CONTACT: Julie Martinez

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CORPUS CHRISTI ATTORNEY

NAMED ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR

KINGSVILLE (Oct. 16, 1998) -- Corpus Christi attorney Albert Huerta has been named the 1998 Distinguished Alumnus by the Javelina Alumni Association at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Huerta will be honored at the Royal Gala Ball from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, Oct. 23, in ballrooms A and B of the Student Union Building. The ball is held in conjunction with the university's Homecoming activities.

The Board of Directors takes nominations each year for distinguished alumnus honorees. After review, the board votes on the winner.

"Mr. Huerta's exemplary achievements throughout his distinguished business career and his continuous service to the community reflect his devotion and a spirit of commitment," said Oscar Castillo, president of the Javelina Alumni Association and university physical plant director. "He is a role model not only for our university students but for all of us."

Huerta was born in Laredo and received an associate of arts degree from Laredo Junior College before coming to Texas A&I University. He received his bachelor of science degree in 1966. In 1968, he received a master of arts degree in government and Spanish.

He went on to St. Mary's Law School in San Antonio, where he received his doctoral degree in jurisprudence in 1972.

Huerta is president and board chairman of Huerta Entertainment L.L.P., which owns and operates Texas Sky, a 100-acre festival park. He recently announced that Texas Sky would promote only Christian concerts and family events.

In 1997, he was honored by LULAC Council #1 as one of the top leaders in the Corpus Christi community. He was the only Hispanic on a Forbes 500 survey in 1989 of the top 60 successful lawyers in the United States.

In recent years, he was involved in a class action lawsuit against a Corpus Christi chemical plant that resulted in a $66 million settlement. The case involved approximately 8,000 Hispanics in Robstown who said they suffered various ill effects from a release of butadiene from the chemical plant.

A $1 million trust fund was put in place to provide college scholarships to Robstown students. In the first year, Trial Lawyers Foundation for Youth Education gave 175 scholarships totaling $260,000. Huerta is chairman of the organization.

Huerta was the first volunteer to apply for the National Teacher Corps in 1966 and was honored by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He taught school for two years. In 1969, he became on-the-job training director for Operation SER funded by the United States Department of Labor through LULAC and the American G.I. Forum.

In 1971, he became active in the formation of the Raza Unida Party and was the first and only elected county chairman for the party.

As chairman of the Dr. Hector P. Garcia statue committee in 1995, he raised $100,000 within 24 hours to pay for the 9-foot bronze statue.

He has practiced law in Corpus Christi for 27 years. His wife, Norma, has taught school for 30 years. They have three children, Joseph and David, both attorneys with their father's firm, Huerta, Hastings and Allison, and Lisa, a student at the University of Texas.

-TAMUK-