Heritage Hall News

McClendon Receives 2013 HHAA Distinguished Alumni Award

At the upper school commencement ceremony, the Heritage Hall Alumni Association (HHAA) named Aubrey McClendon from the class of 1977 as the recipient of its Distinguished Alumni Award.

A well-known champion of the natural gas industry, Aubrey is also a long-time champion of Heritage Hall. As one of the School's principal benefactors, Aubrey helped make possible the 122nd Street entrance, lighting and dugouts for the baseball and softball fields, the McClendon Athletic Center, Charger Stadium, the Class of 1977 Middle School, and Harris Hall.

With gratitude for his visionary support of Heritage Hall, the HHAA board selected Aubrey as the 2013 recipient of its annual Distinguished Alumni Award. The award honors an alumnus/alumna who has exemplified the Heritage Hall motto – to Learn, to Lead, to Serve – by his personal accomplishments, professional achievements, and/or humanitarian service.

Accepting the award on Aubrey's behalf, Headmaster Guy Bramble recalled his first meeting with Aubrey in the summer of 1988: "Aubrey asked me to meet him at the Lower School. Turns out he wanted to help sod an ugly stretch of bare red clay, and he asked me to get an estimate of the cost for sodding and irrigating the area. I did, and when I told him that the project would run $4,000, he enthusiastically replied, 'Let's do it.' Aubrey warned that it would take a while to pay off his pledge, but that he'd make good. It took nearly eight months for him to finish underwriting the project, $300-$400 at a time, but he was true to his word.

"This story epitomizes the Aubrey McClendon who has always been a friend to me, to Heritage Hall, to our city, and to our state. His philanthropic spirit was, and is, so strong that he has again and again stretched his personal resources to benefit the regions and the institutions that have nurtured him. Several years ago, I asked Aubrey how he hoped to be remembered; he said that he aspired to become the John Kirkpatrick of his generation: a bit of a maverick with a huge heart for the City. I would judge that Aubrey has long since achieved and surpassed this goal. Such work lasts, as will our regard for Aubrey Kerr McClendon!"
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