Today and in the future, many in Amarillo, Texas, and at the University of Texas, stand on the shoulders of giants of those whose commitment to growth and change have made a difference. Wales Madden Jr. might be small of stature, but those shoulders are quite broad.

He has spent a lifetime to better his hometown and alma mater. His influence and insight has made him friends with Boone Pickens and former presidents Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. From his time as student body president at UT in the early 1950s to one of the school's youngest regents to his work with UT's prestigious Harrington Fellows, Wales's work with his alma mater is profound.

An attorney in his hometown of Amarillo, Wales's reach in the Texas Panhandle has been long, from his early work to secure funding for the Pioneer Amphitheater in his beloved Palo Duro Canyon to involvement in key parts of the city's growth.

And he's done it all with his trademark self-deprecating sense of humor and aw-shucks modesty.