BRENHAM ISD HONORS GRADUATES AT LUNCHEON
The Brenham Independent School District held a special luncheon today to honor four Brenham ISD graduates.
The luncheon was held at the Blinn College Student Center Banquet room and honored ISD graduates who later distinguished themselves as leaders and visionaries in their community. This year the honorees were Harry Kolkhorst, R. Hal Moorman, Octavia Jones-Reed, and Charles W. Schwartz.
Harry Kolkhorst graduated from Brenham High School in 1957. Kolkhorst started working for NASA in 1966 and worked with the space program for 44 years, from Gemini through the Space Shuttle program. He was able to work on every shuttle flight and retired the day the last shuttle lifted off. He received the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Achievement Award in recognition of implementing the Orbiter requirements in compliance with the Presidential Commissions for return to flight after the Challenger accident.
R. Hal Moorman graduated from Brenham High School as the valedictorian of the Class of 1967. He went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1971. At Southern Methodist University Law School, he received his Doctorate of Jurisprudence degree in Law with honors. Other accomplishments include serving as a Board member, then Chairman, on the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Named to Best Lawyers in America from 2001-2016, inclusive, he is a fellow Regent and former State Chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Octavia Jones-Reed is a 1966 Pickard High School graduate. After high school, she pursued her bachelor’s degree in History and English from Texas Southern University, then earned her master’s degree in History, also at Texas Southern University. She taught history and government at S.P. Waltrip Sr High School, then received her certification for mid-management/administration and went on to serve as a grade level principal at Dick Dowling Middle School/21st Century Coordinator and Dean of Instruction and Grade Level Principal at Evans E. Worthing High School. Her most recent role has been that of adjunct college professor at Houston Community College. Always busy, she found time to model for the Mayo-Hill Central Modeling Agency, the Neil Hamlin Agency and served on the Board of Directors of Callie Lewis-Watson and the Forty Plus Models, Inc., earning distinction there as head choreographer.
Charles W. Schwartz, an Eagle Scout and a 1972 graduate of Brenham High School, received his Bachelor of Science with highest honors from the University of Texas, his Master of Arts, also from the University of Texas, his J.D. with Honors, and his Masters of Law in 1980 from Harvard University. He began his career as a law clerk with the Honorable Homer Thornberry, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1977 to 1979, then began his legal practice at Vinson & Elkins in Houston where he became a partner in 1986. He started the Houston litigation practice of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in 2003. He is a Regent of the Texas A&M University system where he serves as Chairman of the Finance Committee.