1971 Varsity Football team

The 1971 Varsity Football team won the championships of the two conferences to which TMI belonged at that time: Southwestern Preparatory Conference (SPC) and Texas Preparatory League. Members of this team also played on championship teams the previous and following years. Team captain Rick Palmer ’72 received special recognition as an all-city and all-conference selection at TMI, who went on to play in college, signed contracts with three NFL teams and since 1979 has dedicated his life to the game as a career high-school coach. He has helped to develop three all-state Punters, two USA All Americans and one NCAA All-American and currently coaches at Grand Prairie High School. The team and their coach, Gary McMillan, were honored at the 2016 Homecoming Luncheon.

Jessica C. Kimmel, Ph.D., English teacher (1984-1990)

Jessica C. Kimmel, Ph.D., former TMI English teacher and English Department chair (1984-1990), served as chairman of the TMI English Department and started a writing lab for students who sought extra help. After TMI, she taught at Texas A&M University, San Antonio College and Trinity University. She retired in 2014 from the University of the Incarnate Word, where she served as director of teacher education, taught in the doctoral program, revitalized the adult education program and won a 2012 Presidential Teaching Award for faculty who “exemplify great character and an excellence in teaching.” Specializing in women’s studies, Kimmel served as a delegate to the United Nations’ Executive Board of the World Congress in 2013 and 2014. Her son March Kimmel is a member of TMI’s class of 1988. She received her Distinguished Servant Leader Award at the 2016 Homecoming Luncheon.

Robert Braubach ’67 – State singles tennis champion, 1966

Robert Braubach ’67 won the 1966 state championship in singles tennis. While studying at the Free University of Brussels, he was a tennis pro at the Royal Leopold Club, the leading tennis club in Belgium, where he was a ranked player. He also was the No. 2-ranked player at the 5.0 level in Texas in 2000 and currently is President of the John R. McFarlin Tennis Foundation, a nonprofit entity that trains students of local high schools and assists with capital improvements at McFarlin Tennis Center. Mr. Braubach is now an attorney specializing in real-estate and international law and has been appointed Honorary Consul to the governments of Belgium and Namibia and is an economic advisor to the government of the Czech Republic. He was inducted at the 2016 Homecoming Luncheon.

Virgil Espino, science teacher and dorm parent (1955-1988)

Virgil Espino, longtime former TMI science teacher (1955-1988) modeled servant leadership as a teacher and dorm parent. As head of the Science Department for 23 years, he was faculty sponsor of the Science Club, judged citywide science fairs and brought speakers on “Man and His World” to campus. He was nominated in 1964 as “Outstanding Biology Teacher in the State of Texas” by the National Association of Biology Teachers. He also served on the school’s United Way charitable donations committee nearly every year he was at TMI. Mr. Espino was a Korean War veteran who retired from the Army with the rank of colonel after 41 years of active and reservist duty. After retirement from TMI, he led a Bible study group to which many alumni belonged for years after graduation. He was honored with a posthumous Distinguished Servant Leader Award, accepted by his widow, Linda Espino, at a 2016 memorial service in All Saints Chapel.

William Hubbard, Ph.D., ’58

William Hubbard, Ph.D., a member of TMI’s class of 1958, will be the first alumnus to be inducted to the Academics pillar of the TMI Hall of Fame. He is an eminent astronomer, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona who has consulted with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Specializing in planetary interiors and atmospheres, he was awarded the 2005 Gerard P. Kuiper Prize in Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society and has done significant research on Jupiter, Saturn and EGPs (Extra-solar Giant Planets). He also has been a co-investigator on the Juno spacecraft scheduled to enter Jupiter’s orbit. Dr. Hubbard was inducted at the 2016 Homecoming Luncheon.

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TMI Hall of Fame
Established in 2015, the TMI Hall of Fame is an honorary society recognizing the exceptional contributions of outstanding alumni, with Distinguished Servant Leader awards for former faculty, staff and friends of the school. Inductees are recognized for exemplifying one or more of the TMI Core Values: Wisdom, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Reverence.

Criteria
Nominees must have:

• Graduated from or left TMI at least five years prior to nomination.
• Demonstrated excellence in award-related skills and accomplishments, including recognition by athletic conference and/or other external bodies
• Demonstrated sportsmanship (Athletics), integrity, courage and character
• Demonstrated achievement as a member of the TMI community and after
• Teachers, administrators and coaches must be no longer active at TMI
• Former students who did not graduate from TMI are eligible.
• Friends of the school whose contributions have had a major impact on programs at TMI may be considered.

Presentation of Awards
Inductees are honored at Homecoming. If their schedules require, they may be inducted at another TMI event during the school year.

Commemoration
Honorees’ names are inscribed on Hall of Fame plaques displayed in Ayres Hall and Frost Athletic Center.