Recipients of the 2023 Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) Innovador Award are Evelyn Summers and her husband, the late Carroll E. Summers Jr.
They will be honored at the University’s Fall Convocation Ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 5 from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall.
The well-known Laredoans shared a lifetime of community involvement that included a significant impact on education.
“Evelyn and Carroll E. Summers Jr. more than meet the essence of being innovadores for our community,” said TAMIU President Dr. Pablo Arenaz, adding, “Mr. Summers, with the unending support of his wife, Evelyn, whom he always called the wind beneath his wings, served on many non-profit boards that supported the mental, physical, and spiritual development of students. His leadership service to boards of the United Independent School District, Border Olympics, Laredo Rotary Club, and the Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center still inspires us. Mrs. Summers was a successful entrepreneur whose downtown store, Townhouse, dressed many young Laredo women and helped encourage their aspirations.”
Arenaz continued, “Together, Evelyn and Carroll E. Summers created scholarship endowments at both TAMIU and Laredo College, in addition to scholarships with the Laredo Area Community Foundation and the Webb Soil and Water Conservation District. Their combined giving provided hundreds of students with educational opportunities they would not have had. Today, 141 currently enrolled students benefit from scholarships created by the Summers. This love of community and support of higher education has created a lasting, transformational legacy in Laredo, which their son Robert Summers proudly carries forward.”
The Summers have long been active in the life of their beloved Laredo as entrepreneurs, ranchers, and philanthropists. They proudly portrayed Martha and George Washington in the 1987-1988 George Washington Birthday Celebrations. Carroll E. Summers passed away on December 17, 2022 and was posthumously honored with the Mr. South Texas Award last February.
Last year’s Innovador Award recipient was the late educator, rancher, and philanthropist Frank Staggs who established The Julieta & Frank Staggs Academy of International and STEM Studies — an innovative, University-level academy on the TAMIU campus for highly gifted and motivated high school juniors and seniors who complete their Academy studies ready to continue their education as college juniors.
Previous notable recipients have included Guadalupe and Lilia Martínez Foundation Trustees Bob and Shirley González and State Senator Judith Zaffirini.
The Innovador Award was created in 2018 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a lasting impact on education, particularly higher education, in Laredo and the South Texas region. It is presented annually by President Arenaz at the Fall Convocation Ceremony, which traditionally ushers in the academic year at the University.
In addition to the Innovador Award, Dr. Arenaz will announce 2023 faculty awards at the Convocation.
