Texas Emerald Ball

2020 PHILANTHROPIC LEADERSHIP AWARD

Gary Kelly

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Southwest Airlines Co.

Gary Kelly serves as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Airlines. Under Gary’s leadership, Southwest has grown to become the nation’s largest airline in terms of originating domestic passengers carried and is a mainstay on Fortune magazine’s list of the most admired companies in the world, ranking 11th in 2019.

He started his career 33 years ago at Southwest Airlines as Controller and eventually served as EVP and CFO. He was promoted to CEO and Vice Chairman in 2004 and assumed the roles of Chairman and President in 2008. In January 2017, Gary relinquished the title of President. Southwest Airlines is celebrating 47 years of consecutive profitability—a record unmatched in the commercial aviation industry, and the carrier has been named as one of Glassdoor’s Best Places to work for the past ten consecutive years. For 24 of the last 28 years, the nation’s leading low-cost carrier received the lowest ratio of Customer Complaints to the Department of Transportation (DOT), ranking number one for the past three years. Gary’s biggest source of pride is that Southwest Airlines has never had a single layoff in the airline’s 48-year history. He pioneered the airline’s transformation through several major initiatives, including the acquisition of AirTran Airways, the repeal of the Wright Amendment, the launch of international destinations for the first time in Southwest’s history, the installment of a new reservation system, and the launch of service to Hawaii in 2019.

His list of awards and recognitions are numerous and include such honors as: 2017 Wings Club Distinguished Achievement Award; 2017 Junior Achievement Dallas Business Hall of Fame Laureate inductee; 2016 Texas Business Hall of Fame inductee; 2016 Tony Jannus Award. Gary was twice named D CEO Magazine’s CEO of the Year; he’s been named one of the best CEOs in America by Institutional Investor magazine three times. He is a lifelong Texan and received a B.B.A. in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin. As a proud alumnus, Gary served The University in a number of capacities, including serving on the McCombs School Advisory Council. Gary is married to his high school sweetheart, Carol, and they are the proud parents of two married daughters and grandparents to four beautiful girls.

2020 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Enda Kenny

Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland

Enda Kenny was born in Co. Mayo and attended St. Patrick’s College of Education and National University of Ireland, Galway. In 1975 at the age of 24, he was elected to the Dáil and became its youngest member. As the longest serving current member of the Dáil, Enda is the “Father” of the current Dáil. Throughout his political career, he has held multiple leadership positions including serving as Minister for Education and Tourism and Trade, as well as Vice President of The European People’s Party.

In 2002, Enda became Leader of Fine Gael and led the party for 15 years, the longest period of any Fine Gael leader. Under his leadership, Fine Gael became the largest party at local, Dáil and European Parliament level, a result never achieved previously. He became Taoiseach in March 2011 and again in May 2016, the first Fine Gael Leader to be re-elected Taoiseach in successive elections. As Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Ireland became the fastest growing EU country for 4 successive years, unemployment reduced from 15.2% to less than 5%; interest rates on Irish borrowing fell from 15% to zero, the country’s credit rating was restored and access to financial markets was fully secured. His tenure of office saw Ireland exit a Troika bailout, without condition, which resulted in the restoration of Ireland’s sovereignty and economic independence. He has always credited the Irish people for this outcome. Married to Fionnuala and with three adult children, Enda splits his time between Mayo and Dublin.

Entertainment

• Ronan Tynan – Irish Tenor
• Manhattan Dance Band
• Maguire Academy of Irish Dance
• Reception Artwork by Gail Wendorf

Black Tie