With Glenn Hegar tapped by the Texas A&M University board of regents to succeed John Sharp as A&M University System Chancellor, I will be fortunate to say both have been friends.
Sharp and I were A&M classmates (Class of ‘72) and I met John early in our fish year.
He was always a class leader.
He was Student Senate President our senior year and it was easy to see it coming.
I’ve known Glenn in the 28 years I’ve been in Bay City.
Both men had similar trajectories in their careers.
Hegar is an Aggie as well, hardly a surprise there.
Then again, not all chancellors were Aggies.
Sharp and Hegar both served in the Texas House and Senate – and capped those years as Comptroller.
In my opinion, they both did a good job as the state’s chief financial officer.
Sometimes that can’t be a great job telling the top officials and the legislature how much Texas could spend.
Still I think they both were respected in the job they did.
John has been an exemplary chancellor leading A&M in the space, ocean and nuclear technologies – there’s so much more to say about his resume.
Glenn’s resume also is impressive and he will have his hands full guiding the state’s huge university system, not to mention all of the political peril that university leaders of all stripes face these days.
I look forward to Hegar stepping into that role this summer.
I was delighted to hear he was the one the regents picked to follow Sharp.
Interestingly, both men hail from areas north and south of Matagorda County.
John hails from Placedo in Victoria County.
He played football for Industrial High School and well remembers the rivalry with Tidehaven.
Glenn is from Katy, which bills itself as the hub of Fort Bend, Waller and Harris counties.
Good luck to Glenn as he returns to College Station as the leader and to John for another take on life.
I’d say retirement, but that doesn’t seem to fit John.
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Shifting gears a bit, it’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Donald Trump.
But I’m interested in seeing if Texas Republican leaders can get Trump to get our water from Mexico.
State and Rio Grande Valley farmers face little relief with water becoming scarce and Mexico failing to deliver water.
Mexico is behind treaty obligated water deliveries by more than a million acre-feet.
