Baylor University honored 10 individuals during homecoming weekend with the 2010-11 Baylor Meritorious Achievement Awards, which recognize their service to Baylor as well as in their communities.

J. Cary Gray

Honor: Alumnus of the Year

Residence: Houston

Baylor background: Gray has three Baylor degrees — a Bachelor of Arts in business administration in 1979, Bachelor of Accountancy degree in 1980, and a Juris Doctorate degree at Baylor Law School in 1983. He graduated law school with honors and is president and managing director of the commerical law firm of Looper, Reed & McGraw PC. He has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Texas Monthly and Law & Politics magazines. His mother, Lanella Spinks Gray, is a 1954 graduate who hosts freshmen at Baylor Line Camp in Independence, Texas, each summer. His father, the late Tom Gray, also graduated from Baylor.

Reasons for award: Gray has been a member of the Old Main Society and Athletic Director’s Club. He has served on the board of directors of the Baylor Bear Foundation and the Friends of Baylor Steering Committee. He and his wife, Amber, have supported capital projects, excellence funds and student-athlete scholarships for baseball, football, men’s golf and men’s basketball. They have generously supported the Hankamer School of Business, Baylor’s Student Foundation and the Houston Women’s Association Scholarship. He also has contributed to the Baylor Law School’s faculty fund, alumni endowment and building renovation.

Katie Wilhoit Kilpatrick

Honor: Young Alumna of the Year

Residence: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Baylor background: 2008 summa cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She served as a volunteer leader in the Baylor Network.

Reasons for award: The Dallas native and her newlywed husband, Ben, left their jobs and home in Dallas in December 2009 to teach at Quisqueya Christian School in Port-au-Prince, and served the local community through mission work. Less than two weeks later, the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck. The Kilpatricks helped evacuate an orphanage and ran medics and supplies to makeshift hospitals during the first few weeks after the quake. Only one student was killed in the earthquake, but many students have not returned to class. They are teaching seventh- through 11th-graders in a single room, and spend evenings and weekends doing relief work and raising money for the school.

Dr. Bill Pinson

Honor: Medal of Service — Pro Ecclesia
(for Christian service)

Residence: Duncanville

Baylor background: Honorary alumnus of Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. The Fort Worth native received his Master of Divinity degree and Doctorate of Theology degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Reasons for award: Pinson served as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 1983 to 2000, the longest tenure of anyone in that position. He now serves as executive director emeritus of the BGCT and is a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Christian Ethics at Baylor, as well as a Distinguished University Professor of Dallas Baptist University where he annually delivers the Pinson Baptist Heritage Lectures. In 2008, Pinson received the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award at Baylor University as one whose life and career exemplifies the late George W. Truett.

Sen. Kirk Watson

Honor: Medal of Service — Pro Texana
(for civic service)

Residence: Austin

Baylor background: 1980 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Baylor Law School in 1981. While attending Baylor Law School, Watson was editor-in-chief of the “Baylor Law Review” and graduated first in his class. Active in the Texas Democratic Party in the 1990s, he was elected mayor of Austin in 1997. He was elected to the Texas Senate in 2006 and is a partner with the law firm Brown McCarroll LLP in Austin.

Reasons for award: Watson led efforts to revitalize downtown Austin, improve air quality in Central Texas and build a bypass to Interstate 35 through Austin. He was named Best Mayor in Texas for Business by Texas Monthly magazine in March 1999 and the July 2007 issue of the magazine recognized him as “Rookie of the Year” for the 2007 state legislative session. in 2009 the magazine named him one of the state’s 10 Best Legislators. He was instrumental on Baylor’s behalf during the Big 12 Conference realignment discussions.

Sadie Jo Black

Honor: Baylor Legacy Award

Residence: Waco

Baylor background: 1950 graduate with Bachelor of Science in home economics. After working at Mexia High School for seven years, she returned to Baylor as an assistant professor of home economics (now family and consumer sciences) for 35 years until her retirement in 1992.

Reasons for award: Black established numerous endowed scholarships at Baylor in honor of her brother, sister-in-law and parents. She also established personal endowment funds such as the Sadie Jo Black Endowed Fund for Undergraduate Students in Medical Research. The Teague native’s love of flowers and gardening is evident in beautification initiatives across the campus.

Sue Holt Getterman

Honor: Baylor Legacy Award

Residence: Waco

Baylor background: 1950 graduate with Bachelor of Arts in education. Met her husband, Ted, who has a Bachelor of Business Administration and Juris Doctorate degree from Baylor, while attending. She serves on the Board of Regents from 2001 to 2010 and is on a number of boards and committees.

Reasons for award: Active in many community endeavors, she and Ted are huge supporters of Baylor athletics, and in particular women’s sports. They are credited with the largest gift to Baylor women’s athletics in the history of the university, which resulted in Getterman Stadium, home of the Lady Bears softball team. This fall saw the addition of the Getterman Indoor Softball Facility.

Harold Riley

Honor: Baylor Legacy Award

Residence: Austin

Baylor background: A football letter winner and receiver, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1952, the same year he played in the Orange Bowl with the Bears. Declining an offer by the Los Angeles Rams, Riley began a business career that led to his founding of Citizens Inc., of which he remains chairman and CEO. He also chairs the philanthropic Harold E. Riley Foundation. He was inducted into the Baylor Hall of Fame in 1976.

Reasons for award: He and his wife, Dottie, are longtime Baylor supporters, most notably in contributions to the technological advancement of Baylor’s libraries. They established a permanent endowment for the sports chaplaincy program within Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary and support the Hankamer School of Business.

Clifton Robinson

Honor: Baylor Legacy Award

Residence: Waco

Baylor background: 1963 graduate with Bachelor of Business Administration degree in insurance. He started his first insurance firm while in college and since then has formed, acquired and managed numerous insurance business enterprises. He gave Clifton Robinson Tower, which houses hundreds of the university’s staff, to Baylor. He and his son, Gordon, are chairman/CEO and president, respectively, of Robinson Media Co. LLC, which purchased the Waco Tribune-Herald in 2009.

Reasons for award: In addition to supporting and establishing student scholarships, his family and H. Bland Cromwell provided Baylor with the former General Tire facility, which will house the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC). In 2003, he created Friends for Baylor, which donated $1 million to the university. The philanthropic efforts of he and his wife, Betsy, are vast. They provided the large bronze “Branding the Brazos” sculpture near the Waco Suspension Bridge. Betsy is known for many volunteer efforts and founded Fuzzy Friends Animal Rescue, a no-kill shelter.

Charles and Mary Alice Wise

Honor: Baylor Founders Medal

Residence: Gatesville

Baylor background: Charles Wise is a 1955 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Mary Alice is a 1954 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Charles is the retired owner, president and CEO of Medical Plastic Laboratory Inc. Charles served from 1993 to 2002 on the Board of Regents. They are members of Baylor’s Endowed Scholarship Society, charter members of the Old Main Society and members of Baylor’s Medallion Fellowship.

Reasons for award: The Wises established several endowed scholarships and have given to the Mayborn Museum Complex, as well as the McLane Student Life Center and Truett Seminary. They have spent 40 years volunteering in prison ministry, including 16 years of ministering to women on death row. They first became involved in prison ministry with Bill Glass and his Champions for Life Ministries. That led to a long-term commitment of leading weekly Bible studies for prisoners. During the past nine years, Mary Alice has worked to launch the Central Texas Hospitality House, a nondenominational, nonprofit ministry to prisoners’ families. She also serves on its board of directors.