Pioneers > STACIE D.
Pioneers > STACIE D. MCDAVID ’80 & ELLEN AMIRKHAN ’79 TWU Regents Right on Track From Teammates to Regents ELLEN AMIRKHAN ’79 AND STACIE D. MCDAVID ’80 arrived at Texas Woman’s in the 1970s as track and field athletes. Little did they know that their time at TWU would lead to invaluable lifelong lessons and friendship. They first met at former head track and field coach and director of athletics Bert Lyle’s house, where they would become fast friends and roommates. “My superpower is the women I surround myself with, and it started with Ellen. When I first met her in 1974, I thought, she’s brilliant. I had been around bright people, but I felt that I’d found my person, someone who makes you better and lifts you up. That was Ellen for me,” says McDavid. Throughout their time at TWU, the two women worked hard inside and outside of the classroom. Both credit their experiences to great mentors and strong work ethics from the “lessons and traditions we both gained from our immigrant families who became successful entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Texas,” says Amirkhan. Amirkhan’s grandfather immigrated from Armenia in 1909 and established a rug cleaning plant. McDavid grew up in Denton and was surrounded by family and friends from Lebanon. The two friends would go on to become highly accomplished entrepreneurs. Amirkhan took over her family’s Dallas-based rug business in 1980 and hasn’t looked back since. McDavid currently serves as CEO of McDavid Investments Company and has a long and successful track record of running businesses and serving on numerous boards, partnerships and charitable organizations. Both women find themselves full circle — working together and making important decisions as members of the Texas Woman’s University System Board of Regents, where they set policy direction that ensures a quality TWU educational experience for all students. 20 TEXAS WOMAN’S
BARBARA D. NUNNELEY ’75 Distinguished Alumna Texas Woman’s Roots A Family Legacy FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA and TWU Foundation Board member Barbara D. Nunneley ’75, there was no question of where she’d attend college. The Nunneley family’s road to Texas Woman’s began in the 1940s, when her grandfather sold his West Texas ranch and moved his family of seven to Denton. “Texas Woman’s is part of my family’s roots. My mother Mildred Nunneley ’47, ’48 earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from the then-Texas State College for Women. My aunt Rita Beth Whatley attended the university in the late 1940s but graduated from The University of Texas at Austin’s engineering program in 1945. My aunt Ann Whatley ’45 and my sisters Karen Nunneley Young ’73 and Beth Nunneley Mazziotta ’80 are all TWU alumnae.” My sister Karen ’73 “blazed the trail for me,” says Barbara. “She introduced me to professors and invited me to club meetings. The leadership opportunities at TWU were unparalleled. You grew into your own person at TWU knowing you were just as capable as anyone else in the classroom and developed the confidence to make decisions and the discipline to excel.” That discipline to excel led Nunneley to attend law school. Practicing for more than four decades, this award-winning attorney sums up her career succinctly, “The beauty and draw of being a lawyer is that it teaches you to think critically and to solve problems. Once you learn how to analyze a problem, you can find a solution to any situation.” Outside the courtroom, Nunneley has carried on another family tradition — ranching. She lives on 10 acres in the small town of Bartonville with her horses. A family legacy and tradition may have brought Nunneley to the university, but it was at Texas Woman’s where she found her own person and the confidence to light up the sky. TEXAS WOMAN’S 21
