J.A. "JACK" CHANDLER

     has dedicated most of his life to serving Sam Houston State University and its students. His loyalty and commitment to SHSU began when, as a Houston County youngster, he arrived on the campus of then Sam Houston State Teachers College to pursue a B.S. degree in Agriculture. Following his graduation in 1942, he served as a Vocational Agriculture Teacher at Alba, Aldine, Buffalo and Mexia, with a brief interlude into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943-44. In 1946, Mr. Chandler returned to his alma mater to pursue his M.A. degree (conferred in 1948) while serving as an instructor in the Agriculture Department until 1952.

     After three years as Executive Secretary of the Texas Rice Industry, Chandler returned again to Sam Houston State as assistant professor in 1955. As the college became a university, Mr. Chandler built diversity into the agriculture program by taking responsibility for the agribusiness major, which had grown to an enrollment of 125 students by 1970.

     His administrative skills led him to be selected as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1975 to 1981, and to serve as Special Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs before his retirement in 1982.

     Through Mr. Chandler's leadership and excellent working relationship with Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officials, SHSU received an endowment gift of nearly half a million dollars. Funds generated from the endowment have eased the financial burden of a college education for hundreds of SHSU students. In 1959, Chandler teamed up with Mr. Krumnow and others across the U.S. to establish Delta Tau Alpha, a national honor society for agriculture students.

     Mr. Chandler has been an active public servant as well through involvement and leadership in the Huntsville Kiwanis Club and the Huntsville-Walker County Chamber of Commerce, among others. He was on the original committee to reestablish the Walker County Fair and continues to contribute to the fair by donating prizes and a heifer from his Beefmaster herd to a calf scramble participant each year. Mr. Chandler and his wife, Ruth King Chandler, continue to reside in Huntsville where he has served as Deacon and Elder in the Huntsville Church of Christ for many years. The department, university, and community owe much of their success to the integrity and dedication of Mr. J. A. Chandler.