Lamar heritage, vision inspire new TSUS regent Truncale

[Guest abovetherim]

Michael Truncale grew up at Lamar University, where his parents were members of the music faculty. He swam with his father in the campus pool. He played cello in Lamar orchestras. He attended the first football game in Cardinal Stadium. And he joined in mourning Ty Terrell and his track team when they perished in a 1968 plane crash.

Thursday (Oct. 4, 2007), Truncale took the oath of office as a regent of The Texas State University System. Judge Hollis Horton III, an associate justice of the 9th Court of Appeals and Truncale’s law partner for 25 years, administered the oath before friends, family and members of the Lamar community gathered in the Elvis Mason Conference Room of the John Gray Center.

President James Simmons welcomed the new regent to the TSUS-Lamar family, joined by presidents of other Lamar institutions in Southeast Texas.

Truncale, a senior partner with the law firm of Orgain Bell & Tucker LLP, graduated from Lamar with high honors in 1978, earning a degree in economics. He earned a master of business administration from the University ofNorth Texas in Denton and a law degree from Southern Methodist University. His term on the board of regents expires Feb. 1, 2013.

“Lamar transforms lives,†he told well-wishers. “ I’ve seen people from all socio-economic categories become opera singers, engineers, business leaders, lawyers, physicians and nurses. Lamar transforms lives. Lamar also enhances communities. Can you imagine Beaumont, Port Arthur or Orange without Lamar’s presence?â€

It is appropriate, Truncale said, that the ceremony take place in a building bearing the name of  Lamar’s beloved late president, who served 1941-51 and 1972-77.

“I would not be here without John Gray,†he said. “ In 1947, John Gray was instrumental in bringing my mother to Lamar to become a professor of piano. At that time, my father was singing in New York and studying at the JuilliardSchool.

“In fact, their plans were to leave this area. But Dr. Gray said, ‘We now have a four-year institution in Beaumont, and to be a great university, we must have a department of music, and we want you to be a big part of that.’â€

The family lived on campus in converted World War II Army barracks. “President Simmons, I congratulate you for improving the level of housing,†Truncale quipped.

His mother, Ruth, taught piano at Lamar beginning in 1947 and was one of the first women on the Lamar faculty. His father was a professor of voice and opera from 1953 until his retirement in 1990. Both parents are now deceased.

“I grew up here. I swam in the pool every week with my father. I played cello in the Lamar Opera Orchestra and in the Lamar Philharmonic,†Truncale said. “I attended football games at the old South Park High School Stadium and later at Cardinal Stadium, including the first game there. We also cheered the other sports, and we all cried the day we lost our track team.

“Lamar has been part of my life.  I’ve seen it grow.  I’ve seen the vision.â€

Truncale said he chose Lamar over other universities because of the quality of its teaching. Between his junior and senior years of high school, he took courses at Lamar and became acquainted with the faculty.

“I realized that as a freshman at Lamar, I could have Ph.D. professors instead of the teaching assistants offered by the other universities,†he said. “ Those professors became guiding lights for me.â€

Truncale knew those instrumental in making Lamar a four-year institution, as well as many of its presidents.  “I knew of their dreams for Lamar,†he said. One day in the late 1960s, his father returned from a faculty senate meeting bearing a long roll of paper, which he laid out on the kitchen table. It was the Lamar master plan for the year 2000.

“We’ve accomplished a lot of those goals,†Truncale said. “Some of those goals have changed. We still have a few more goals to accomplish, and we will accomplish those goals.

But the point is that the early presidents of Lamar all had visions for a great university, and I believe the current presidents of all four Lamar institutions also have visions. That is the key to our future success.â€

Two words – work and education – elevate one’s position in society, Truncale said. “The  students are responsible for work, but we, collectively, are responsible for providing them with an educational opportunity.

“Transforming lives and enhancing communities – all he institutions in The Texas State University System are doing that. I am honored Gov. Rick Perry appointed me to the board of regents,†Truncale said in closing. “I’d like to thank our chancellor, our presidents, our administrators, our faculty and our staff for all that you do to make the institutions in our system outstanding.â€

He thanked his wife, Denise, and daughters, Lacey, a sophomore at Texas Christian University, and Lauren, a sophomore at West Brook High School, for their love and support.

Truncale noted that not only did Horton attend the ceremony to administer the oath, but he also brought the other members of the Beaumont-based appellate court, making it “really a special occasion.â€

“It is my great pleasure to swear Michael in,†Horton said. “I know he is a great supporter of public education and of Lamar University.â€

Truncale is a past president of the Jefferson County Bar Association, the Symphony of Southeast Texas and the Beaumont Heritage Society.

He succeeds Kent Adams, also a Beaumont lawyer, on the TSUS board of regents. Adams was serving as regents’ chair when his term expired. Other newly appointed regents are Charlie Amato of San Antonio, co-owner of Southwest Business Corp., and Ron Blatchley of Bryan, co-owner of BMG Homes.

http://www.lamar.edu/newsevents/articles/221_5796.htm