Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
When you meet Bill what comes through is enormous energy.
He's very energetic.
He almost makes you tired to work with him, because he
never loses his push and his drive.
He's a wonderful leader in that respect.
Bill joined the Southwest Airlines board in 2000 and is
one of our strongest board members.
We are very, very fortunate to have him.
True character is displayed when times get tough.
And Bill has always been there when we needed him.
Bill Cunningham always is Bill Cunningham.
He's true to himself.
He's a man of intense integrity.
And he never yields to the temptation to try to pretend
to be somebody he's not.
Bill's the real deal.
He's good at what he does, but he is definitely a lot of fun
to be around.
And he's got a great big heart.
He loves his dogs.
And I bet a lot of people don't know that.
But just ask him about his dogs.
When he left administration, he bought himself a Corvette,
and he took off his tie.
And for a good many years I rarely saw him dressed in a
suit or a coat and tie.
He just was enjoying the freedom from administrative
responsibilities.
My close friends know this.
Everyone does not.
But I was a very poor high school student.
I was not a bad kid.
I never got in trouble.
But I just didn't study very much.
But when I got to college, very quickly I found that if I
would study, I would do pretty well.
In fact I did very well.
I was lucky I got to put together my interest in the
academic community, my interest in teaching, my
interest in research.
And then I also got to be involved in businesses.
People like Jim Bob Moffett invited me to serve on his
corporate board.
And I began to see, wow there's really a big life out
here and a great world.
So that was an opportunity for me to see business through a
different set of eyes.
I'm not someone who's thought about, I want to become dean,
then I want to become president, and then I want to
become chancellor.
That was never really part of me.
On the other hand, to say that I wasn't ambitious
would also be wrong.
But when I came on campus, there was a problem with Bauer
house, the house where the chancellor lived.
And I remember at lunch one time with some young faculty
members, someone saying, well this is a real issue, and I'm
not sure whether the university should do that.
And I remember saying, well it doesn't bother me, because I'm
going to live there one day.
Now, I didn't really mean that.
But on the other hand, I did live there one day.
There was no question.
I was personally ambitious for me.
And later on I became very ambitious for the university.
Well, we've been friends for many years.
And I value the friendship.
I enjoy his company.
And he has my best wishes for the future.
Bill, I'm very happy for you to receive this
really great honor.
And it's just been a privilege to know you and a privilege to
be able to tell you this in person tonight.
On behalf of the University of Texas, on behalf of the
University of Texas system, and indeed on behalf of the
entire state, I thank you Bill for all you have meant to us
as a leader and as a driver toward excellence in every
endeavor that you've undertaken.