The Natural Sciences Hall of Honor Award is presented annually to individuals who have distinguished themselves professionally and through demonstrated interest in the College of Natural Sciences. Located on the third floor of the Will C. Hogg building, the Hall of Honor is home to alumni, former students, emeritus faculty, corporate, academic, community and government leaders. The more than fifty remarkable individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Honor and are bound together by their passion for The University of Texas at Austin and the College of Natural Sciences.

Hall of Honor Award Recipients for 2012

Thomas L. Baker

Corporate Executive, Community Leader

Thomas L. Baker, 65, was born in Missouri and lived in the small town of Bismarck until his parents moved to Dallas, Texas just before his sixth birthday. Baker graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1968.

Baker began his career as a plant engineer with Dallas Power & Light in 1968. He was elected vice president and then senior vice president of TU Electric and TU Services in the late 1980s. In 1987, he was elected to the board of directors of TU Electric and was made principal financial officer of Texas Utilities Company. He is currently chairman emeritus of Energy Future Holdings Corp., formerly TXU Corp.

Baker serves his community with the same energy and leadership he applies to his professional commitments. He is currently on the boards of Children's Health Services of Texas, the Children's Pediatric Research Institute at Southwestern Medical School and the Circle Ten Council of Boy Scouts of America. Baker has been a member of the College of Natural Sciences Advisory Council Foundation for 19 years, serving as chairman from 2006 to 2008 and is currently the chairman of the Engineering Advisory Board of the Cockrell School of Engineering. He is a past president of the City of Dallas' Park and Recreation Board and past chairman of the board of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Baker has been married for 46 years, and he and his wife Nancy have two children and six grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle

James D. Dannenbaum

Corporate Executive, Community Leader

James D. Dannenbaum, 72, was born in Houston, Texas. He attended The University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 1962. During his college days, Dannenbaum was selected as the Outstanding Senior by Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honorary. He was member of the Friar Society and was president of the Silver Spurs. In 1961, he was named the Outstanding Male Student of the university.

Dannenbaum currently serves as chairman of Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation, a Texas-based consulting engineering firm. Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation has been providing professional services to municipal, state and federal agencies, and private clients for 65 years.

Dannenbaum is an active member of the Houston community and has received numerous awards including "One of Four Outstanding Young Men of Houston in 1969" from the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce, "Engineer of the Year for 2004" by the Greater Houston Chapter of Texas Society of Professional Engineers, and "2004 TSPE Outstanding Engineer of the Year for the State of Texas" by the Texas Society of Professional Engineers.

In 2007 Governor Perry appointed Dannenbaum to the UT System Board of Regents. He has been a member of the College of Natural Sciences Foundation Advisory Council for 32 years and served as chairman from 1984 to 1987.

He married his high school sweetheart, Shirley Kay in 1963. They have two children and five grandchildren. In his personal life, Dannenbaum has been a lay reader at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston since 1955, with interim service at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin from 1958 through 1962.

James A. Prentice

Physician, Community Leader

James A. Prentice, 75, was born in Brady, Texas, the son of public school teacher parents. He was accompanied into this world by his twin sister, Sharon. He attended The University of Texas at Austin, where he was active in Kappa Alpha Order and the Texas Cowboys, was inducted into freshman and pre-medical honor societies, and earned his bachelor's degree after three years in 1958. He continued his education at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, receiving his M.D. in 1962. Specialty training at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Yale-New Haven Hospital led to board certification in anesthesiology, which he practiced until his retirement in 2002.

Prentice served in the United States Air Force Medical Corps in Texas and in Maryland from 1963 until 1970, resigning the rank of major to accept a staff position at Mayo Clinic and as associate professor in Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota until 1978, when he returned to Austin to continue in private practice with Austin Anesthesiology Group until his retirement.

Prentice's volunteer efforts on behalf of The University of Texas at Austin include service on the College of Natural Sciences Foundation Advisory Council since 1991, which he chaired from 2008 to 2010, and on The Commission of 125. He is currently a member of the Texas Exes Council, the University of Texas Development Board and the Board of the University of Texas Foundation.

Prentice also serves on the board of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and on the Community Health Access committee of St. David's Foundation. He is a past president of the Travis County Medical Society.

Prentice's marriage in 1967 to fellow Austinite Linda Gilbert Prentice, M.D. has blessed them with three children and six grandchildren. They are both are members of Chancellor's Council, Littlefield Society, 1881 Society and the President's Associates.