Family Practice
Cindi and Rex G. Baker III are proud members of the Chancellor's Council.
Leading by example is a family tradition for Rex G. Baker III. In 1977, he graduated from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law where his father, Rex G. Baker Jr., and grandfather, Rex G. Baker Sr., both earned their degrees. This past spring, his son, Rex G. Baker IV, continued the legacy and graduated with honors.
"It's unusual to have four generations graduating from the law school - particularly four generations of Rex's - but we're just like many Texas families. I grew up in The University of Texas System and I was taught to give back."
Like the practice of law, the Baker family generosity to the UT System also crosses generations. While actively involved with the law school at UT Austin, Rex III, like his father before him, is a member of the UT System Chancellor's Council because he understands that providing support at the System level can impact students not only at his alma mater, but at each of the 15 UT institutions.
"The UT System was founded with the mission to be a university of the first class. And, it truly is. But, you just don't stop when you reach that mark because the bar continues to go up at other schools and we have to maintain those same standards and increase as they increase. Education is the great leveler. That's what gives people the opportunity to succeed. These opportunities need to be enhanced and not diminished and I think that's what the Chancellor's Council really does."
Through the Cindi and Rex Baker Chancellor's Excellence Endowment, Rex and his wife Cindi provide critical support for the leadership that guides transformative educational outcomes for UT students across the state. They support programs that recognize excellence at UT institutions, such as the Chancellor's Health Fellows, Innovations in Education Awards and Entrepreneurship and Innovations Awards. Most importantly, they help Chancellor Cigarroa launch and sustain visionary initiatives that continually raise the bar at UT System institutions by promoting next-generation research, fostering innovation and advancing the 15 UT institutions in critical fields that will impact all of our lives.
Baker is representative of 96 philanthropists who have created the Chancellor's Excellence Endowments - each as unique as Rex G. Baker III and each with a common goal: to use education as the basis of building a better future for Texans and the world.
Their generosity allows the Board of Regents to attract and retain the highest level of executive leadership for the UT System and supports the chancellor's efforts and initiatives to ensure Texas is at the forefront of new discoveries that allow us to compete globally in research and health care, draw exceptional talent to our universities, and educate a workforce that is well prepared to steward our state for generations to come.
"I think one thing that Cindi and I have tried to instill in our children is to do the right thing for the right reasons. You don't have to be out front with a banner. It's not about the accolades. It's about doing what's right for the next generation and always striving to leave something better than the way you found it."
