Blinn College Alumni and Friends celebrate five new Hall of Honor inductees

Luncheon celebrates the lives and accomplishments of Nancy Berry, M. Scott Gilpin, Susan Myers, Walt Schoenvogel, and Dr. Robert A. Winkelmann

October 19, 2018

The Blinn College Alumni and Friends Association inducted five civic leaders into the Blinn College Hall of Honor during a special luncheon Friday, Oct. 19, at the Blinn College-Brenham Campus Student Center.

The Blinn College Hall of Honor Class of 2018 included 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.

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.

Berry is a Brazos County Commissioner, member of the Blinn College Foundation Board of Directors, and served on the Blinn Board of Trustees from 2015-16. 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.

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.

A Blinn alumnus, Gilpin is an internationally recognized non-governmental organization (NGO) executive who has helped social service causes and educational institutions around the world for almost 40 years.

A scholarship athlete on Blinn’s 1974 football team, Gilpin is a lifetime member of the Buccaneer Alumni Lettermen Association. He currently 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. 

Gilpin has raised funds to eliminate malaria, battle Ebola in West Africa and the Congo, created colleges and universities in developing countries, and provided academic scholarships for poor inner-city youth. His volunteer activities have included supplying e-readers for libraries around the world, funding Native American leadership development, building a cutting-edge performing arts center, helping to provide food and employment opportunities in Africa, and constructing a behavioral health facility for struggling adolescents and young adults.

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.

In 2013, he saved six lives during a terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, where 71 were killed and 175 wounded.

A Blinn alumna, Myers has served as the Executive Director for the Blinn College Foundation since 2013. In that role, she 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. She 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.

Schoenvogel served as Chair of the Blinn College Foundation Board of Directors, and was an active community leader who volunteered on behalf of a variety of charitable causes. He 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.

Winkelmann was an active community leader who served on the Blinn College Board of Trustees from 1964 until 1976.

Winkelmann served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Blinn Board of Trustees from 1968-1972, and was Vice President from 1972-76. During his 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.  

Winkelmann was an active member of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where he served on numerous committees and the church council. At age 55, his life tragically was cut short in a March 1981 traffic accident.

For more information regarding the Alumni and Friends Association and its various activities in support of Blinn students, please visit www.blinn.edu/alumni.