Governor Beauford Halbert Jester

Appreciation of Services of Mr. Jester
(Excerpt from Board Minutes of February 23, 1935)

In January, 1929, Honorable Dan Moody, Governor of the State of Texas, appointed Beauford Jester, of Corsicana, to a six-year term as a member of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas. From that time until February, 1933, he served as a emmber of the Board and also as a member of the following committees: Buildings and Grounds, Complaints and Grievances, Finance, Legislative, and Medical Branch. His interest in the performance of the duties and the assumption of the responsibilities of his office is shown by the fact that he was seldom absent from the meetings of the Board and always took an active and intelligent part in its proceedings. During the last two years of his term he has served on the College of Mines and Metallurgy Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Board for Lease of University Lands.

A striking and conclusive evidence of the estimattion in which Mr. Jester is held by his colleagues is shown by the fact that on February 16, 1933, at the retirement of Judge R. L. Batts from the Board and its Chairmanship, Mr. Jester was elected Chairman of the Board, to serve in that capacity for the remainder of his term of office. That term is now expired. The wisdom of the Board in choosing him as its Chairman is clearly shown by a resume of the biennium. In addition to a faithful attention to all of the duties and routines of the Chairmanship, certain outstanding services are recalled: securing a loan and grant from the Public Works Administration of $1,633,000 for the completion of the Library-Main Building; securing a loan and grant of $468,000 to build two dormitories (one for men and one for women) at the University; assisting at critical times in hearings before various legislative committees; helping the Legion Memorial Museum Building project both on its Legion and its University aspects; promoting the Ex-Students' Association; and his services toward the establishment of a retirement system for the University.