power of Perspective
- In Conversation with Morton H. Meyerson: Redefining Leadership
- In Conversation with Corbin Robertson Jr.: Energy Future & Staying Ahead of Trends
- In Conversation with Philip Krim: Building, Sustaining, & Growing Casper in a Crowded Market
- Life and Death Experiences of Entrepreneurs with Michael Gorton
2021 Funding
Allocation of Funding
In 2021, TBHF continued to expand our allocation of funding into new areas outside of the collegiate space. We sponsored start up pitch competitions at Rice University, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of Texas at San Antonio. We also awarded a $1,000 cash prize to a promising high school entrepreneur. And we continued to fund veteran entrepreneurs through our Future Legends Scholar & Veteran Award Program, which we added to our program in 2019. This allows us to build upon our mission of recognizing and championing entrepreneurs – at all stages of their career.
80% State-Wide Awards
10% Veteran Awards
7.5% Pitch Competitions
2.5% High School Awards
Sources of Funding
We have also diversified our traditional sources of funding. While the majority of our funding comes from soft funding, we have received multi-year commitments that guarantee we are able to recognize entrepreneurs and business leaders of excellence at our partner universities for years to come.
53% Soft Funding
46% Receivables/Multi-Year Commitment Funding
4% Endowed Funding
