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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Texans lost a tireless champion of higher education |
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with the death of former University of Texas at Austin president |
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William C. Powers Jr. on March 10, 2019, at the age of 72; and |
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WHEREAS, A member of the UT School of Law faculty for more |
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than four decades, Bill Powers took the helm of the university in |
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2006; he implemented sweeping reform of the undergraduate |
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curriculum, including the creation of mandatory signature courses |
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for freshmen, and he guided the establishment of both the School of |
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Undergraduate Studies and the Dell Medical School, the first new |
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medical school at a tier one public university in decades; his |
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commitment to increasing the four-year graduation rate brought a |
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dramatic improvement, from about 50 percent to nearly 70 percent; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Powers strived to make the university more |
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efficient and accountable while also raising $3.1 billion through |
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his eight-year Campaign for Texas; in addition, he launched the |
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ESPN-owned Longhorn Network, which is expected to generate $300 |
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million over 20 years, much of that for the endowment of faculty |
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chairs; under his leadership, the construction of 13 major |
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buildings was commenced or completed; he established a vice |
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presidency to oversee diversity and community engagement, and he |
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was a stalwart advocate for the use of race and ethnicity as one |
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factor in admissions, pursuing the Fisher affirmative action case |
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all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and winning a landmark ruling; |
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moreover, he was a fierce defender of the academic values and |
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world-changing research that made his institution a "university of |
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the first class"; he enjoyed a sterling reputation in the higher |
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education community, and in 2013, he was elected chair of the |
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Association of American Universities, which represents the top |
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research universities in the U.S. and Canada; when he stepped down |
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as UT president two years later, his administration ranked as the |
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second-longest in UT history; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Los Angeles in 1946, Mr. Powers was the son |
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of Mildred Rose Powers and William Charles Powers Sr.; he grew up in |
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Southern California and earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry |
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from the University of California, Berkeley; after serving in the |
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U.S. Navy for three years, he graduated magna cum laude from |
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Harvard Law School, where he was managing editor of the Harvard Law |
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Review; he clerked for a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the |
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Ninth Circuit and taught at the University of Washington, the |
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University of Michigan, and Southern Methodist University before |
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joining the UT Law faculty in 1977; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Powers became one of the nation's foremost |
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experts on torts, and he was appointed by the prestigious American |
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Law Institute as Reporter for Restatement (Third) for Torts, the |
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most important text for practitioners in that field; his |
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outstanding work then prompted the ALI to name him the R. Ammi |
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Cutter Reporter; the author of numerous other articles and books on |
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tort law and legal philosophy, he was much in demand as a consultant |
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on a wide range of complex tort cases, and he argued 50 cases before |
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the Texas Supreme Court; at the same time, his teaching and |
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mentorship influenced generations of attorneys; and |
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WHEREAS, While serving as dean of the law school, Mr. Powers |
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was appointed to Enron's board of directors to lead an internal |
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probe of the company's financial dealings and its ultimate |
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collapse; his exhaustive report became a road map for more than a |
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dozen congressional and executive branch investigations of |
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corporate malfeasance, and it resulted in criminal prosecutions; in |
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the wake of the scandal, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to |
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strengthen financial and securities regulations; and |
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WHEREAS, After leaving UT, Mr. Powers became of counsel to |
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the Jackson Walker law firm, where he generously shared his |
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knowledge with newly minted attorneys and seasoned professionals |
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alike; he was the recipient of many accolades, among them the Robert |
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B. McKay Award from the American Bar Association and the French |
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Order of the Légion d'Honneur, and he was selected as the 2014 |
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Alumnus of the Year by UC-Berkeley; and |
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WHEREAS, Bill Powers was a brilliant attorney, leading legal |
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scholar, and visionary standard-bearer for higher education, and |
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although he will be deeply missed by all who were privileged to |
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share in the richness of his life, he has left an indelible imprint |
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on both the practice of law and the educational landscape; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Bill Powers and |
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extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: to his wife of |
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36 years, Kim Heilbrun; to his children, Matt, Kate, Allison, |
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Annie, and Reid Powers; to his sister, Susan Powers; to his six |
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grandchildren; and to all who mourn his passing; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Bill |
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Powers. |
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Howard |
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Bonnen of Brazoria |
Guerra |
Noble |
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Bailes |
Hernandez |
Patterson |
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Bell of Kaufman |
Hinojosa |
Perez |
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Bell of Montgomery |
Holland |
Phelan |
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Bonnen of Galveston |
E. Johnson of Dallas |
Reynolds |
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Bowers |
J. Johnson of Dallas |
Rodriguez |
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Buckley |
Johnson of Harris |
Romero, Jr. |
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Burns |
King of Hemphill |
Rosenthal |
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Burrows |
King of Parker |
Sanford |
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Button |
King of Uvalde |
Schaefer |
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Canales |
Kuempel |
Sherman, Sr. |
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Capriglione |
Lambert |
Shine |
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Davis of Dallas |
Lucio III |
Thierry |
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Davis of Harris |
Martinez |
Thompson of Brazoria |
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Dean |
Martinez Fischer |
Thompson of Harris |
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Deshotel |
Metcalf |
Tinderholt |
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Dutton |
Meza |
Turner of Dallas |
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Farrar |
Middleton |
Turner of Tarrant |
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Gervin-Hawkins |
Muñoz, Jr. |
Wray |
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González of Dallas |
Murr |
Zedler |
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González of El Paso |
Neave |
Zerwas |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 999 was unanimously adopted by a rising |
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vote of the House on April 8, 2019. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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