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Ron Mafrige
Ronald P. Mafrige was a 1960 graduate of Sam Houston State Teachers College with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Mafrige served in the U.S. Army, remaining in the Army Reserves for 14 years and achieving the rank of Major before retiring. In 1968, he formed what would become Ron Mafrige Enterprises, Inc., which has leased over one million commercial square feet of office space in and around Houston. He was honored by his alma mater as a Distinguished Alumnus (1997), Service Award recipient (2004), and named to the College of Business Administration Hall of Honor (2006). In 1997, the Smith-Hutson Business Administration Building auditorium was named in honor of Ron and Linda in recognition of his 1994 endowment honoring Glenn Adams, the late president of Ron Mafrige Enterprises. In 2005, Mafrige gave $250,000 to make possible construction of the 11,000 square foot Randleman Strength and Fitness Building. The following year, the field house adjacent to Bowers Stadium was named in his honor. A member of the Esquire social group - and successor group, the Epsilon Zeta chapter of Delta Tau Delta fraternity - in the 1990s Mafrige paid off the debt on the fraternity's second house so that the group could sell it and purchase property closer to SHSU. In addition to purchasing many of the granite benches seen across campus, in 2008, Mafrige donated $40,000 to build the 20-foot-tall statute of General Sam Houston that stands in central campus. It honors both M.B. Etheredge (the country’s highest decorated surviving soldier of World War II) and the statue’s sculptor, David Adickes. Mafrige led SHSU’s first capital campaign and its Executive Leadership Council. The fundraising effort generated commitments in excess of $61 million, surpassing the $50 Million goal and was achieved nearly a year ahead of schedule. During the February 12, 2011 men's basketball game a plaque with Mafridge's likeness was unveiled to honor the 112 donors that contributed to the Mafrige Basketball Challenge; the plaque is on display in the concourse level of Johnson Coliseum.
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