Forever a friend of UT Athletics: Mike A. Myers

March 26, 2013

Mike Myers was in business even before he earned his business degree from The University of Texas in 1959.

As a full-time student, Myers started three enterprises, including a catering service that sold sandwiches and other items at UT dorms and sorority and fraternity houses. Myers also managed to become the No. 1 Bible salesman in the country.

"I probably put 3,000 miles a year on my car," said Myers, who grew up near Wichita Falls, Texas. "I was a busy guy during school."

Myers moved on to School of Law where he received his LLB in 1963, but his school-day endeavors merely foreshadowed his future success. He is chairman of the board and owner of Myers Financial Corporation, Myers Bancshares, Inc., and Myers Development Corporation.

Myers received The University's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996, and that was a fitting honor for a man who's been giving back to UT from almost the very moment he left. As a further token of gratitude for Myers and his history of generosity, a statue of his likeness will be unveiled during this year's Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays presented by State Farm on the north side of the facility that also bears his name.

"He's one of our great friends, and we're very thankful for that," UT Men's Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds said.

After Myers left law school, he became an administrative assistant for then-Governor John Connally, who managed to double the appropriation for higher education during his term. Working under a governor who valued education, and being the son of a teacher, Myers became a significant benefactor of eight different UT schools and colleges, as well as UT Athletics.

Myers is co-founder of the Foundation for Texas Excellence Scholars, and has served as president of the Texas Longhorn Education Foundation and chairman of the UT's Chancellor's Council. As trustee of the UT Law School Foundation, Myers helped create the Kay Bailey Hutchison Chair in Latin American Law.

"When you grow up in a small town, going to The University of Texas is like a dream come true," Myers said. "I want to help people understand that dream the way I was able to."

Myers grew up an athlete, and was a proud competitor in the Texas Relays. When Dodds arrived in 1981, he and Myers became fast friends. Myers invited Dodds and his wife, Mary Ann, up to his Colorado summer vacation home not long after Dodds was hired.

"At first, I just wanted to get to know him," Myers recalled. "Then after I got to know DeLoss and understand his integrity, I knew I would always be a big supporter of his."

And, thereby, a supporter of UT Athletics.

Myers' history of generosity was honored officially in 1999 with the opening of the Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field.

Myers has also turned one his passions - the game of golf - into another business endeavor. He has developed six country clubs in Texas, but his favorite is the University of Texas Golf Club at Steiner Ranch, which opened in 2003.

After learning that UT was one of the few schools in the Big 12 without its home golf course, Myers spent several years surveying the area for the right location, and he found one in the hill country that overlooks Lake Austin.

Aside from the hilltop views, the course also gives the UT Men's and Women's Golf teams a permanent home - a fact that pleases Myers as much as any other.

"Everything he touches ends up doing well," Dodds said of Myers.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics