Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023

Larry Warnock ‘83
Larry Warnock is an experienced technology venture investor that will share with the group some interesting stories about Aggie Technology Entrepreneurs and the impacts they are making.  From hypersonic drones to software that streamlines manufacturing, to advanced AI, and even orbiting robotic spacecraft.  He will also share his thoughts on some major initiatives underway across The Texas A&M System to further advance technology innovation and commercialization.

Larry Warnock serves as Partner Emeritus of Ring Ventures, a Venture Capital Fund made up of Aggie investors. He is a seasoned venture-backed tech executive with multiple exits via acquisition or IPO. He launched Ring Ventures as the Founding Managing Partner. Prior to that he was the President & CEO of Olono, an AI platform for sales effectiveness. Previously he was the CEO of Gazzang, a provider of big data security software, and Phurnace, a provider of DevOps software. After moving to Austin from Silicon Valley, Larry was a Venture Partner at Austin Ventures. Lake LBJ is now his home with his wife of 39 years (also Aggie Class of ’83). He started his software career in sales and marketing and has been a VP executive at several successful high-growth companies. Larry is a graduate of Texas A&M, a frequent speaker on campus and serves on the Advisory Board for The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship in the Mays School of Business.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Curtis Donaldson ’81
Curtis Donaldson was born and raised in Valley Mills Texas, so he is a rural Texan by birth! He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1981 with a BBA in Management. While attending A&M he was a member of the Fightin Texas Aggie Band, where he also served as B Company Commander and was a Bugle Rank Member and a Ross Volunteer.

Upon graduation he headed to Ft Sill as 2nd Lt and then served 10 years in the Texas Army National Guard in Field Artillery units in Odessa and San Angelo. He also worked for Conoco during this same 10-year period in Midland, Houston, Maljamar, NM and San Angelo.

Leaving corporate America, he started his own business located in Georgetown, TX known as CleanFUEL USA, focusing on technology for the propane vehicle marketplace. At one-point CFUSA had operations on 4 continents and in the USA had customers such as UPS, TxDOT, General Motors and Freightliner.

After 25 years of running CFUSA, he sold the business in an attempt to slow down and he moved to Mason, Texas. There he met and married his wife Mary and between the two they share 6 kids! A few months later, a small community bank would hire him to help grow their business. As a community banker, he threw himself into the community and worked tirelessly on many initiatives such as Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce, ISD Committees, Community Advocate Leadership Team and most recently helped spearhead the capital campaign to raise $5.2 million to help rebuild their burned courthouse.

Along that journey Texas A&M School of Medicine engaged Curtis to help them think through a Rural Medicine Initiative strategy and eventually they would pilot that program in Mason County. The Mason pilot results were so good it spread to the 5 surrounding counties and those results have been so good they had inquiries from other counties, as word spread among medical providers and County Judges. Texas A&M then elected to take the program statewide and asked Donaldson to lead that charge. With his roots in rural Texas from Valley Mills to his now living in rural Mason, he is even more passionate about changing the landscape of rural medicine and has been moved by the impact the program is already having in so many communities.

Curtis works 50% for the Office of Academic and Strategic Collaboration as their Director of Community Engagement for West Texas and 50% for the School of Medicine as their Director of Rural Medicine.

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Kirk Watson
For three decades, Kirk Watson has been immersed in public policy, spanning local and state government in Texas. He served in the Texas Senate for over 13 years, leading on a wide range of issues and serving as a member and vice-chair of multiple standing and special committees and the Sunset Advisory Commission. His peers elected him President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 2019.

Watson was appointed in 1991 by Gov. Ann Richards as Chair of the Texas Air Control Board, the agency charged with addressing air quality issues. He was Vice-Chair of the committee that oversaw creation of the agency now known as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

He was first elected Austin mayor in 1997, where he won praise for bringing different political sides together around transformative environmental and economic development initiatives. In 2012, serving in the Texas Senate, he led the effort to build a new medical school at The University of Texas at Austin.

As a result of his numerous health care efforts, Watson has been honored by the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute and NAMI Austin. The American Medical Association recognized him with the prestigious Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service.

Watson also served as the Founding Dean of the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston.

He was honored multiple times in Texas Monthly magazine’s analysis of the state’s best legislators. In 1998, the magazine described him as “a man with a vision of what the community wants—and the moxie to carry it out.”

He is a recipient of the prestigious President’s Citation from The University of Texas at Austin and the Pro Texana Medal of Service from Baylor University. The Baylor Line Foundation (formerly the Baylor Alumni Association) named him a Distinguished Alumnus. Austin Community College awarded him an honorary degree. The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas gave him its Open Government Lawmaker of the Year award, and the Texas Press Association named him a Friend of the First Amendment. The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce also has named him Austinite of the Year.

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Brigadier General (Ret) Patrick R. Michaelis ’93
Brigadier General (Ret) Patrick R. Michaelis serves as the 46^th Commandant of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate from Texas A&M University and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Armor in 1993.

His previous assignments include: Commanding General, United States Army Training Center, Fort Jackson, SC, and dual-hatted as the Deputy Commanding General, Center for Initial Military Training; Deputy Commanding General (Operations) for the United States Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, KY; Deputy Commanding Officer (Maneuver) for the 1^st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS; Commander, Mission Command Element, Operation Atlantic Resolve, United State Army Europe; Executive Officer to the Under Secretary of the Army; Commander of the 2nd Recruiting Brigade, Redstone Arsenal, AL; G3 (operations officer) for the 1^st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, KS, and as the Chief of Staff to the commander of the combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Iraq (CJFLCC-I) in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in Baghdad, Iraq; Commander of the 8^th Squadron, 1^st Cavalry Regiment, 2-2 Stryker Brigade, where he had operational responsibility of Kandahar City, Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom 12-13; Special Assistant to the Vice Chief of Staff, Army; Operations Officer of the 1^st Ironhorse Freedom 06-08; Executive Officer and Operations Officer for 1^st Squadron, 7^th U.S. Cavalry; and as the Battle Command and Chief Knowledge Officer for the 1^st Cavalry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

BG Michaelis received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Texas A&M University; a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, specializing in strategic planning.  His military training and education also includes the Armor Officer Basic and Advanced Course, Scout Platoon Leaders Course, Cavalry Leaders Course, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College, Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger School.

BG Michaelis has served in various other command and staff positions, to include Assistant Professor, United States Military Academy at West Point, NY; Ground Troop and Headquarters Troop Commander for the 1^st Squadron, 7^th U.S. Cavalry at Fort Hood, TX; Tank and Scout Platoon Leader, Troop Executive Officer, and Assistant Operations Officer, 1^st Squadron, 4^th U.S. Cavalry, Schweinfurt, Germany and Operation Joint Endeavor.

He is married to the former Bonnie Elizabeth Tate of Weaver, AL. M1 They have four children, Molly Gudding and Hannah Fallin, Madeleine and Madison Michaelis.

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Dr. Richard A. Box ‘61
Richard A. Box graduated from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas Dental Branch, Houston. He served in the Vietnam War as an Army dentist with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 44th Medical Brigade. He recently retired from the practice of dentistry in Austin, Texas, and is a fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists.

Dr. Box has served in several positions of responsibility with the state of Texas. As one of the first lay members on the Texas Real Estate Commission, he served on the State of Texas Aircraft Pooling Board, where he was chairman of the board. He, also, served the state in the Adjutant General’s Department where he commanded the Texas State Guard, serving as the commanding general during the state’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, before retiring as a major general.

Dr. Box currently is a board member of The Texas Higher Education Foundation.

Dr. Box was appointed to the Texas A&M System Board of Regents in 2008 by Governor Rick Perry and was chairman of the board from 2011-2013.