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A&M System names new chancellor
Visit this site to read newly appointed Chancellor Robert McTeer’s essays and observations: http://tamusystem.tamu.edu/chancellor/mcteer/essays/goodbye.html

Following in Sam Rayburn’s footsteps
When the U.S. Congress convened in Washington D.C. in January, Mike Conaway (B.B.A. ’70) was the first university graduate since Sam Rayburn to hold a seat in the House of Representatives.

The Republican alumnus was elected last fall to serve the newly created 11th Congressional District, which includes the Central Texas cities of Waco , Killeen and Georgetown .

The 56-year-old congressman has been a certified public accountant for more than 30 years and is a U.S. Army veteran. He was honored in the spring of 2004 as an Alumni Ambassador by A&M-Commerce’s accounting department.

“We were happy to have Mike Conaway on campus for our Alumni Forum last April and wish him the best in his work as a congressman,” says A&M-Commerce President Keith McFarland. “Mike Conaway is the first alumnus elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since Speaker Sam Rayburn, our Most Distinguished Alumnus.”

The Midland resident is a friend of President George W. Bush and had worked as chief financial officer for Bush Exploration.

In 1995, then-Governor Bush appointed Conaway to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, a state regulatory agency that regulates the practice of accountancy in Texas . He served on the board for seven years, including more than five years as chairman.

A&M-Commerce Professor Emeritus Jack Ingram attended Conaway’s election victory party. The two have remained friends since Conaway’s days as a student here.

“He’s just one of these rare people who’s got character, integrity and brains,” Dr. Ingram says. “He’s just unique.”

A married student from Odessa who played on the Lions football team, Conaway was serious about his studies and worked part-time while in school, Dr. Ingram remembers.

Mike’s class photo from the 1970 Locust.

He was an A&M-Commerce Alumni Ambassador before he was a Representative. Mike is pictured at last spring’s Alumni Ambassador Luncheon with President Keith McFarland and Dr. Hal Langford, dean of the College of Business and Technology.

Mike played with the Lions football team while he was a student at the university. Here he is shown with his team in the 1969 Locust.