Range Rider, Volume 30, Number 1, March, 1979 Page: 4a
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Page 4A RANGE RIDER March, 1979
Three Distinguished Alumni honored
Gordon Wood '38, Magnolia McCullough '67, Jeter Fulbright Jr. '72A Fort Worth police hero, one of the winningest
and most publicized football coaches in Texas and
the director of teacher certification for the Texas
Education Agency received the 1979 Distinguished
Alumni awards from Hardin-Simmons University.
Jeter D. Fulbright Jr., of Fort Worth; Gordon
Wood of Brownwood and Magnolia Starks Mc-
Cullough'of Austin were honored February 16 at a
special luncheon in the Steakley Room of Moody
Student Center.
Each year the H-SU Distinguished Alumni
Awards honor graduates who have compiled out-
standing records of achievement in their chosen
field, since leaving college.
Fulbright, the youngest winner ever selected for
the award at age 29, was awarded the Medal of
Valor by the Fort Worth Police Department in 1977
and was honored in 1978 as one of the nominees for
the Fort Worth Jaycees' Outstanding Young Man of
the Year.
Mrs. Starks, 53, has been head of the TEA's
teacher certification program since 1974. In her job
she oversees the certification of all teachers in all
the public schools in the state of Texas.
Wood, of course, is the coaching legend at
Brownwood High School where he has won eight
state championships and almost 350 games in his 33-
year coaching career. He is already a member of the
Texas High School Association Hall of Fame.
Gordon Wood Day in Brownwood in 1971 even
attracted former President Lyndon Johnson as
speaker for the event.
The 64-year-old Wood graduated from Hardin-
Simmons with a bachelor's degree in 1938 and added
a master's in education from H-SU in 1952. Twice he
has been selected as the Texas High School Coaches'
Association "Coach of the Year" and in addition to
the eight state championships in football (the first
two at Stamford that included a 35-game winning
streak and the last six at Brownwood including this
past season) he has also coached state champions in
track and golf.
Gordon Wood Day in Brownwood, on May 15,
1971 was front page news all over West Texas andwas the lead story in the Abilene Reporter-News as
former President Johnson headed a list of VIP's that
included Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, University of Texas
athletic director Darrel Royal and an estimated
2,000 fans.
Despite the fame and heady rate of success, Wood
has always been generous in his praise of his players,
his assistants and the fans. Typically, upon being
notified of his selection and upcoming award, he
replied: "It is with a deep sense of humility...that I
accept the nomination...from Hardin-Simmons
University. My first reaction when I read the letter
was that it had been sent to the wrong person."
Ironically, Wood did not get to play football in
high school since Abilene Wylie didn't play that
sport then. Still, he earned a football-basketball
scholarship from H-SU--and as an amateur boxer he
compiled a 27-4 mark.
When Wood arrived in Brownwood the Lions had
won only one district championship in football in
their history, had been mauled in that lone playoff
game--and had not beaten powerhouse
Breckenridge since 1940. The first Wood-coached
Lion team, in 1960, promptly swept all the way to a
state championship and the balance of power has
never been the same since in Brownwood's district.
Wood's citation was read by Dr. Rupert N.
Richardson.
In response, the veteran coach gave credit to,
"great professors like Dr. Richardson and Dr.
Wiggins that put up with me. During my sophomore
year here there was some question whether I would
graduate or go to jail due to an episode over some
stolen milk bottles--but I'm glad I stuck it out.
"Any success I've had is due to the fact that I love
to coach and love to work with boys and I think
coaching is an honorable profession," he concluded.
"I can't understand how my name got in here with all
these that deserved it--but I'll accept it as if I earned
it."
Fulbright, a 1972 graduate of Hardin-Simmons,
followed the careers of his father, J.D. Fulbright Sr.,
and his step-father, H.H. Hungerford into the Fort
Worth Police Department. At H-SU he compiled anDistinguished Alumni honorees
After the annual awards banquet for the from left, Gordon Wood, Magnolia McCullough
distinguished alumni, H-SU hosted a reception in and Betty Fullbright (who accepted for her
Beckham Lounge so friends could stop by and husband, Jeter who was in the hospital).
visit. The three plaques were also on display by, (Worthy Long Photo)outstanding record while majoring in law en
forcement, holding memberships in Tau Alpha Phi,
Lambda Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Phi Omega, was
active in the Baptist Student Union's mission trips
and was vice president of his senior class.
Fulbright was nominated for the FWPD's Life
Saving Award after an incident on Dec. 6, 1975.
Upon arriving at the scene of a major accident,
Fulbright discovered the 18-year-old driver had been
thrown from his auto and was unconscious. While
Fulbright was examining him the boy's heart
stopped. Fulbright immediately began car-
diopulmonary and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
The ambulance arrived five minutes later and
took the victim to the hospital where it was
determined that, because of the injuries and the
severe cold, he would have gone into shock and very
likely would have died had it not been for the swift
action of Fulbright.
And on New Year's Day of 1977, the young
policeman really got into some dramatics.
While off-duty, he accompanied his wife to a
neighborhood supermarket only to interrupt an
armed robbery. Because of the number of
bystanders in the store who might be endangered,
Fulbright hid until the robber left the store then
followed and yelled for the man to stop. Instead the
suspect opened fire, one bullet leaving a hole in
Fulbright's jacket. Fulbright returned the fire and
continued the chase and exchanged gunshots twice
more before the man shot a passerby and fled into a
house.
Fulbright checked the condition of the wounded
man, then entered the house with an on-duty
policeman who had arrived on the scene. The two
officers subdued the suspect, without further in-
cident or injury. The arrest later resulted in the
suspect being charged in a series of more than 20
armed robberies in and around Fort Worth.
Jeter Fulbright was unable to attend the
ceremonies because of emergency surgery but his
wife, Betty, was on hand to hear John Womble,
Director of Alumni Relations, read the citation.
Mrs. McCullough earned both of her degrees from
Hardin-Simmons, completing her bachelor's of
science in 1967 and added a master's in education in
1970.
She was already the mother of two children
(Maria and Vanessa) well into elementary school
when she enrolled at Hardin-Simmons but promptly
proved she could more than compete with
traditional-age college kids.
Her freshmen year she was named to Who's Who
Among Students and she won the Ogvile Guidance
Award in 1970.
While attending H-SU part-time she worked in the
Children Development Center in Abilene (1961-67)
both as teacher and director and upon graduation
began teaching in the Abilene public schools (1967-
70).
In 1970 she joined the Texas Education Agency as
a guidance consultant, a post she held for three
years. In 1973 she advanced to educational program
director in the Division of Teacher Education and
Certification before being named to her present
position of director of teacher certification in 1974.
Mrs. McCullough's citation was read by Dr. Lois
Martin, head of the department of guidance and
counseling at H-SU.
Thinking back, she recalled that, "Dr. (William
Truett) Walton, my mentor, gave me the impression
that H-SU was just waiting for me the day I talked
with him about starting school. So in 1961 I started
by carrying one class and I kept at it three hours at a
time.
"I was asked if I was on the 10-year undergraduate
program," she laughed. "It's incredible how much
help this University would give a 40-year-old-plus
graduate after I finally finished and started working
fulltime. And one thing I learned on this campus has
helped me all along. They teach you at H-SU to pray
about things and to meditate and I've put that into
practice before making decisions or speaking."
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Hardin-Simmons University. Range Rider, Volume 30, Number 1, March, 1979, periodical, March 1979; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117031/m1/4/?q=music: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.