Massey and De Leon Honored With 2010 Distinguished Alumnus Award - October 6th., 2010

The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education is proud to announce that two college alumni and long-time supporters have received the university’s 2010 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Elizabeth (Libba) Shatto Massey and Hector De Leon will be honored, along with four other awardees, in a special ceremony at The University of Texas at Austin on Oct. 22.

Up to six alumni are recognized annually with a Distinguished Alumnus Award, the highest alumni award that the university bestows. To be selected, honorees must have distinguished themselves professionally and through exceptional service to the university. Recipients are chosen by a Texas Exes committee from nominations submitted by alumni and other members of the university community.

Elizabeth (Libba) Shatto Massey

Libba Massey, a fifth generation Texan, grew up in Columbus, Texas, where she attended Columbus public schools. In 2005, she was among the first recipients ever to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Columbus High School.

She attended The University of Texas at Austin, where she received a bachelor’s degree in education and was honored with an Outstanding Graduating Senior Award from her Pi Beta Phi sorority.  In 1961, Mrs. Massey began pursuing her long-term interest in education as a teacher in Groton, New York, and in 1971, she received a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University. 

Massey has served as President of the Junior League of Dallas, the Dallas area Mortar Board Alumni and numerous other civic organizations. She was a founding member of The Park Cities Presbyterian Church, served as President of the Women of the Church and as co-chair of its initial Capital Campaign for Commitments. 

In 1993, Governor Richards appointed Massey to a three-year term on the Texas Historical Records and Archives Board.  As a Pi Beta Phi Alumnus she was awarded the Dallas Community Service Award and the Carolyn Helman Litchenberg Crest Award, and in 2008 was honored by Phoenix House with its Outstanding Community Service Award. She received the Dallas Texas Exes Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2009.

Massey has continued to pursue her interest in education for more than 50 years as a teacher, volunteer, school board member and trustee. She has been active and influential in the Highland Park Independent School District for more than 30 years and served as an elected trustee for almost a decade. She was the school board’s vice president from 2001 to 2007 and served as chair of the Curriculum and Technology Committee and Communications Committee.  Mrs. Massey continues to serve on Highland Park’s Strategic Planning Committee.  She also currently is a trustee of West Dallas Community School and a board member of Educational Opportunities, Inc. 

Her service and volunteer leadership at The University of Texas at Austin include serving on the College of Education Advisory Council since 1996. She held the position of advisory council chair from 2005-2009. Massey has served on the university’s Development Board since 2003 and currently is serving a two-year term as its chair.  Mrs. Massey served as co-chair of the President’s Task Force on Volunteerism and on the board of directors of the Texas Exes.  She also is co-chair of the University of Texas Capital Campaign, which will continue through 2014, and serves as a current member of the executive committee of the Chancellors Council for University of Texas System.

Massey’s contributions have continued to enrich the university in many different ways.  She and her husband John have endowed scholarships for students, for teacher recognition and now for the Texas Exes’ new Forty Acres Scholars program, which the Texas Exes ScholarshipFoundation.  

Among the numerous scholarships, awards, general education endowments and endowed professorships are the:

• Elizabeth Shatto Massey Endowed Scholarships - College of Education
• Hill Bank & Trust Company Endowed Scholarships - College of Education
• Manuel J. Justiz Endowed Chair in Education - College of Education
• Elizabeth Shatto Massey Excellence in Teaching Award – Undergraduate “Teachers of Future Teachers” – The Texas Exes
• Elizabeth Shatto Massey and John H. Massey Excellence in Teaching Award – School of Law
• Dr. and Mrs. A.H. Potthast Excellence in Teaching Award – University of Texas Medical Branch – Galveston
• Elizabeth Shatto Massey and John H. Massey Fund For the Study of Law, Innovation, and the Capital Markets – School of Law
• Elizabeth Shatto Massey Endowed Chair in Education – College of Education
• Elizabeth Shatto Massey and John Hollis Massey Chancellor’s Excellence in Education Endowment – Office of the Chancellor

In 2003, the Texas Exes created the Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award for Excellence in Teacher Education. The award is given annually to a faculty member at The University of Texas at Austin who is a superior “teacher of teachers,” someone who is preparing today’s students to become tomorrow’s elementary or secondary school teachers. Massey’s husband and three children provided permanent funding for this endowment in honor of Mrs. Massey and her lifelong commitment to teachers.

Hector De Leon

In 1970, Hector De Leon received his bachelor’s degree in education, with concentrations in government and history, and in 1973, received his doctorate in jurisprudence, both from The University of Texas at Austin.

In 1977, De Leon founded De Leon & Washburn, P.C., in Austin, a firm that specializes in government relations. De Leon & Washburn has represented clients before the Texas legislature and a number of state agencies. Before founding the law firm, De Leon was the youngest person ever to serve as general counsel of what was then the Texas State Board of Insurance.

De Leon has been recognized nationally and locally as a top attorney. He was named a “Super Lawyer” in administrative law by Texas Monthly from 2004 through 2010 and was included in the 2007 through 2010 editions of “The Best Lawyers in America” in the specialty of insurance law.

De Leon has generously contributed time and service to The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education as a longstanding member of the Education Foundation Advisory Council and a former council chair.

In addition to his sterling legal credentials, De Leon has a deep commitment to the community. He has served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Austin Smiles, KLRU and has chaired the board of the National Hispanic Institute. He also has served as president of both the UT School of Law Alumni Association and 90,000-member Texas Exes. In 2007, he received a University of Texas Presidential Citation for his extraordinary contributions to the university’s goal of transforming lives.

U.S. News & World Report ranked The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education in the top five graduate education programs in the nation among public universities and in the top 10 overall, along with Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt. The College is a leader in innovation and was the first in the nation to require that students in the teacher education program have laptop computers. In partnership with the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Education created the nationally-replicated UTeach program and is home to the number one community college leadership preparation program in the U.S. as well as the nationally acclaimed Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts, The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, Texas Child Study Center, University Center for Educational Administration and Institute for Public School Initiatives.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910

Related Sites:

• Texas Exes' Distinguished Alumnus Award