The same month he was notified as being chosen to receive the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Achievement Citation, Jerry Junkins, of the Iowa State class of 1959, died of a heart attack while traveling in Germany.

Junkins, who was president and CEO of Texas Instruments, a Dallas-based company, will be honored posthumously on Sept. 27, 1996, by the Alumni Association at an awards ceremony for the Distinguished Achievement Citation.

“The Distinguished Achievement Citation,” said Karen Tow, associate director of the alumni association, “is awarded to alumni for extra achievement and preeminent contributions.”

After graduating, Junkins immediately went to work for Texas Instruments and ascended the ladder to the top.

In 1985, he led a major reconstruction of the company’s businesses. He more than doubled annual revenue from $4.9 billion to more than $13 billion, he executed a successful transition to a more customer-focused approach and he streamlined the company’s defense operations while turning its focus to specialty computer chips.

College of Engineering Dean James Melsa said, “We feel ISU has a good partnership [with Texas Instruments]. We’ve been working with them for five years or more.”

“Jerry was a very bright guy, and he was very human. He was very interested in people,” Melsa said.

Others who have won the Distinguished Achievement Citation include Dan Gable (class of 1970), the University of Iowa’s wrestling coach; Lee Teng-Hui (class of 1953), president of Taiwan and winner of the country’s first free elections last spring; and John Atanasoff, engineering faculty member who helped invent the first digital electronic computer.

Tow said those awarded are chosen for their “…contributions to business, industry, the university and their community.”

Others being honored with the Distinguished Achievement Citation this year by the Alumni Association are Robert Fugate (earned his Ph. D. in 1970), who works at the U.S. Air Force Labs in Albuquerque, N.M.; James Halligan (class of 1962, 1965, and 1967), president of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla.; Edward Fayre (class of 1941), a retired scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The ceremony will be held at 8 p.m. on Sept. 27 in Benton Auditorium at the Scheman Building and will be open to members of the Iowa State Community.