The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Myers honored at Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays
03.30.2013 | Longhorn Foundation
UT Athletics unveiled a statue on Saturday in the likeness of Mike A. Myers, who also served as this year's meet honorary referee.
The track at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field is a place where lives are changed and dreams are realized.
"Because everybody competing has a chance to be something special," Texas Men's Track and Field coach Bubba Thornton said.
And on Saturday of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, competitors have the chance to be special in front of a capacity crowd of more than 20,000. It's a reality that Mike A. Myers himself couldn't have fathomed when he was a track student-athlete here in the 1950's.
Myers grew up in a midwestern Texas town of about 5,000, and the enrollment at UT when he arrived was more than triple his hometown population. But Myers said UT impacted his life in such a positive way, it became a priority for him to be a lifelong supporter of The University.
UT Athletics honored Myers' longtime commitment to the Longhorns on Saturday morning, as Men's Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds and UT President Bill Powers joined Myers to unveil a statue in his likeness in the northeast section of the track and soccer facility that already bears his name.
"This man has done so much for the University of Texas," Powers said. "In athletics and all across campus, he has done so much to touch the lives of many others."
Myers earned a business degree and a law degree from UT. 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. Influenced by 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.
"I've just always wanted to help people understand The University of Texas like I do, and how special it is," said Myers, who was named a Distinguished Alumnus of UT in 1996. "To be honored this way, it's a dream I could never have had. My dreams are more than fulfilled."
Myers also served as Texas Relays honorary referee this year, and Dodds joked that Myers has been studying his rulebook all night.
Larry Temple and Myers became fast friends when they worked on Connally's staff together. Temple has gone on to advise governors and presidents, while also serving on virtually every volunteer board at The University. Temple, too, has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and he introduced Myers at a brunch for the meet officials.
"His big love has always been education and this university," Temple said.
Myers' history of generosity with UT Athletics officially goes back to 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 helpful 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.
"We really just wanted to say `thank you, thank you, thank you,'" Dodds said. "He's been a great friend, very loyal and dependable, to UT for so many years. We're very grateful."
