thomas w powell 62 of giddings texas is one of 12 aggies selected by texas a&m university and the association of former students to receive the 2022 distinguished alumnus award powell an entrepreneur in electrical energy systems who turned his familys small houston-based business powell industries inc into an global juggernaut while helping generations of texas a&m students and faculty achieve their own goals through his philanthropy received his bachelors degree in mathematics in 1962 from texas a&m he previously was inducted into the college of science academy of distinguished former students in 2013 powell is being honored along with gen joseph w ashy 62 of college station; mark w albers 79 of the woodlands; mark a fischer 72 of oklahoma city ok; gregory cokinos 79 of houston; bill jones 81 of austin; dr jimmy williams jr 83 of wexford pa; william mahomes jr 69 of dallas; clifton l thomas jr 72 of victoria; elaine mendoza 87 of san antonio; travis l smith jr class of 1898 of houston; and dr joe r fowler 68 of houston established in 1962 the distinguished alumnus award is the highest honor bestowed upon a former student of texas a&m university since its inception only 318 of texas a&ms more than 555 000 former students have been recognized for achieving excellence in their chosen professions and making meaningful contributions to texas a&m university and their local communities we are deeply grateful that our former students give so much as leaders in their professions and communities while also giving so much back to texas a&m to encourage and empower those who follow them said texas a&m president m katherine banks after graduating from texas a&m in 1962 powell worked two years for westinghouse electric corporation before returning to the family business and founding two subsequent corporations that he later merged and integrated into powell industries inc an international leader in engineering solutions to manage complex critical processes that control power water wastewater transportation and petrochemicals he served nearly two decades as chief executive officer and chairman of the company renowned by its 50th anniversary in 1997 as a publicly traded global leader in arc-resistant technology and electrical-voltage-regulation devices retiring in 2012 as chairman of the board he came out of retirement a few years later to resume his ceo role briefly before making his retirement permanent during the past decade and a half powell also has created major opportunities for both faculty and students at his alma mater including multiple endowed chairs in the texas a&m college of science and at texas a&m university at galveston graduate fellowships in texas a&m science as well as the department of electrical and computer engineering and undergraduate scholarships in support of texas a&m sciences flagship retention program science leadership scholars a former member of the texas a&m at galveston board of visitors he was honored in 2010 as the namesake of the campus powell marine engineering complex in addition to welcoming aggies to his ranch to study exotic animals he remains active in a variety of community and civic causes including past and current service on a number of area boards and committees powell and his fellow 2022 recipients learned of their honors via surprise announcements from university and association representatives including the association of former students 2022 chair of the board dara hegar 95 association president and ceo porter s garner iii 79 and a ross volunteer our 2022 distinguished alumni highlight the remarkable impact aggies make on their communities and on the world hegar said the way they have lived their lives reflects honor and distinction upon the worldwide aggie network and leaves an outstanding legacy to which all aggies can aspire garner echoed banks and hegars sentiments and offered his congratulations on behalf of the association of former students fewer than one-tenth of one percent of texas a&ms 555 000 former students have been recognized with the distinguished alumnus award garner said the 2022 distinguished alumni belong in that exceptional group of aggies because they exemplify excellence integrity leadership loyalty respect and selfless service they inspire us all by their example the association of former students will further honor all recipients of this award during its annual distinguished alumni gala set for sept 16 in addition the 2022 recipients will be recognized during the sept 17 texas a&m football game against miami nominations for the 2023 distinguished alumnus award will be accepted through aug 31 at http://txag/danominations the association of former students established in 1879 is the official alumni organization of texas a&m university the association connects hundreds of thousands of members of the worldwide aggie network with each other and the university and provided $136 million in impact to university scholarships awards traditions and student activities and recognition for students faculty staff and former students in 2021 read more about the members of this years class at http://txag/da2022 for more information about the distinguished alumnus award or the association visit wwwaggienetworkcom