Regents Emeriti Offer Wealth of Wisdom
Most Baylor alumni and friends know the University is governed by a Board of Regents whose members serve as dedicated volunteers for up to three consecutive three-year terms. These Regents bring to their work a diversity of experience and expertise from their leadership roles in a variety of professions and callings, ranging from business and education to healthcare, law and churches. A majority are Baylor alumni or parents, and all of them have a love for the University that serves as a foundation for their work as Baylor fiduciaries.
What is perhaps not as well known — but which deserves to be gratefully acknowledged and celebrated — are the ongoing contributions to the life of Baylor made by the University’s two living Regents Emeriti: Sue Holt Getterman, B.A. ’50, and Drayton McLane Jr., B.B.A. ’58.
The designation of Regent Emeritus is made in recognition of distinguished service to former Trustees or Regents who have consistently reflected visionary leadership, Christian commitment, personal integrity and a profound and active love of the University. While this designation does not include Board or fiduciary responsibilities, it does honor individuals whose contributions to Baylor have been profound and legacy-making. McLane and Getterman are the ninth and tenth individuals to receive the Baylor Regent Emeritus title.
“As Baylor’s two living Regents Emeriti, Sue and Drayton provide our current Board of Regents an unparalleled model of selfless, sacrificial and strategic board leadership and service that each Regent can aspire to follow,” Baylor Board of Regents Chair Mark Rountree, B.B.A. ’86, M.Tax ’87, said. “Both Sue and Drayton also offer a ready, accessible reservoir of history, insight and wisdom from which our current Board and its leadership may draw.”
Drayton McLane Jr.
After earning a bachelor’s degree from Baylor and a Master of Arts from Michigan State University, Drayton McLane Jr. began working in the family business, which was opened in 1894 by his grandfather. Under Drayton’s leadership, the grocery distribution center grew into an international powerhouse.
Following the McLane Company’s merger with Wal-Mart Inc. in 1990, McLane became vice president of Wal-Mart while maintaining his position with the McLane Company. After playing key roles in both companies’ growth and productivity, he resigned to devote more time to the McLane Group, the parent company consisting of family owned businesses operating throughout the world. Until November 2011, the Group included the Houston Astros, for which he served as chairman and CEO.
McLane served as a Baylor Trustee/Regent from 1988 to 2006, including a term as Chairman of the Board from 2002 to 2004. Currently, he is chairman of Texas Central Partners, building the first high-speed rail in the United States between Houston and Dallas, and on several boards, including Baylor Scott & White Healthcare, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, Baylor College of Medicine, M.D. Anderson Cancer Foundation, Heart of Texas Defense Alliance, and the Bush School of Government and Public Service.
A recipient of the Mirabeau B. Lamar Medal for his contributions to higher education, McLane has been honored by Baylor with the Distinguished Alumni Award and the Founders Medal. He and his wife Elizabeth have been honored in Baylor’s Endowed Scholarship Society, The Medallion Fellowship, 1845 Society, Friends of Truett Seminary and the Athletic Director’s Club.
The McLanes live in Temple, Texas. They have two sons and five grandsons, and they are active members of First Baptist Church of Belton, where he is a deacon.
Sue Holt Getterman
Sue Holt Getterman has lived a life of service to her community. She served three terms as a Baylor Regent from 2001 to 2010. She and her late husband Louis “Ted” Getterman, B.B.A. ’49, J.D. ’51, have been recognized with some of the University’s highest honors, including the Huckins, Neff and Presidents medallions.
In 2005, they received the Founders Medal, Baylor’s highest honor. She received the Baylor Legacy Award as part of the 2010-11 Meritorious Achievement Awards. The Gettermans also received the 2000 Waco Philanthropists of the Year Award from the Central Texas Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives and the 1999 Distinguished Service Award from Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center. They helped create the Ted and Sue Getterman Wellness Center and the Chest Pain Center with Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center.
The Gettermans have established hundreds of scholarships at Baylor in business, music, education, religion, the Honors College and athletics, and they provided the largest donation to women’s athletics, which resulted in Getterman Softball Stadium and later the Getterman Indoor Softball Facility. She is a member of the Heritage Club, Development Council and the Baylor-Waco Foundation, which she served as the first chair of the women’s division. She is a former president of the Junior League of Waco, the first co-chair of the Junior League Charity Ball, president of Evangelia and treasurer for the Oakwood Cemetery; she has held various positions in the Parent Teachers Association, and she has been a member of Pi Beta Phi. She has served on the boards of United Way, Waco Girls Club and Regis-St. Elizabeth.
A member of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church since childhood, she has been involved in senior ministry, taught Sunday school and served on the building committee. She resides in Waco and has two sons, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.