Paying it Forward

In spring 1987, Moody graduated high school at the top of a class of 175 students. Confident that she belonged in Aggieland, she didn’t apply to any other school. The broadness of mechanical engineering captivated the incoming freshman, who chose it as her major. 

Moody received the Lechner Scholarship, a merit-based award that covered some of the cost of attendance, but the first-generation college student knew she would have to get creative with ways to pay the rest of her tuition. 

Then, while attending Girls State as a staff counselor the summer after her senior year of high school, Moody received a phone call from Texas A&M’s Scholarships & Financial Aid Office with the opportunity to apply for a full-ride scholarship funded by the Terry Foundation.

At a fateful interview in July 1987, she met Terry and his cabinet of businessmen, lawyers and other friends. “It was scary to sit in front of such esteemed individuals,” she said. “But it was just such an honor to know that Mr. Terry was interested in investing in me.”  
 

However, running was only half of Moody’s support network. In spring 1988, the first six Aggie Terry scholars boarded a Houston-bound charter bus to meet Mr. and Mrs. Terry for dinner. In Houston, Moody realized that her scholarship donor was supporting her more than just financially.

“To have a stranger like Mr. Terry take an interest in me because he believed in my potential was remarkable,” Moody said. “He wanted the scholarship to be more than a check in the mail. We became a very personal investment for Mr. Terry.” 

Upon completing her degree in mechanical engineering, Moody started her career with Chevron in 1991. During her tenure in the commercial world, she served as a retail construction project manager, focusing on building some of the first gas stations connected with McDonald’s storefronts. 
 

In 1986, Terry and his wife, Nancy, furthered their long history of philanthropy by founding the Terry Foundation with $1.2 million and established the Terry Foundation Scholarship to motivate and educate Texas students.  

“Mr. Terry always emphasized the importance of relationship building,” Gleason said. “Scholarship recipients live together their first year in dorms, are paired with a former Terry Scholar mentor and have access to the former scholar network. I think the scholarship has grown to reflect the personal investment Mr. and Mrs. Terry always wanted.” 

With an endowment of $555.4 million, the Terry Foundation has grown to be the largest private source of scholarships in Texas and was chartered to exist in perpetuity. New scholars are selected upon three pillars: academic excellence, financial need and leadership. Because of their tremendous impact on Texas A&M, Nancy and Howard Terry received the Sterling C. Evans Medal in 2012 from the Texas A&M Foundation, which honors philanthropic leaders who push Texas A&M further to the forefront of higher education.  

“Receiving the medal was such an honor for Mr. Terry,” Moody said. “He found out he received the award shortly before his passing, and I know it was one of his proudest accomplishments.”  

Want to leave your legacy at Texas A&M by supporting students with a scholarship? Contact Al Pulliam ’87, assistant vice president for development, at the bottom of the page.