Fellow trustee Steve Raben ’64 remarks on Stanford’s ongoing commitment to and passion for Southwestern. “Blake has always been dedicated to service to others as a Southwestern undergraduate, and throughout his post-graduate and professional life. Blake has always served Southwestern. As an undergraduate he held leadership roles on campus and as a Kappa Sigma fraternity officer. He has served in a number of Alumni Council roles, then as Alumni Association President-Elect, President, and then Southwestern Trustee.”

Stanford’s dedication to the cause of child nutrition is evidenced by his commitment, for more than 30 years, as the founder, president and board chairman of the Southwest Human Development Services Corporation. SHDSC is a nonprofit agency that provides nutritious food to more than 1,400 Texas family day-care facilities through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). A longtime supporter of CACFP, Stanford has also served as president of the National CACFP Sponsors Association.

“Blake’s 30-year dedication to the child nutrition industry demonstrates his goal to bring education to his clients to provide healthy meals to the kids in their care,” shares his wife, Kristi Boerner Stanford ’83. “His nonprofit provides nutrition education to his clients. Blake’s commitment to this cause provides a critical service to an otherwise neglected aspect of creating healthy environments for kids.”

Not content to focus solely on feeding children, Stanford is also active in the North Austin Rotary Club, served as president and board member of the Highland Park Elementary PTA, and as a board member of the Highland Park West Balcones Neighborhood Association.

Lest we think of Stanford as all business, all the time, fraternity brother Russell Ramsey ’66 reminds us, “Blake is very outgoing, thoughtful, trustworthy and outrageously funny. Blake is the one who holds the group together. To use an old cliché, Blake has never met a stranger. He is a truly remarkable guy.”

“I consider myself very quick witted,” shares fraternity brother Chris Mathers ’81. “Rarely do I meet someone who can keep up with me in this arena. Blake is one of those rare individuals. He is generous, genuine, engaging, intelligent, funny, a calculated risk taker, and an adventurer.”

Fellow Sig brother Pat Sparks ’63 recalls his work with Stanford remodeling the fraternity house. “Blake is able to keep the running of a fraternity house in perspective. He is also finding the best solutions to these challenges with grace and compassion such that these young men can respect the approach and not discard the lessons to be learned. Blake is one of our most esteemed brothers within the Southwestern University community. It gives me great confidence that Kappa Sigma is properly represented within and fully connected to the mission of Southwestern University.”

Stanford graduated from Southwestern in 1981 with a bachelor of science degree in social sciences, political science, and economics and a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish. After graduating, he studied at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.

For his many years of leadership and service to the University, to his community and to children, the Southwestern University Alumni Association is proud to present Blake Stanford with the 2016 Distinguished Southwestern Service Award.