2006 Henry B. Baldwin Award
"The Henry B. Baldwin Award (which is voted on by the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee) is given to the individual of organization who has demonstrated outstanding community service in the true principles of servant leadership. This person has clearly contributed time, leadership and ideas to help support Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend Region. A Henry B. Baldwin recipient enhances the quality of life in our area by taking a stand on issues ranging from business to education. The Henry B. Baldwin Award was named for the FIRST Chair of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, elected at the Chamber’s initial meeting on February 15, 1924.
The 2006 Henry B. Baldwin Award is being presented as a surprise to a man who has gone above and beyond his call of duty for the Coastal Bend area, our Region and our Nation. He is a 10th generation South Texan, born in Brownsville and raised in Premont and participated in rodeos in the ranching community of Jim Wells County.
As stated in his bio, he was an ROTC Distinguished Graduate from St. Mary’s University, and commissioned in the Regular Army in 1961. He served 35 years and retired as a 3 star general. During that time he served in three combat tours; twice in Vietnam and once in Panama. He earned the Combat Infantry Badge and was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. During Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama, he was the Commander of U.S. Army South and JTF Panama, and received wide recognition for his role in capturing the Panamanian dictator, Noriega, and restoring democracy.
After retiring from the Army in 1996, he was selected to be President of Texas A&M University-Kingsville in South Texas where he served for three years. Currently, he is CEO of the Kenedy Memorial Foundation, which is a major charity foundation in Texas that owns and operates a 235,000-acre ranch adjacent to the King Ranch.
He also currently serves as a Member, of the Advisory Board for Bush School of Government and Public Service. He was a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and has been married for 43 years to the Former Eddy Virginia Durham and has three children and three grand daughters.
Through his leadership an estimated $2,985,000 has been approved as a Kenedy Memorial Foundation Initiative for Tuition Assistance to Catholic Schools within South Texas in the Diocese of Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Laredo since February 2004.
For the past two years, he has volunteered his time every Wednesday to drive a van for Catholic Charities Office for Persons with Disabilities. He drives to the homes of each person with a disability, picks them up and delivers them to Catholic Charities for a day of fun and fellowship. At the end of the day, he then drops each person back to his or her respective residence. Once a month he purchases pizza for the entire group who has a deep appreciation and love for him.
Please help in congratulating our 2006 Henry B. Baldwin recipient, General Marc Cisneros."
-notes read by 2006 Mistress of Ceremonies Katy Kiser,
bio notes courtesy Kenedy Memorial Foundation
