The Friar Society is the oldest honor society at the University of Texas at Austin.

Origins

The Friar Society was founded in 1911 by Curtice Rosser and Marion Levy. Eight members were initially selected in the charter group. Originally, four men were chosen from the junior and senior classes every year on the basis of a significant contribution to

The University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Twenty-five years later, the Friars decided to start taking larger classes to accommodate the growing size of the university. Women were first admitted to the Friar Society on March 25, 1973. In April 2011, the Friar Society celebrated the 100 year anniversary of its founding.

Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship

The Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship is an annual award given to a UT professor who has demonstrated excellence at the undergraduate teaching level. With a prize of $25,000, the award is the largest monetary award annually given to a UT professor. In 1982, the Friars decided to create a teaching fellowship in honor of the upcoming

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

celebration for

. Friar alumni raised $100,000 for this purpose, and this amount was matched by the Board of Regents to create an endowment. In 2006, the Friar Society also created the Tany Norwood Award to honor one staff member or administrator a year."The Daily Texan": "Friar Society award named for retiring admin"
/ref>

Notable alumni

* Beauford H. Jester, 36th Governor of Texas *

Allan Shivers Robert Allan Shivers (; October 5, 1907 – January 14, 1985) was an American politician who served as the 37th governor of Texas. Shivers was a leader of the Texas Democratic Party during the turbulent 1940s and 1950s and developed the lieutena ...

, 37th Governor of Texas *

John Connally John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917June 15, 1993) was an American politician. He served as the 39th governor of Texas and as the 61st United States secretary of the Treasury. He began his career as a Democrat and later became a Republic ...

, 38th Governor of Texas, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Treasury *

Dolph Briscoe Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Because of his re-election foll ...

, 41st Governor of Texas, largest single landowner in Texas *

Lloyd Doggett Lloyd Alton Doggett II (born October 6, 1946) is an American attorney and politician who is a U.S. representative from Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented a district based in Austin since 1995, currently numbered as ...

, current United States Representative * Frank Ikard, former United States Representative * J.J. Pickle, former United States Representative * Ed Gossett, former United States Representative *

John J. Bell John Junior Bell (May 15, 1910 – January 24, 1963) was a U.S. Representative from Texas. Born in Cuero, Texas, Bell attended the public schools and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1932 and from its law school in 1936. He ...

, former United States Representative * Jack B. Brooks, former United States Representative serving for more than 40 years * Diane Wood, current Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit * Joe Greenhill, former Texas Supreme Court Justice * John Hill, former Texas Attorney General and former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court * Harry Lee Hudspeth, current United States Federal Judge * George P. Kazen, current Senior United States Federal Judge * Ben Connally, former United States Federal Judge * Harold Barefoot Sanders, former United States Federal Judge * George Prescott Bush, Texas Land Commissioner and nephew of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

* Ray Farabee, former Texas State Senator and President President Pro Tempore of the Texas State Senate * Cyndi Taylor Krier, former Texas State Senator * Tim Von Dohlen, former Texas State House Representative * Roberto R. Alonzo, current Texas State House Representative * Stanley Louis McLelland, former United States Ambassador to Jamaica * Peter Coneway, former United States Ambassador to Switzerland * Wilson Homer Elkins, President of the University of Maryland, 1954–1978 * Benno C. Schmidt Sr., American lawyer and venture capitalist *

Robert Keeton Robert Ernest Keeton (December 16, 1919 – July 2, 2007) was an American lawyer, jurist, and legal scholar. As a law professor at Harvard Law School and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Mas ...

, lawyer, jurist, and legal scholar *

Barr McClellan Oliver Barr McClellan (born 1939 in Cuero (aka Rawhide), Texas) is an American entrepreneur, counsel and author who became widely known by his 2003 book ''Blood, Money & Power'' on the Kennedy assassination. He has also written on globalization. ...

, former lawyer and author *

Ricardo Romo Ricardo Romo is an American urban historian who served as the fifth President of the University of Texas at San Antonio from May 1999 to March 2017. Early life A native of San Antonio's Westside, Romo graduated from Fox Tech High School and atte ...

, President of the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the Education in San Antonio, largest universi ...

* Roy Spence, founder and CEO of GSD&M Idea City * Steve Poizner, California State Insurance Commissioner, billionaire entrepreneur *

Earl Campbell Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football player who played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. K ...

, Hall of Fame NFL running back *

Mark McKinnon Mark David McKinnon (born May 5, 1955) is an American political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and television producer. He was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is a co ...

, Republican political advisor *

Bryan Garner Bryan Andrew Garner (born 1958) is an American lawyer, lexicographer, and teacher who has written more than two dozen books about English usage and style such as ''Garner's Modern English Usage'' for a general audience, and others for legal profe ...

, current editor of Black's Law Dictionary * Darren Walker, President of the ord Foundation*

Paul Begala Paul Edward Begala (born May 12, 1961) is an American political consultant and political commentator, best known as the former advisor to President Bill Clinton. Begala was a chief strategist for the 1992 Clinton–Gore campaign, which carried ...

, political consultant and commentator *

Major Applewhite Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the South Alabama Jaguars. He served as head coach at the University of Houston from ...

, football coach and former Texas quarterback *

Will Licon William Andrew Licon ( ; born August 25, 1994) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and medley events. He currently competes for the professional team LA Current in the International Swimming League. Licon is a ...

, American swimmer *

Cat Osterman Catherine Leigh Osterman (born April 16, 1983) is a retired American softball player. Osterman pitched on the United States women's national softball team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Su ...

, American softball player. * Doug Dawson, former National Football League offensive lineman *

Roosevelt Leaks Roosevelt Leaks Jr. (born January 31, 1953) is a former All-American running back and 2005 inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame. He was the first black All-American player in University of Texas history and went on to play in the Nat ...

, former National Football League running back * Patrick Rose, youngest member of the Texas House of Representatives * Mary Walsh, National Security Producer at CBS News *

Bob Armstrong Joseph Melton James (October 3, 1939 – August 27, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships ...

, Former Under Secretary of Interior, Former Texas Land Commissioner *

Sam Acho Samuel Onyedikachi Acho (born September 6, 1988) is a Nigerian-American ESPN sports analyst, a nine-year veteran of the NFL, a Vice President of the NFL Players Association, and author of ''Let the World See You: How to Be Real in a World Full ...

. American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals *

Lindsey Carmichael Lindsey Ann Carmichael (born July 22, 1985 in San Antonio, Texas) is a Paralympic Bronze Medalist in archery. Early years She spent her first years in Uvalde, Texas, and then moved to Austin and then Lago Vista, Texas, where she attended middle ...

, Paralympic Bronze Medalist * Linda Addison, Lawyer, business executive and author * Michael L Gillette, Historian, nonprofit executive *

Willie Morris William Weaks Morris (November 29, 1935 – August 2, 1999) was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' tradem ...

, the youngest Editor-in-Chief of Harper's Magazine *

Robert Schenkkan Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. (born March 19, 1953) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play '' The Kentucky Cycle'' and his play '' All the Way'' earned the 2014 Tony Awar ...

, Pulitzer Prize for Theater, Tony Award for Best Play, two-time Emmy Award nominee * James Talarico, represents House District 52 in the Texas House of Representatives

References

External links

"The Friar Society"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friar Society Collegiate secret societies Student organizations established in 1911 1911 establishments in Texas Youth organizations based in Texas

Origins

Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links