Blinn Alumni and Friends Association names five to its 2018 Hall of Honor class
Nancy Berry, M. Scott Gilpin, Susan Myers, Walt Schoenvogel, and Dr. Robert A. Winkelmann will be recognized for their service to the community
September 6, 2018
The Blinn College Alumni and Friends Association will recognize five remarkable civic leaders with induction into the Blinn College Hall of Honor during a special luncheon taking place at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19, at the Blinn-Brenham Campus Student Center.
Brazos County Commissioner and former Blinn College District Trustee Nancy Berry, alumnus and philanthropist M. Scott Gilpin, Blinn Foundation Executive Director Susan Myers, businessman and former Chair of the Blinn College Foundation Board Walt Schoenvogel, and former Blinn College Trustee Dr. Robert A. Winkelmann will be inducted.
The Hall of Honor recognizes Blinn’s most distinguished alumni, local business leaders, and those who have made a significant impact in their communities or professions. Inductees are recognized at a luncheon during Blinn’s homecoming week each year.
To purchase $25 individual tickets or $200 reserved tables for the luncheon, contact Susan Myers, Executive Director of the Blinn Foundation, at 979-830-4273, susan.myers@blinn.edu, or the Whigham House located at 706 College Avenue in Brenham.
The Alumni and Friends Association maintains contact with all former students and friends of the College, encourages support for and participation in the educational, cultural, athletic, and social programs of the College, encourages personnel recruitment by members, assists the College in achieving planned goals and objectives, and provides fellowship among former students and friends.
NANCY BERRY
Nancy Berry is Brazos County Commissioner, Precinct 3, a member of the Blinn College Foundation Board of Directors, and served on the Blinn Board of Trustees from 2015-2016.
Born in Oceanside, N.Y., Berry graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science, history, and economics. She is a graduate of Leadership Brazos, the Brazos Valley Regional Leaders Forum, Leadership Texas, and Leadership America. Berry also is an alumna of both the Bryan and College Station Citizens Fire Academies, the College Station Citizens Police Academy, Sherriff’s Office Citizens Academy, and the District Attorney’s Citizens Academy.
Prior to her election as County Commissioner, Berry served as Mayor of College Station from 2010-2016 and on the city council from 2004-2006. She is a member of the Philosophical Society of Texas, elected in 2015.
Commissioner Berry has been and continues to be an active community volunteer. She has served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity, the Brazos Valley Symphony Society, Blinn, and the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley. She also is a past president of the United Way and the Arts Council, and served as Board Chair of College Station Medical Center.
At the state level, she has served on the boards of the United Ways of Texas and the Texas Commission for the Arts. She continues to serve on the boards of the College Station ISD Education Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club, the Blinn Foundation, the Transportation Advocates of Texas, Keep Brazos Beautiful, and the Sister Cities.
Berry has been recognized for her public service with the Jefferson Award, the Woman and Youth Award from the Boys and Girls Club, the Making a Difference Award from the College Station Fire Department, and the National Service to Youth Award from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She has been named a Woman of Distinction by the Bluebonnet Girl Scout Council, Outstanding Distinguished Citizen by the African American Heritage Society, You’re The Tops by the Pre Natal Clinic, and a United Way Super Hero.
Alongside her husband Leonard, Berry received the Amigo Award from the Hispanic Forum, the Tribute Honoree Award from the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley, and the Champion for Children Award from Voices for Children.
Nancy and Leonard have been married for 52 years and are the proud parents of two sons and eight grandchildren.
M. SCOTT GILPIN
Blinn College alumnus M. Scott Gilpin is an internationally recognized non-governmental organization (NGO) executive who has helped social service causes and educational institutions around the world for almost forty years.
Gilpin attended Blinn in 1974 on a football scholarship and is a lifetime member of the Buccaneer Alumni Lettermen Association.
Currently, Scott serves as Executive Director of the Wesley College Foundation in Mwanza, Tanzania and Director of the Global Development and Fundraising Resource Team for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministries, an international agency of the United Methodist Church.
Scott has raised funds to eliminate malaria, battle Ebola in West Africa and the Congo, create colleges and universities in developing countries, provide academic scholarships for poor inner-city youth, supply libraries in multiple languages on e-readers to students around the world who do not have access to text books or internet, fund Native American leadership development, build a cutting-edge performing arts center, create “Great Cities” partnerships between universities and host communities to strengthen collaboration and innovation, feed seminarians in South Africa who do not have money to eat, produce jobs for unemployed in Kenya, provide fellowships for aspiring church planters, and construct an advanced behavioral health facility for struggling adolescents and young adults.
In 2013, he saved six lives during a terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya where 71 were killed and 175 wounded.
Scott previously served as Executive Director of Fund Development for Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church, Assistant to the President of Centenary College, CEO of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and Foundation, and Program Director for Allied Irish Bank of Dublin’s international not-for-profit consulting division, Community Counseling Service.
Professional memberships include the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Gilpin co-founded the North Louisiana Chapter of AFP), Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, National Association of United Methodist Foundations, and Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership.
Among his community commitments, Scott served on the boards of the Global Health Initiative and its Imagine No Malaria Campaign, JustPeace Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation, QuadW Missional Outreach and Internships, Wesley-Rankin Community Center of West Dallas, University of Alabama Medical School Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging, Greater Birmingham Humane Society, Loyola College Preparatory School, and Louisiana Military Affairs Council. He co-founded a ministry in Kenya that provides jobs through the production of hand-tied flies for trout and salmon fishing that are marketed around the world.
Scott is a 2015 Inductee into the Oklahoma State University Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council Hall of Fame, featured as A Man for Others in the Winter 2016 issue of OSU’s STATE Magazine, and, in 2018, was named an Amazing UMC Hero by The United Methodist Church.
An alumnus of Allen Military Academy, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State Universities, he is a graduate of the Williamsburg Development Institute, Academy on Faith and Money, and has a certificate in British Studies at Oxford.
Scott is the youngest of three sons reared by Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Robert L. Gilpin. His father served as pastor of Brenham’s First United Methodist Church and his mother, Ann, was director of the Methodist Pre-School and Kindergarten, a tireless church volunteer, artist, writer, and poet.
SUSAN MYERS
As the Executive Director of the Blinn College Foundation since 2013, Susan Myers has served as a tireless advocate for Blinn College and its students.
Susan’s father, mother, and both brothers each attended Blinn, and her father helped to establish the Blinn baseball program. Susan played on Blinn’s tennis team from 1976-78, was on the 1978 cheerleading squad, and was named Blinn’s 1978 Homecoming queen.
As Executive Director, Myers has implementing a planned giving campaign, overseen the Foundation’s Endowed Scholarship Program, and organized a variety of fundraising events and programs.
Prior to being named Executive Director of the Blinn Foundation, Myers spent 15 years with the Holocaust Museum Houston, including 12 years as the museum’s Executive Director. Myers previously spent 17 years as a junior high and high school teacher in Missouri City, Sugar Land, Boling and Van Vleck.
Myers previously served as President of the Houston Museum District Association, on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Holocaust Organizations, and on the Board of Directors for the Greater Houston Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.
She has also served on the Board of Directors of the South Main Alliance, and the Advisory Board of Directors for the American Indian Genocide Museum. She is a 2014 graduate of Leadership Washington County. She is a current member of the Fortnightly Club and Vice President of the International Association of Holocaust Organizations.
Myers also has received recognition from the William Clinton Foundation for her work reconciling and remembering the genocide in Rwanda, and was recognized with a Susan Myers Day proclamation by Houston Mayor Bill White in 2006.
She received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives and was presented the Ina and Jack Polak Outstanding Educator Award from the Anne Franke Center USA in 2005.
The National Council of Jewish Women presented Myers its Woman of Influence Award, and Myers has served as an instructor at the Jewish Labor Committee Summer Seminar of Holocaust and Jewish Resistance and as a senior docent, docent trainer, and curriculum writer for the Holocaust Museum Houston.
Myers holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Sam Houston State University and a master’s degree in education from Prairie View A&M University. She earned her Associate of Arts from Blinn College and holds mid-management and English certifications from Texas A&M University.
WALT SCHOENVOGEL
Businessman and former Blinn College Foundation Board Chair Walt Schoenvogel was an active community leader who volunteered on behalf of a variety of charitable causes.
Walt Schoenvogel was born on March 10, 1954 in Fort Worth, Texas, to Clarence and Annell Schoenvogel. Schoenvogel graduated from Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Mass. in 1972, where he set the school record for the high hurdles. He attended Blinn College in the summer of 1972, and went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in psychology and a minor in journalism in 1977. He was a proud member of the Tau chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
On July 10, 1976, he married the love of his life, Charlyn Rosenbaum, and they shared 41 wonderful years of marriage. After graduation, Schoenvogel served on Lt. Gov. John Hill’s gubernatorial campaign before moving back to Brenham, where he later became the President and Owner of Chappell Hill Construction, the Managing Partner and Founder of R&S Leasing and the Founder of the Patriot Ranch.
Walt and Charlyn raised two wonderful children, Sally and Trey, who brought them great joy. Walt had a passion for writing and wrote several screenplays for television and film. He enjoyed hunting, watching football games, and never passed up an opportunity to travel to new places.
Schoenvogel enjoyed putting his business skills to work by serving on various city and county boards, including the City of Brenham’s Board of Adjustments and Planning & Zoning Board, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, the Washington County Economic Development Foundation Board of Directors, the Brazos County Chamber of Commerce, and the RELLIS Campus External Academic Advisory Board. Schoenvogel also served as Chair of the Blinn College Foundation Board, and was a member of the Longhorn Foundation, the Deerfield Academy Boyden Society, and the Deerfield Academy Bicentennial Committee.
His philanthropic works included service with the Blinn Foundation and as a member of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where he served as Congregation President, Personnel Committee Chairman, and usher. Schoenvogel donated to various organizations, including the Joyful Heart Foundation, Camp for All, the Baylor Scott & White Foundation, Scotty’s House, the Kappa Sigma fraternity, Hospice Brazos Valley, and St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Schoenvogel also donated to Blinn College’s nursing program and established endowed scholarships benefitting Blinn students. He was especially passionate about helping Blinn College succeed in Bryan, and was a champion for the College in the community. Following his passing in 2017, he was honored with a Blinn College endowed scholarship in his name.
DR. ROBERT A. WINKELMANN
Dr. Robert A. Winkelmann was an active community leader who served on the Blinn College Board of Trustees from 1964 until 1976.
Winkelmann was born Nov. 1, 1925, in the Prairie Hill Community of Washington County. In 1942, he graduated from Brenham High School and began his college career at Texas A&M University. However, like so many at the time, his education was interrupted by World War II. Upon his return from the war, he attended Blinn College in 1947, and went on to graduate from the Baylor College of Dentistry in 1950. Blinn played a pivotal role in his bridge between the war, Texas A&M, and dental school.
Winkelmann served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1944-46. During his service, he was assigned to be a dental assistant and developed a passion for dentistry. After his graduation from the Baylor College of Dentistry, he returned to Brenham in 1951 to begin his practice.
In 1953, he married Lois Muckelroy of Hempstead. Together, they had four children, each of whom grew up in Brenham: Robin Winkelmann Cook, Rob Winkelmann, Lori Winkelmann Hasskarl, and Lois Winkelmann Kolkhorst.
Winkelmann was a member of the Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity, the Brazos Valley District Dental Association, the Texas Dental Association, the American Dental Association, and the Academy of General Dentistry. He was an associate member of the Chicago Dental Society. On May 6, 1976, the Texas Dental Association presented him with its Goodfellow recognition in honor of 25 years of outstanding dedicated practice.
Winkelmann served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Blinn Board of Trustees from 1968-1972, and was Vice President from 1972-76. During Winkelmann’s tenure on the board, Blinn enjoyed significant growth and developed several new buildings, including the Moody Library and the Fine Arts Building, which included the theatre-in-the-round. He was especially proud of Blinn’s commitment to the fine arts, as he felt this separated Blinn from other two-year colleges. Winkelmann also was instrumental in improving Blinn’s baseball field by installing an AstroTurf infield, which truly was the talk of the state at the time.
In addition to his service on the Blinn Board of Trustees, Winkelmann was a Director of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, President of the Brenham Jaycees, and member of the Brenham Rotary Club and numerous other organizations. He was actively involved in the Washington County Little League programs, and helped to start the girls’ softball Little League program with the assistance of former Blinn President and Chancellor Walter C. Schwartz.
He was an active member of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where he served on numerous committees and the church council. Winkelmann’s life was tragically cut short in a traffic accident in March 1981. He was only 55.
