WT’s 2024 Distinguished Alumni Named, to Be Honored During Homecoming Week

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — The highly accomplished son of a former West Texas A&M University president. One of the highest-ranking female leaders of the oil and gas industry in Texas. And the leader of the region’s most prestigious philanthropic foundation.

Dr. James L. Cornette, Brenda Schroer and Clay Stribling are the illustrious trio selected as WT’s 2024 Distinguished Alumni. They’ll be honored Oct. 10 during the annual Phoenix event during Homecoming 2024 celebrations.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. in Legacy Hall inside the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on the Canyon campus.

Tickets are $75. Reservations are due Oct. 1. To purchase, call the WT Alumni Association at 806-651-2311.

Cornette, a 1955 graduate and son of former WT President James P. Cornette, earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas before embarking on a long career as a faculty member in Iowa State University’s mathematics department. There, his research involved applying mathematics to molecular biology to develop models that benefitted the scientific community’s knowledge and treatment of AIDS and COVID. He holds three patents and published 21 research articles, all in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health.

In 1991, Cornette found a fossilized tooth of a phytosaur on his wife’s family ranch near Palo Duro Canyon. That inspired him, after retiring from ISU in 2000, to pursue a master’s degree in geology from the University of Kansas, which he earned two years later. Since 2003, he has been a frequent volunteer at both the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. He also frequently takes part in fossil digs in Wyoming with representatives from the Museum of Nature and Science in Washington, D.C.

“Jim has been a role model,” wrote Shawna Kennedy-Witthar, Cornette Library’s director of information and library resources, in a nomination letter. “His intellectual curiosity, graciousness and love of art and science have made an enduring contribution to West Texas A&M University and to me personally.”

Cornette is a member of the Texas Poets’ Corner advisory board and a member of the Friends of the Cornette Library, which was named for his father and mother, Mary Elizabeth. He served a pivotal role in the founding of the library’s Poets’ Garden and the installation of a statue of poet Robert Frost.

“I am very excited about this award,” Cornette said. “I am very happy to tell people what I did. It was sort of a revelation for me to write down a history of my life, entitled ‘I Am Lucky.’ That really is the case. I really am.”

Schroer, who grew up in Dumas and Longview, earned her bachelor of business administration in accounting in 1998, then a master’s in accounting at Texas A&M University. She began her accounting career at Ernst & Young, spending more than a decade in the firm’s offices in Dallas, London and New York, focusing on the oil and gas industry.

She was recruited to work at the Fortune 500-company Concho Resources in 2013, returning her to Texas to work in its Midland offices. Within six years, she ascended to the company’s senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, leading its 250-person finance organization in multi-billion-dollar acquisitions and divestitures before the company was acquired in 2021 by ConocoPhillips. She then led Aris Water Solutions through an IPO in 2021 and its transition to a public company in 2022, then joined Endeavor Energy Resources as its CFO and board manager.

“She’s had an amazing career because of the depth of her knowledge and how much she has built companies,” said Tim Leach, chairman of Concho Resources and past chairman of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. “She has been in the center of the action for such a short period of time. She is just excellent.”

While at Concho, Schroer was named one of the 25 Influential Women in Energy in 2020.

“I am so humbled and feel so undeserving. There are so many fantastic folks who have come out of West Texas and made such large impacts on the community,” Schroer said. “I was shocked and super excited about this award, and I hope to live up to the award as I move forward with my career.”

Stribling, who earned his bachelor’s degree in general studies in 1988, is a Hereford native who began his career as a lawyer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before returning to Amarillo, where he practiced healthcare law at local firm Brown & Fortunato.

In 2011, he was named the executive director of the Amarillo Area Foundation, where he “has been a central figure in supporting and reimagining education across the Texas Panhandle,” said Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, president of Austin Community College, in a nomination letter.

As AAF's president and CEO, Stribling has played a central role in the establishment of Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo; secured support and funding for Amarillo Independent School District’s THRIVE scholarship program; and was at the helm when AAF launched The Panhandle Gives, the most successful ongoing fundraising efforts in the region’s history, among many other initiatives.

“It’s so rewarding to be able to use your talents to feel like you’re making a difference in the world,” Stribling said. “This award means a lot to me. I loved my time at WT, and I love the institution. It is as important an institution in the Texas Panhandle as any other we have, maybe more so in a lot of ways.”

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor given by the WT Alumni Association and has been given annually since 1970. In that time, 127 alumni have been honored, including this year’s inductees. Each has gained distinction through their professional achievements in career or military service, leadership and impact in their communities, and support to WT.

“The WT Alumni Association is proud to honor such alumni as Dr. Cornette, Ms. Schroer and Mr. Stribling,” said Ronnie Hall, executive director. “They each bring pride and honor to our University through their leadership, personal lives and professional accomplishments.”

Accomplished alumni such as these help WT reach the goals of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

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