Texarkana Independent School District will honor two of its own – Melvin L. Bradley (Dunbar High School Class of 1955) and Dan S. Petty (Texas High School Class of 1957) – as the 2010 Distinguished Alumni during events which will be held on Friday.
A Student Leadership Breakfast will be held from 9–10:30 a.m. at the Dan Haskins Student Center at Texas High School, 2112 Kennedy Lane. This event will offer leadership students from Texas Middle School and Texas High School the opportunity to hear from the honorees to learn first-hand how the example that you set for others and for yourself begins at an early age and builds a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.
From 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., a Distinguished Alumni Luncheon will be held at the Texarkana Country Club, #1 Country Club Drive, where the two gentlemen will be presented and awarded the honor of 2010 Distinguished Alumni.
After graduating from Dunbar High School in 1955, Melvin Bradley and his family moved to Los Angeles, Calif. There he received his Bachelor of Science from Pepperdine University and began working for then Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, as Assistant for Community Affairs. Following his term with the Governor’s Office, Bradley served as Director of Public Relations for the Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School of Los Angeles and as Assistant Regional Vice President for United Airlines. While in Los Angeles, Bradley served as a member of the California Water Quality Control Board and on the Board of Directors for Home Savings & Loan Bank, Essex Federal Savings Bank and SMA Microsystems Corporation.
The political world came calling again and Bradley joined the Office of President-Elect Ronald Reagan serving as Special Advisor to the Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel. Once President Reagan moved into the Oval Office, Bradley moved to the position of Senior Policy Advisor to the President within the Office of Policy Development focusing on urban affairs and small business. He continued, on an ad hoc basis, as an Advisor to Presidential Personnel on minority appointments and in 1982 was named Special Assistant to the President for Policy Development and Domestic Policy. In addition to his primary duties, Bradley focused on assuring that policy analysis for the President was sensitive to the needs and priorities of the minority and disadvantaged communities. He remained in that role with the White House until his resignation in 1989.
After the White House, he established Garth & Bradley Associates, a Washington, DC, based Public Relations & Public Affairs company assisting clients in planning and implementing strategies to achieve public support for their products and services across the communications spectrum. His clients included: Hughes Aircraft Company, Warner Brothers, Thousand Points of Lights Foundation, The Federal Small Business Administration, TRW, Systems Management American, Inc. and the Institute for American Business.
Bradley has received many awards and distinctions, as well as Honorary Doctorate Degrees of Law from Shaw University of North Carolina, Bishop College of Texas and Lane University of Tennessee. He is profiled in “Who’s Who in America,” “Who’s Who in Black America” and has been listed numerous times as one of Ebony magazines “100 Most Influential Black Americans.”
He and his wife, Ruth, currently live in Houston and have four children.
Dan Petty is Immediate Past President and CEO of the North Texas Commission, a non-profit consortium of business, cities, counties, chambers of commerce, economic development entities and higher education institutions in the North Texas region. The Commission is the one and only public-private regional organization committed to enhancing the overall economic vitality and quality of life in the North Texas Region.
Graduating from Texas High School in 1957, Petty earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas, a Master of Governmental Administration from the Fels Institute of Government at The Wharton Graduate School of University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Texas and a Master of Management in Electronic Commerce from The University of Dallas.
His career covers both the private, public and non-profit sector. In the private sector, he was owner of “The Chipyard” Chocolate Chip Cookies; President for Henry S. Miller/Grubb & Ellis of Texas Commercial Realtors; and President of the Woodbine Development Corporation/Hunt Realty Services & Wilcox Realty Group.
In the public sector, Petty took on the role of Administrative Intern with the City of Austin, Texas and the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Assistant City Manager for the City of Lubbock, Texas; Director of Urban Affairs for North Central Texas Council of Governments; Director of Planning Coordination for the Officer of the Governor of Texas; Executive Assistant to the Governor of Texas; Director for Public Affairs for the University of Texas System; and Assistant City Manager for the City of Dallas.
And in the non-profit sector, he was President of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
Petty currently serves as Past Chairman and Board of Director for the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and Board of Director for the Dallas Fort Worth Regional Sports Commission and State Fair of Texas. He is a member of the Engineering Foundation Advisory Committee for the University of Texas, Development Board for the University of Texas at Dallas, Advisory Director for Downtown Dallas Association, Member of the Final Four 2014 Bid Committee and Secretary-Treasurer for North Texas Super Bowl XLV Bidding Committee who were instrumental in Dallas, receiving the final bid for Super Bowl XLV in 2011.
Some of his awards include: Dreamers, Doers & Unsung Heroes Award from the Real Estate Council, the William J. Pitstick Award from North Central Texas Council of Governments and the Award for Excellence in Community Service from the Dallas Historical Society.
Petty has been actively involved in community service as Chairman for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, Texas Economic Development Commission, The Museum of African American Life and Culture, American Cancer Society Cattle Barons Ball, The Alliance for Higher Education, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, 1994 World Cup Dallas, Kindness Foundation, and Dallas County Children’s Services Task Force.
He and his wife, Mary Jane, have four children and live in Dallas.
Since 1992, TISD has sponsored a Distinguished Alumni Awards program to recognize the outstanding personal and professional achievements of their alumni. These outstanding former Texas High School and Dunbar High School graduates are models to current and future alumni in terms of their professional, leadership and ethical standards. Past award recipients have been: Truman Arnold, Dr. Lenox Dial Baker, Miller Barber, Ned Burns, Ken Dyson, Theron Goynes, Dan Haskins, David Kusin, Gary Kusin, Prudence Mackintosh, Donald Ray McNeal, George McWilliams, Rick Minter, Jerry “Boo” Mitchell, H. Ross Perot, Colonel Willie R. Pollard, Jr., Collin Raye, Bill Rogers, Marjorie Scardino, Robert Wickliffe “Wick” Temple, Dr. David Tilson, III, Sheilah Walker and Dr. Steve Woodle.
