Legacy written in maroon
In 27 years at the helm of The Association, Garner’s vision shaped Aggie experiences, strengthened the Aggie Network
By Sue Owen ’94
Photos by Butch Ireland for The Association of Former Students
“No one has ever had the kind of impact on Aggie Spirit that Porter has had during his tenure,” says John Sharp ’72, chancellor of The Texas A&M University System from 2011 to 2025.
“From Ring Day to Aggie Park, his vision and ability to execute that vision is unmatched and unparalleled.”
Indeed, if Porter Garner ’79 had not taken the helm at The Association of Former Students in January 2000, Aggies today might not be bringing friends and family to Aggie Ring Day or the 20-acre Aggie Park. They might not be as familiar with the Aggie Network or Texas A&M University’s core values. And their names might not be read one day in the Worldwide Muster Roll Call.
Garner, the longest-tenured chief executive in The Association’s 147-year history, will retire at the end of 2026.
Texas A&M University President Dr. Susan Ballabina says, “I believe we throw the word ‘legacy’ around quite a bit, but when it comes to Porter, there’s nothing better to describe what he has done for our beloved institution.
“During my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Porter on many projects, ideas and initiatives, and how fortunate we have been to have such a visionary leader that brings ideas to life,” she says. “He is leaving a true legacy.”
In Garner’s 27 years as The Association’s top leader, the organization has raised more than $609 million to support Texas A&M and Texas Aggies, including thousands of scholarships, support for academics and Texas A&M traditions, funding for current students’ activities and former student engagement.
Garner has served as a resource to eight Texas A&M presidents and five Texas A&M University System chancellors — plus, he’s gotten to hang out with four Reveilles.
Brig. Gen. Joe Ramirez ’79, commandant of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets 2010-21 and vice president of student affairs 2021-25, says, “He has become the ‘elder statesman’ over the past 45-plus years at Texas A&M, often providing perspective and advice that only Porter could provide.
“He has poured his heart and soul into his alma mater, and literally thousands of current students and former students have benefited from his leadership and his efforts as a result.”
Central to this, according to Garner’s fellow leaders, are the vision and spirit Garner has intentionally built during his time building and broadening the Aggie Network.
“Porter’s commitment, love and passion for Texas A&M University and the Aggie Network is beyond compare, as his impact will last long into the future. I am grateful for his service and leadership at The Association of Former Students, yet most of all for his unconditional friendship.”
From South Texas to Aggieland
Garner grew up in Laredo and, like his father, Porter S. Garner, Jr. ’45, came to study at Texas A&M.
Taste a bit of Garner family history with this recipe for a famous cocktail from the restaurant they ran for decades.
Garner earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing and worked in oil field sales before being recruited in March 1981 to become The Association’s field director.
During the next 12 years, he logged nearly 2 million miles meeting Aggies; working with A&M Clubs; helping organize Musters, golf tournament fundraisers and away-game events; and speaking to groups about the work of The Association.
Jackie Sherrill, Texas A&M’s 1982-88 head football coach, recalls, “Porter escorted me to 43 Coach’s Nights in 1982, covering Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana.
“I had a personal mentor that not only knew the Aggie code and the Aggie way of life; Porter lived it every minute of the day,” Sherrill says.
“Porter gave me a chance to understand the Aggies, learn the Aggie traditions that are held so dearly, the importance of wearing the Aggie Ring.”
In 1993, Garner was promoted to associate executive director, with more responsibility in administration of Association programs including A&M Clubs and Class operations, such as Class Reunions; the Aggie Ring Program; campus involvement; legislative affairs; and later, fundraising as well as Texas Aggie magazine.
And in 1999, he was unanimously selected by The Association’s board to become only the seventh leader in the organization’s history. Garner took over in January 2000 as executive director (a role later titled as president and CEO).
Garner had, he says, “a legal pad full” of ideas for the future of the Aggie Network.
“We often traveled to Coach’s Nights and other Aggie functions together. He is an Aggie and totally understands the depth of what it means to be an Aggie. Over the years, he was always able to make decisions based on what was best for A&M. I have always admired his dedication.”
Restructuring for the future
At the top of his list was “introducing a culture of professional team service,” Garner says.
“Once you get an organizational culture right — meaning people, culture, vision — everything else begins to happen.”
He shifted The Association’s structure from being managed by its volunteer board of directors — a group that changes every year — to hiring professional staff empowered to lead organization priorities and develop strategic budget planning.
Garner consolidated programs, hired the organization’s first human resources professionals and instituted the first performance appraisals as well as a compensation philosophy. Some of the changes took years to fully implement.
“I had a vision of what The Association could be, but more importantly, as you look down the road at growth, what The Association should be,” he says. “The demands of the 21st century are going to influence The Association, and we are obligated to not just meet those demands but exceed those demands.”
One sign of how true that would become: The Association has grown from 46 employees in 1999, serving more than 290,000 current and former students, to 89 full-time and 39 part-time employees serving more than 700,000 members of the Aggie Network now.
“Porter often said the greatest asset of The Association was the staff. You cannot have a premier organization without a premier staff. Because of that, he invested in the development of the team members and helped them grow as professionals and leaders in the profession.”
Raising The Association’s profile
Dr. Robert Gates, president of Texas A&M 2002-06 before he was called to serve as the U.S. secretary of defense 2006-11, recalls the immediate impact Garner had in his early days leading The Association.
“I remember how ambitious Porter was for The Association to expand not only its membership and participation and fundraising, but also its role on campus and with the former students and so on,” Gates says.
Garner understood the value inherent in The Association and sought to make sure others recognized it as well.
This value was sometimes literal, as in 2007 when he brought a $17.2 million, 10-year agreement into The Association’s budget by helping a corporate partner understand the prominence and potential of the Aggie Network.
And showing The Association’s value in upholding Aggie traditions was the strategy behind the emphasis Garner placed on Association strengths such as:
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Connecting hundreds of thousands of former students.
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The internationally recognized Aggie Ring Program.
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Honoring Texas A&M’s most accomplished former students with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
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The unique and worldwide tradition of Aggie Muster, led in hundreds of locations annually by Association volunteers.
But perhaps the largest piece of the puzzle was Garner’s work — which he began even before taking the top executive role — to raise The Association’s profile by branding it with a clear and recognizable identity.
“The Association itself had never owned, promoted or brokered the term Aggie Network,” and “had never had a brand in its history,” Garner says. “We were very diligent and very strategic about making sure that The Association was the first top-of-mind thought” when people considered ways to connect with Texas A&M.
The logo of a stylized Aggie Ring was designed to represent the most widely recognizable symbol of the Aggie Network, and a strategic marketing campaign set out to demonstrate that “We are the Aggie Network.” The new branding was soft-launched in 1999 and fully launched in 2000.
All laid the groundwork for Garner’s vision to create the nation’s premier alumni association.
Memories of Aggieland
The bookcase behind Garner’s desk at The Association has collected many items of personal significance to him over the years. Here, we take a peek at a few of them.
Select an item to peek at the stories behind them.
“When Porter Garner ’79 took the helm of The Association, he brought marketing acumen and a vision for the brand: the symbolic power in the Aggie Ring, a deep understanding of Aggie culture and a significant personal network developed over years of service to The Association.”
Supporting former and current students
Texas A&M leaders past and present say The Association holds a special position today in large part because of Garner.
“He has fostered the most unique and impactful former student organization in the world, keeping former students engaged and passionate about Texas A&M,” says Ballabina.
More than 60% of today’s 650,000 former students attended Texas A&M during Garner’s tenure as head of The Association. And his efforts have impacted all of them, even if they may not be aware — especially if they are unfamiliar with where The Association’s fundraising goes.
Gates says, “The Association has become a significant factor in the current life of the university in a way that I don’t believe any other alumni association does. And a big part of that is the funding for student organizations and activities, but also a part of it is the awards to the faculty — that means a lot to the faculty.”
Former Texas A&M associate vice president for student affairs Dr. Anne Reber ’91 says, “I saw firsthand how important The Association was in supporting students and staff.
“Porter would take the time to attend our end-of-year awards ceremony and personally present the framed certificate and monetary award to the recipient. With great enthusiasm, he would share his belief that we were the best in the country in serving college students.
“His words always felt so personal, so special, and moments like that stay with you as a young staff member,” Reber says.
“The impact that Porter has had on the lives of students at Texas A&M University is immeasurable. He loves Texas A&M and wants every graduate to feel a lifelong ownership in their alma mater.”
“Under Porter’s leadership, funds were provided to assist students through their difficult times. I can honestly say that this financial support provided by The Association of Former Students was the only reason some of those students were able to continue their studies and matriculate to graduation.”
Adding celebration, joy to Aggie experiences
Very few Aggies can say they started a Texas A&M tradition. Garner is one of those few.
Before April 2000, most students in Texas A&M’s history had simply picked up their Aggie Ring at one office or another on campus, with little fanfare.
Garner tasked his Association team with making these “delivery days” into a special event. His goal: “We’ve got to do something to celebrate the milestone, the emotional achievement of earning an Aggie Ring.”
Today, Aggie Ring Day brings hundreds of thousands of Aggie family, friends, faculty and staff into the joy and honor of this accomplishment. More people than ever before have learned of the stature and importance the Aggie Ring carries.
Wayne Roberts ’85, interim president of the Texas A&M Foundation, says, “Ring Day now rivals graduation as a profoundly impactful experience for Aggies and their families. Without Porter, it would not exist, and hundreds of thousands of Aggies would not have had that experience, nor would those yet to come.”
And many may be unaware that Aggie Park, the 20-acre green space at the heart of campus, also began with Garner.
“Porter had the vision for Aggie Park years before it became a reality,” says Roberts, who gave $8 million as lead donor for the project in honor of his late wife, Shannon ’86. “He doggedly pursued that vision and willed it into existence.”
Aggie Park opened in 2022 as a vibrant, multipurpose space that Texas A&M students and other members of the community now use daily, with room for relaxation, concerts, tailgating and more.
The park includes a permanent tribute to Texas A&M’s Distinguished Alumni, one of the many ways in which Garner has helped bring more recognition to the highest honor bestowed upon a former student.
Before Garner took the lead, very little celebration surrounded the honor, which is awarded jointly by the university and The Association.
Since 2004, the awards have been celebrated with The Association’s annual black-tie Distinguished Alumni Gala, which has grown to become one of the most anticipated campus events.
“Porter has been a steadfast force in keeping Texas A&M focused on what we do best: Take bright-eyed high school kids and turn them into community leaders and productive members of society. Arm them with the core values and indoctrinate them into the benefits of the Aggie Network. Porter is a humble man from the South Texas border, but he is a marketing genius, and his impact on TAMU will live on for the next 150 years.”
At the core: Aggie values
When Gates launched his 2005 initiative to define Texas A&M’s core values as a way to help explain the university’s unique nature to others, Garner was among the people he turned to.
Billy Lemmons ’83, a close friend of Garner’s and a former chair of the Texas A&M Foundation board, recalls that Garner worked with Gates and Steve Moore ’79, the university’s first chief marketing officer: “Many people contributed to this process, but Porter and Steve’s branding and marketing expertise were critical to defining and effectively communicating what we know today as the core values of Texas A&M.
“And it was a big step when The Association literally carved these words in stone on the [Clayton W. Williams, Jr.] Alumni Center.”
Those engraved walls were part of the Williams Alumni Center enhancements completed in 2009. So was the Haynes Ring Plaza with its monumental replica of a 12-foot Aggie Ring, where thousands of Aggies take photos year-round.
Garner was instrumental in raising $17 million for that renovation of the 1987-built center, which today hosts hundreds of events each year for Aggie students, former students and others. He continually sought more ways to welcome people into The Association:
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Garner and 2004 Chair of the Board Chuck Ellison ’76 led a rewrite of The Association’s bylaws that included creating Constituent Networks for Aggies organized around common interests.
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Amid the 2007-09 economic recession, Association leadership took action to help Aggies network by giving them free access to Find An Aggie, the online directory of former students.
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In 2018, The Association began the Worldwide Muster Roll Call, a livestreamed event in which the entire Muster Roll is read and each name is answered with “Here,” ensuring for the first time that no Aggie’s name is missed.
Distinguished Alumnus John B. Zachry ’84 says Garner “has devoted himself to strengthening the Aggie Network and preserving the values that bind Aggies together across distance and time.
“Texas A&M is stronger today because of Porter Garner. His impact will be felt for generations to come.”
“Porter is consistently one of the strongest and most steadfast voices for protecting what makes Texas A&M unique; he never stops fighting for what makes Texas A&M special. Because of his leadership and dedication, generations of Aggies are able to experience the same traditions and core values that make this university unlike any other.”
Keep the work going
Help The Association of Former Students continue making a difference in the lives of Aggies with support for Texas A&M, programs, traditions, scholarships and more.
“Words cannot express my love for Porter Garner. He is a gentleman of unwavering integrity whose friendship knows no boundaries. He loves to laugh but is never afraid to laugh at himself. He values loyalty from those around him, yet he is the first one to answer the phone when you need a friend. He’s a world-class advisor who does more listening than talking. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he walks on water, but the shoes he leaves behind are big as speedboats.”
Mix Up A Garner Family Favorite
“It’s very refreshing, very sweet. It’s addictive,” says Porter Garner ’79.
The Ramos Gin Fizz, invented by New Orleans bartender Henry C. Ramos, was the specialty cocktail of the legendary Cadillac Bar in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, that was founded and operated by Garner’s family from 1925 to 1979.
The Cadillac’s renowned food and refined atmosphere made it a destination for American celebrities, politicians and more. Founded by Garner’s grandfather Mayo Bessan, its fame grew as Bessan’s son-in-law, Porter S. Garner, Jr. ’45, took over in 1954.
Garner himself started working there at age 6, cleaning tiled baseboards and polishing the bar’s 40-foot brass rail. “I actually graduated up to being able to work the kitchen,” he says.
And he can mix up a Ramos Gin Fizz expertly, even though it’s notorious among bartenders for its difficulty.
The bar staff at the Cadillac used to shake the mix for well over a minute.
“The minute you walked in the door, this is what you heard, because there’d be five or six guys doing what I’m doing,” Garner says as the percussive rattle of ice in his cocktail shaker fills the air.
“It depends on how big the shaker is, how much ingredients you have and how much ice you have.”
Making one drink at a time, Garner is shaking each for 30 seconds, then pouring into a short glass that has been chilled in the freezer.
He starts with “the hardest part”: a single egg white. “If you crack an egg on a flat surface, you are generally not going to get a broken yolk. You don’t get the bacteria, if it’s on the shell, going into the egg.”
Next comes the juice of one lime, a tablespoon of powdered sugar (“never, ever, ever, granulated sugar”), an ounce of gin, two ounces of milk and 10 drops of orange flower water, also sold as orange blossom water, which provides a heavenly scent.
Add cracked ice and shake vigorously. “That jagged edge on cracked ice breaks up the egg white and foams it,” Garner says.
Pour into a glass and enjoy the frothy, creamy concoction — a precisely measured, genteel “specialty drink” if there ever was one.
“Nobody loves Texas A&M more than Porter Garner. Nobody. He is a champion for all Texas Aggies, but especially for those who need a voice to speak for them, a helping hand or a kind word. There are not many people in the history of Texas A&M who have made such a difference or had such a significant impact on the future of our university.”
