UT’s Presidential Citation Award honors outstanding Longhorns

Four UT community members received the 2024 Presidential Citation Award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the UT community and within their respective fields, the University announced on Feb. 2.

The recipients include Jim Breyer, Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., Cloteal Davis Haynes and Dade Phelan. 

The award celebrates Longhorns who “epitomize the incredible talent that is responsible for moving our University and society forward,” President Jay Hartzell said in a press release. The University will also grant scholarships to students in each of the honorees’ names. 

Fraser joined UT in 2018 to lead the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease and the Institute for Cardiovascular Health. He said he spearheaded the first pediatric heart transplant at Dell Children’s Medical Center.

Fraser said the award is a testament to the collective effort of the cardiovascular team at the Dell Children’s Medical Center, not just himself. 

“What I did became who I am, my life is being a pediatric heart surgeon,” Fraser said. “I also seem to have a good sense of building teams of individuals focused around problems, so that has been an enormous joy in being here in Austin because we started with nothing. ”

Phelan, the current speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, also represents East Texas’ District 21. He graduated from UT in 1998 and has since encouraged the growth of the local workforce, supported the economic expansion of Southeast Texas and backed disaster mitigation projects.

“Public service is not always easy and often requires tremendous sacrifice and compromise, but working to build a future that benefits your community is one of the most rewarding paths you can take,” Phelan said in a statement.

Breyer, an entrepreneurial investor, founder of Breyer Capital and a member of the President’s Austin Innovation Board and Commercialization Advisory Board, was honored for his work as director of the venture capital firm. Under his leadership, the company returned over 100 times its initial investment costs, according to the press release. 

Haynes, president of The Precursors — an alumni group uniting the first Black students to integrate UT — heads a construction company and consulting firm, aiming to maximize collaboration with women and minority-led construction businesses.

“If I can be an inspiration to other Black prospective students and current students, then that's the biggest reward of the whole thing,” Haynes said. 

Haynes attributed her success as a UT student to the support she received from family, friends and some faculty members. 

“When the headlines are out there and you're hearing things that may be discouraging to you as a person, I want to be able to say, ‘you could be Cloteal,’” Haynes said.  “What I've just recently experienced, this honor that the President has given to me, this can be you.”