TAU CHAPTER KAPPA SIGMA INTERNATIONAL MEN OF THE YEAR

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The Kappa Sigma Fraternity International Man of the Year Award was established in 1937 to honor a Brother who had excelled beyond measure in his chosen profession and, in turn, honored the Fraternity with such accomplishments. Recipients of this Award are nominated by any number of Brothers, and those nominations are reviewed and determined by the Supreme Executive Committee. It is the highest award presented by the Kappa Sigma Fraternity to honor a Brother for his life achievements. 

Cyrus R. Smith became president of American Airlines in 1934 at the age of 35.  A true aviation pioneer and a major force within the entire airline industry, Smith took American from a small and unprofitable carrier and built it into the largest airline in the world.  Known as "Mr. C.R.," or simply "C.R." to all of his employees, he consolidated American's routes into a highly efficient network and standardized the company's collection of various airplanes with a fleet of new DC-3 aircraft. Smith was influential in the design of the DC-3, which would become the "workhorse" of passenger planes in the 1930s and 1940s.  

Smith led American Airlines into the jet age with the introduction of the first transcontinental jet service on January 25, 1959.  In early 1968, Smith retired as chief executive of American Airlines when his longtime friend, President Lyndon B. Johnson, appointed him Secretary of Commerce.  In 1973, American's Board of Directors asked him to return as interim chairman while they searched for a permanent chief executive. 

Following his retirement, Smith remained active in civic affairs in Washington, D.C. He died on April 4, 1990, at the age of 90 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Beauford H. Jester became the 36th governor of Texas on January 21, 1947. As governor, he helped implement the most extensive education reforms ever known up to that time in Texas through the 1949 Gilmer-Aiken Act, the first comprehensive system for Texas school funding. 

Prior to becoming governor, Jester was appointed to the University of Texas System Board of Regents in 1925 and was chosen as Chairman of the Board in 1933, a position he held through 1935. During his tenure he promoted a UT building program that included the tower of the Main Building, Hogg Auditorium, the Texas Union, Memorial Stadium, Gregory Gymnasium and the expansion of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. 

On July 11, 1949, Governor Jester died of an apparent heart attack aboard a Pullman railroad car while traveling to Galveston for a speaking engagement.  He was the first Texas governor to die while in office. 

Jester Center on the University of Texas campus was named in his honor in 1968. It is the largest residential facility on campus, housing close to 3,000 students, as well as classroom and faculty space.

Dr. Denton A. Cooley was an internationally acclaimed heart surgeon who performed the first successful heart transplant in the United States. Graduating from the University of Texas in 1941, he began his medical education at the University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston and then went on to complete his medical degree and his surgical training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Following graduation he went to London to work with Lord Russell Brock. In the HBO film Something The Lord Made, Dr. Cooley was portrayed by Timothy J. Scanlin, Jr.

Cooley reportedly answered in the affirmative when a lawyer during a trial asked him if he considered himself to be the best heart surgeon in the world. "Don't you think that's being rather immodest?" the lawyer replied. "Perhaps," Dr. Cooley responded. "But remember I'm under oath."

Dr. Cooley was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, the René Leriche Prize, the highest honor bestowed by the International Surgical Society, and the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor the United States can confer to a U.S. citizen for achievements related to technological progress. In addition, Dr. Cooley authored or co-authored more than 1,300 scientific articles and 13 books.

Billionaire fund manager Richard Rainwater (Tau '63) rose to prominence in the world of finance as the chief financial architect for the Bass family investments, credited for increasing the family wealth to more than $5 billion in the 1980s. 

Investing in more than 30 Texas companies throughout his career, he founded or co-founded firms including ENSCO International Incorporated, an oil field service and offshore drilling company in 1986; Columbia Hospital Corporation in 1988; Mid Ocean Limited, a provider of casualty re-insurance in 1992; and Crescent Real Estate Equities, Inc., in 1994. Fortune magazine described his investing style as "analytically rigorous but opportunistic and Texas-sized in audacity." 

Rainwater grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in mathematics. He earned an MBA from Stanford Business School. 

Source:  in.com

Bill Wittliff was a distinguished photographer and writer whose photographs have been exhibited in the United States and abroad and are the subject of three books, Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy, La Vida Brinca (UT Press: 2006), and A Book of Photographs from Lonesome Dove (UT Press: 2007). 

As a screenwriter and producer, his credits included The Perfect Storm, The Black Stallion, Legends of the Fall, and Lonesome Dove. In addition, he co-founded with his wife, Sally, the highly regarded Encino Press. He was a past president and Fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters, a recipient of the Texas Book Festival Bookend Award, and the Texas Medal of Arts. He was also a member of the historic Texas Philosophical Society and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. 

In 2008, Wittliff was asked to join the board of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington   D. C. and was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. Together the Wittliffs also founded, with the support of Texas State, the Wittliff Collections, which include the Southwestern Writers Collection and Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection.

In 2012, he was chosen "International Man of the Year" by the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He was the fifth initiate of the Tau Chapter to be awarded this national honor.

After a distinguished business career of 33 years, followed by 14 years as Executive Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs, and, ultimately Chancellor of the University of Texas System, Dan Burck continued to serve higher education, his state, and community through active leadership in a wide variety of charitable, educational, fraternal, and business organizations until his passing  in 2015. 

In the private sector, he served as Independent Chairman of the Board for American Campus Communities (ACC-NYSE), the largest provider of student housing in the U.S. 

A top-ranking executive with Getty Oil Company for 29 years, Burck managed its worldwide holdings and oversaw the construction of its 36-story headquarters in Los Angeles. In 1979, he helped create and launch ESPN, the first cable TV sports network. 

Burck was the first advisory director appointed by The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), a nonprofit corporation created by the UT Board of Regents to manage investment of all assets over which the board has fiduciary responsibility. 

He served on the Executive Committee of the University of Texas System Chancellor's Council, on numerous other advisory boards serving UT Austin and The UT System, and was a Life Member of the UT Ex-Students' Association. In November 2014, he was inducted into the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame at UT Austin. 

Burck graduated from UT Austin in 1956. He was awarded Kappa Sigma's Tau Man of the Year in 2001 and was the sixth initiate of the Tau Chapter to be awarded International Kappa Sigma Man of the Year.

Tito Beveridge ’81 began his commercial production of Tito’s Handmade Vodka in 1997 with the production of 1,000 cases. In 2017, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, produced in Texas’ first legal distillery, sold more than 58 million bottles and is now a global brand. 

Tito’s Handmade Vodka has won numerous prestigious awards, including the Double Gold Medal for Vodka at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, beating out 71 higher priced vodkas. Tito’s received a four-star ranking in 2001 from Spirit Journal and won four stars again in the 2007 edition.

Tito is also known for his humanitarian spirit, generosity, and compassion for animals. Rescuing homeless dogs has long been part of Tito’s company culture and his marketing office is an animal-friendly workplace. Tito’s Handmade Vodka sponsors several dog rescue events each year and donates generously to rescue organizations. In 2014, his team launched Vodka for Dog People, an initiative to support Emancipet, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable and accessible veterinary care for dogs and cats in low-income families. 

Tito is the seventh Tau initiate to be honored as Kappa Sigma International Man of the Year.