UTA Magazine Online

Portrait of a UTA Family
The Taylor family's association with UTA and its preceding institutions began in 1911. It continues today through Lloyd Clark and his granddaughter, sophomore Alida Eggen.

Hart to Hart
Peggy Hart Lofland, her parents, several siblings, a couple of in-laws and now her daughter have all made UTA their university of choice.

Family Tradition
At least one member of the Latham family has taught at or attended UTA every decade since the 1940s.

Six degrees of education
The Saad siblings–three brothers and three sisters–have used their UTA diplomas to launch international business ventures.

Birth of Nations spawned UTA family affair
With the family home on land now occupied by UTA's South 40 parking lot, it's not surprising that seven Nation siblings attended neighboring North Texas Agricultural College in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Kings of campus
Karen King Borta, the first of four siblings to attend UTA, anchors nightly newscasts on KTVT Channel 11, the Dallas-Fort Worth area's CBS affiliate.

Families deeply rooted in UTA soil

He didn’t know it at the time, but Distinguished Alumnus Rex Latham planted the seed for this issue of UTA Magazine.

A tree in College Hills Park near campus represents the roots that many families firmly planted at UTA. Stories in the Features section examine a few of these familia connections to the University

During his acceptance speech at the 2000 Distinguished Alumni Gala in October, Latham mentioned that at least one member of his family had been a professor or student at UTA in every decade since the 1940s. The clan included his brother, sister-in-law, three nephews, two nieces and his son.

I thought back to a couple of family-oriented articles in previous issues on the Nations (summer 1993) and the four King siblings (fall 1997), the latter featuring Channel 11 news anchor Karen King Borta. Perhaps a future issue could focus on a “family ties” theme, I thought, with a series of stories about the University’s impact on various families.

Surely other family trees had roots extending deep into UTA soil.
I knew that Lloyd Clark was the grandson of H.K. Taylor, the president of Arlington Training School (now UTA) from 1913 to 1916, and that more than 20 Taylor family members had been associated with the school.

The Taylor family plus the Latham family provided a solid start. But could we dig up enough others to make it work? More than enough, I soon discovered.Requests through UTA Today, the University’s daily e-mail correspondence, and through this Web site, yielded dozens of ideas from individuals who were proud—often boastful—of their multifaceted UTA connections.

The list included the Helmberger brothers, all civil engineering graduates, and their sister Katie, who will earn her civil engineering degree in December; three generations of Hart family members; and the remarkable story of Janyce Pace, who entered UTA at age 16, and her daughter Courtney, a junior who began classes here at 15.

Unfortunately, we did not have space to include articles on the Campbells, Hendrickses, Sullivans, Hightowers, Phams and others. But we did include short features on Jesse and Jo Ann Reyes and on Michael and Dorothy Burton, married couples who met at UTA, graduated and are enjoying successful careers. To the many who responded, thanks for your interest in UTA Magazine and your loyalty to the University. And to Rex Latham, thanks for the idea.

–Mark Permenter, Editor