Alumnus Shows Gratitude Brick by Brick for Inspirational Professors

Most graduates have one favorite college professor.

Chris Packard has 13.

He’s celebrating them — and the master’s degree he’ll complete this summer — by placing 22 bricks engraved with messages of gratitude on Legacy Lane, a tree-lined path behind the Eugene McDermott Library.

Before he came to UT Dallas, Packard, 62, spent 36 years in the restaurant business, owning and operating six local McDonald’s franchises. To pursue a second career working with area nonprofits, Packard sought out the public affairs program in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.

Packard, who also earned his bachelor’s degree at the University, said it’s time to thank the professors who inspired him during a decade of studies at UT Dallas: Dr. Donald Arbuckle, Dr. Randy Battaglio, Teodoro Benavides, Dr. Timothy Bray, Dr. Anthony Champagne, Dr. L. Douglas Kiel, Ron Jackson, Dr. Young-joo Lee, Dr. Sarah Maxwell, John McCaskill, Dr. Alice O’Toole, Dr. Meghna Sabharwal and Dr. Robert Whelan.

“Instead of giving us information for the sake of information, several of my professors gave us insight into public affairs and told us how it applies to the nonprofit and for-profit sectors,” said Packard, who has served as executive director of both the Dallas White Rock Marathon and the Dallas County affiliate of Susan G. Komen.

“Legacy Lane is a great way of giving back,” Packard said. “By placing a brick on Legacy Lane I found that I could both make a donation and accomplish something meaningful at the same time.”

Since 2001, more than 600 bricks have been inscribed by alumni, family and friends.

Student Ambassadors and the former Alumni Association created the lane of personalized pavestones so that graduates could leave their stamp on UT Dallas.  

For more information about Legacy Lane, visit the Office of Development and Alumni Relations website or call 972-883-2295.