Today@Sam Article

Distinguished Alumni Honorees Announced

Oct. 8, 2025
SHSU Media Contact: Emily Binetti

Six Sam Houston State University alumni will be recognized at the 52nd Annual Distinguished Alumni Gala for their significant contributions to their professions, communities and alma mater. Awardees will be recognized as the 2025 recipients of the Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Young Alumni and Alumni Service awards during the highly anticipated annual gala.

The Bearkats of honor at the Nov. 6, gala include Distinguished Alumni Russell Molina, Eddie Blazek and Borris Miles; Outstanding Young Alumnus Jenna Zibton and Service Award recipients Clyde “Kooter” Roberson and Tiffany Thomas.

Russell Molina (’89) has channeled his grandparents’ entrepreneurial spirit to establish himself as a Houston business leader. After earning his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Sam Houston State University, he began working at Houston’s Senterra Real Estate Group. In 1991, he joined Woodco Fund Management as an analyst and rose to the position of president. He then led Custom Rubber Products through restructuring as owner and CEO, eventually raising revenue from $3.3 million to over $50 million before selling the business in 2012. Currently, Molina is engaged in multiple entrepreneurial ventures, including PPI Security, Superior Trophies and Buckles, Rewards, THS Ranch and The Hat Store. He has supported community organizations everywhere he has called home, from Colorado’s Bravo Vail Music Festival to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Molina also served as chair of the 2023 bicentennial celebration of the Texas Rangers and is currently the chair of the Sam Houston University Foundation. SHSU is proud to memorialize Molina as a College of Business Administration’s 2019 Wall of Honor awardee and recipient of the Alumni Association’s 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award. 

Eddie Blazek (’75) has used his decades of experience as a rancher and businessman to forge lasting relationships with business partners around the globe and uplift the next generation of agriculture businesspeople. While juggling his duties at Mound Creek Ranch, Hilltop Rentals, Blazek Investments, Lincoln Lumber and Four Oaks Shooting Sports Inc., he managed to take the time to open his own Mound Creek Ranch in Leona, Texas to SHSU students searching for hands-on experience on a working ranch. Blazek and his wife Cindy, a fellow SHSU ‘75 grad, are both SHSU Life Members and avid supporters of all things agriculture, including the university’s Beef Cattle Show Team, the Department of Agriculture and the Gibbs Ranch Educational Research Center. Outside of the university, Blazek supports the International Junior Brangus Breeders, his local 4-H Shooting Sports programs and FFA chapters and is an active member of The Woodlands Methodist Church, through which he has participated in numerous mission trips. 

Texas State Senator Borris L. Miles (’89) has spent his illustrious career using his fighting Bearkat spirit to advocate for the people of the greater Houston area. After graduating from SHSU, he put his criminal justice degree to work as a peace officer in the Houston Independent School District, giving back to the community that raised him. He then launched his own independent insurance agency, which quickly became one of the largest in the state, before entering public office in 2007 as a state representative. During his years as a civil servant, Miles secured funding to advance access to primary healthcare and higher education. He also championed legislation aimed at protecting the environment and air quality, ethical policing, supporting public education and safeguarding public homes for seniors and people with disabilities.  

Jenna Zibton (’07) is a state communications liaison and former award-winning journalist, dynamic storyteller and community leader with nearly 20 years of experience in media, communications and public engagement. Her career reflects a steadfast commitment to collaboration, innovation and service. As the former morning anchor at WSLS in Roanoke, Virginia, Zibton spearheaded high-impact coverage on breaking news, investigative stories and in-depth projects. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is committed to community service as seen in her leadership of the Junior League of Roanoke Valley and creation of both 30 Days of Hope and Solutionaries. Zibton has received prestigious awards from organizations such as the Emmys, the Radio Television Digital Network Association, the Associated Press and numerous local awards recognizing her commitment to community service.

Clyde “Kooter” Roberson’s 49 years behind the microphone made him synonymous with Bearkat Athletics and earned the longtime broadcaster Sam Houston State University Alumni Association’s prestigious Service Award. After joining Huntsville’s KSAM radio in 1970, he ultimately became the play-by-play announcer for Sam Houston State and Huntsville High School across a variety of sports. Over the next half century, he established himself as a beloved fixture in the community he calls home. He experienced the growth of the Bearkats from his bird’s eye view in multiple broadcast booths, from the early days of football at Pritchett Field to the evolution of Bowers Stadium. Whether Sam’s growing pool of athletes competed as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ old Lone Star Conference, Division-II’s Gulf Star Conference or Division-I’s Western Athletic Conference and Southland Conferences, Roberson’s voice was omnipresent. His commitment to the craft and love for the Bearkats never wavered. The voice of SHSU athletics left the booth in 2019 and is now content watching all the college football games he can from the comfort of his recliner.  

As chair of the Housing and Affordability Committee, Tiffany D. Thomas (’04) is the first woman to represent District F on the Houston City Council where, as a lifelong advocate for equity and opportunity, she champions policies that expand affordable housing, strengthen infrastructure and improve quality of life for residents in one of Houston’s most economically and racially diverse districts. Her signature initiatives include the Inaugural Faith & Affordable Housing Summit—bridging the gap between faith institutions and development partners—and community education around heirs' property, ensuring generational land retention in historically Black and Brown communities. In August 2025, Thomas successfully championed the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery 2024 (CDBG-DR24) amendment, securing a historic shift from zero to $100 million in disaster recovery housing funds to help Houstonians recover from the May 2024 derecho and Hurricane Beryl. Her leadership ensured critical resources will directly support affordable housing and resilient communities across the city. With a powerful ability to convene multiracial, multiethnic and intergenerational coalitions, Thomas leads with both policy insight and cultural fluency. Beyond city hall, she is a respected academic and assistant professor of community development at Prairie View A&M University, where she teaches graduate students and integrates research into action. Her work has been published, cited and replicated nationally—further cementing her role as a bridge between scholarship, policy and grassroots leadership. Thomas is a 2025 Local Elected Unum Fellow; a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; National Social Action Chair for The Links, Incorporated; America’s Housing Comeback Taskforce with the National League of Cities and the Community Development Society. Her record, reach and results speak for themselves. Thomas is not only shaping the city of Houston—she’s shaping what leadership looks like for the next generation of public servants.

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