Rodriguez and Updegrove will be the 23rd and 24th individuals to be so honored by the university. Rodriguez will receive his honorary degrees during the 2 p.m. ceremony May 15. Updegrove will receive his honorary degree during the 2 p.m. ceremony May 16.
Rodriguez, a native of Alice and long-time Austin resident, is an accomplished business leader and philanthropist dedicated to advancing educational opportunities for first-generation college students. His early career included serving as an owner’s representative for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and he later spent two decades with CGI Technologies and Solutions. In 2017, the Hector and Gloria López Foundation (HGLF) was established to honor the legacy of Hector and Gloria López. Under Rodriguez’s leadership, HGLF has become a leading advocate for first-generation college students in Texas, partnering with universities to provide full scholarships and comprehensive support, including housing, mentorship, tutoring, and paid internships, assuring students graduate debt-free and prepared for leadership roles.
Updegrove is an acclaimed presidential historian, author, journalist, and media commentator. He has dedicated much of his career to chronicling and interpreting the American presidency while advancing civic education and public discourse. His early career included leadership roles in media and publishing, including serving as Los Angeles manager for Time magazine and U.S. publisher of Newsweek. In 2009, Updegrove was appointed director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and in 2018 became president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation where he now serves as chairman and CEO. He has authored six books on the presidency, serves as the presidential historian and a political analyst for ABC News, and hosts the national PBS series, "Live from the LBJ Library with Mark Updegrove.” His scholarship and leadership have deepened the understanding of presidential history and advanced the legacy of President Lyndon B. Johnson, whose transformative years began at TXST.
Texas State awarded its first honorary doctorate in 1962, when the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, was conferred upon Lyndon Baines Johnson. At the time, Johnson was vice president of the United States and had already served as a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator. He would go on to serve as president of the United States, the only president to have graduated from a Texas university. Johnson graduated from TXST in 1930.
