Katherine Jackson and Munib Masri Welcomed to the Hall of Distinction
May 5, 2015
Katherine A. “Katie” Jackson, a teacher and Jackson School co-founder along with husband John “Jack” Jackson, and Munib Masri, a Palestinian businessman, statesman and philanthropist, were inducted into the hall by Dean Sharon Mosher on March 26, 2015, during a ceremony at the Jackson School’s Evening of Thanks.
Induction is reserved to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the field of geosciences in industry, government or academia, and have a strong connection to the Jackson School. The hall was started in 1980 and has 32 members, including Jackson and Masri.
Katherine A. “Katie” Jackson
Katherine Jackson graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in San Marcos in 1939. She went on to teach students across the state in Marble Falls, Temple and Alice. She married Jack Jackson in 1941, and lent her name to the Jackson’s primary business, The Katie Petroleum Company, and also to the Dallas Press Club’s Katie Awards.
Jackson served on the Board of Regents at Texas Lutheran College in Seguin for 20 years and was a Trustee of Dallas Presbyterian Hospital. In partnership with her husband, she helped establish the Jackson School through an endowment that transformed the Department of Geological Sciences into a school in its own right, dedicated to educating generations of geosciences students.
“Their investments is for all future students of the earth who seek to learn of its resources and environment,” Dean Mosher said at the ceremony.
Katherine Jackson died in 2001 at the age of 83.
She will join her husband in the Hall of Distinction. In honor of her induction, the Jackson School established the Katie Society, which recognizes individuals and organizations who have given $500,000 or more to the Jackson School.
Munib Masri
Munib Masri has had a distinguished career as a businessman,statesman and philanthropist. Before all this he was a Longhorn, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geology in 1955. Masri began his career in the oil and gas industry working with Phillips Petroleum. This experience led to his appointment as Minister of Public Works for the Kingdom of Jordan in 1970. Afterwards, he spent decades in the energy and water sectors before founding the EDGO Group, an oil and gas services company that operates throughout the Middle East.
Masri has maintained a strong connection to his Palestinian homeland, and has dedicated the past four decades to working toward creating a peaceful two-state solution between it and Israel. In the process he founded the Welfare Association, the Palestine Development and Investment Company, and the Masri Family Foundation, all organizations that promote and support the development of industry and well-being within Palestine and the wider Middle East. Masri is also chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce in Palestine.