More than 100 members and guests attended the 2018 TIAA Annual Business Meeting. It was held on Thursday, May 17, at 1:00 pm at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Dallas TX with refreshments provided by Texas Instruments. Some members elected to ride a bus to and from the Texins Activity Center to the Arboretum while free parking was available at the Arboretum for those who wished to drive. President Gary Stopani gave a brief presentation on the current state of affairs at TIAA along with some of the many events TIAA has sponsored over the year and a few upcoming major events.
Terri West, recently retired TI Senior Vice President and now with the TI Foundation, was our featured speaker. She explained the four thrusts of the TI Foundation and announced a new STEM thrust. She also presented the first-time TI Founders Community Impact Award to Max Post and members honored him with a standing ovation. Max clearly deserved this honor considering all the time he spends teaching computer classes to seniors, guiding the very busy TIAA Activities Committee, working with his church and helping The Senior Source. This award is accompanied by a $10,000 check that will be given to Max's 501(cc)3 charity-of-choice.
The TIAA Nominating Committee recommended the following as officers for TIAA for the next year, beginning July 1, and gave us a short profile on each one:
- Debi Heaton, President, a native of Kilgore, TX, Debi completed a bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Stephen F. Austin College in 1973 and an MBA at Amber University in 1990. Debi joined TI in June of 1974 as a telephone operator in the Semiconductor Building. She then moved to the Customer Response Center, which led her to IS&S Customer Service where she supervised the CIC billings systems. During the last few years at TI, she became an accounting manager and retired in 2009. She served as the TIAA Treasurer from 2011-2013. Debi said she believes it is beneficial to belong to TIAA because it keeps you in touch with the TIers that you worked with over the years.
- Margaret Breedijk, Executive VP, worked at TI for just over 23 years starting as an intern working at the old Texins Association in Dallas under the supervision of Dot Adler. She ended her TI career as the HR Communications Manager when she retired in 2018 and joined TIAA recently.
- David Reid, Treasurer, received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in behavioral management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He retired from TI in 2014 after 26 years, where he served 12 years as TI’s Vice President and Director of Ethics. He is now an adjunct lecturer in Accounting at the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
- Kate Rose, Secretary, completed a BS in Mathematics from Southeastern State College (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1969, an MS in Computer Science from Southern Methodist University in 1976, and an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1995. She earned both graduate degrees while working full time for TI. Kate ended her IT career after 32 years at TI when she took early retirement in 2001. She has been very active within TIAA since then plus she also volunteers at The Senior Source Money Management program, helping low-income seniors manage their limited resources.
As there were no recommendations from the floor, the slate was elected by the TIAA members at the meeting. Gary Stopani was also given a beautiful wooded plaque for his services as TIAA President for the past two years. Following the business meeting attendees had a chance to enjoy the Arboretum in full bloom as well as see the special kinetic sculptures located throughout the grounds. The bus to the Texans Activities Center left at 4:00 pm.
Slideshow of this meeting
TIAA 2018 Presentation by Gary Stopani