TARLETON ALUMNI ASSOCIATION DISTINGUISHED HONOREES

2018 Tarleton Alumni Association Distinguished Honorees

Tarleton State University honored several distinguished alumni and former faculty and staff members during the University Gala held Saturday, Feb. 17.

Pictured, from left, are TAA Board President Ken Dorris Jr.; Distinguished Friend, Stephenville City Electric Inc., owner David Bragg; Distinguished Alumnus, Nancy Golden Turley; Outstanding Young Alumnus, Dr. Jason Mogonye, M.D.; and Tarleton President F. Dominic Dottavio. Not pictured is this year's Distinguished Faculty / Staff award recipient, Sandra Cox.

Distinguished Alumnus

Mrs. Nancy Golden Turley, ’79 served as Tarleton’s first female student body president, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s of business administration degree in accounting. She was a member of Gamma Sigma Sigma Service Sorority and Tau Beta Chi Business Chapter.

Turley served four years in Student Government, first as a member of the Student Senate, then as student body vice president and ultimately as president in 1978-79. Other honors include election as Miss TSU, receiving the Accounting Excellence Award from the Texas Society of CPAs and listing in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. Her imprint at Tarleton lives on through a campus street named in her honor—Nancy Golden Drive.

Turley’s 39-year professional career has been spent working for Tarleton Distinguished Alumnus and benefactor Mike A. Myers. Currently, she is CFO for the Dallas-based Myers Financial Corporation.

Turley’s close bond with Tarleton has continued through the years, serving multiple terms on the TAA board of directors.

Outstanding Young Alumnus

Dr. Jason Mogonye, M.D., ’02 graduated from the Presidential Honors Program and summa cum laude from the College of Science and Technology. Mogonye was granted membership into Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society while at Tarleton and continued his academic legacy at Texas Tech University’s Health Sciences Center School of Medicine.

He received his doctorate of medicine (M.D.) in 2006 and was named the Outstanding Medical Student in Sports Medicine. He completed his residency in family medicine as well as his fellowship in sports medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.

He currently serves as team physician for TCU, Texas Wesleyan University, the Justin Rodeo Sports Medicine Team, and Arlington and Fort Worth ISDs.

Distinguished Faculty / Staff

Mrs. Sandra Cox began her distinguished career at Tarleton as a student worker in 1961 while pursuing her degree. She later returned to become executive director in charge of university budgets, payroll and human resources. Cox retired as Vice President Jerry Graham’s “right hand woman” utilizing her vast knowledge of the budget system at Tarleton and her excellent management of both budget and payroll.

President Emeritus Dr. Dennis P. McCabe said, “With a deep and quiet strength, Sandra Cox served Tarleton with great distinction. Her work was exceptional. Her record of employment was exemplary. Her quiet and firm resolve to serve others as she would like to be served gave her focus and intent.”

Distinguished Friend

E.L. Stephens established City Electric in Stephenville in 1949, molding the company into a top-notch business with a reputation for providing quality, dependable electrical work.

Stephens owned and operated the successful business for 33 years before selling it to someone he felt could maintain the same quality of work and ethics that he had. David Bragg was that man.

In 1982, Bragg jumped at Stephens’ offer. In 1986, he felt that the growing company needed to broaden its horizons, so he incorporated the electric company under the name “Stephenville City Electric, Inc.”

Since 1982, Bragg has not only maintained the same level of excellence that Stephens originally established, but has expanded and molded the company into a business of distinction.