Morris, Shive, Swinburn Named Distinguished Alumni

From leading refining companies to agriculture, Texas Tech alumni honored at the Distinguished Alumni Dinner this year.

Written by Jean Ann Cantore

Alumni Highlights

The Alumni Association will recognize Jeff D. Morris, Dunia A. Shive and Dale V. Swinburn as Distinguished Alumni at its annual reception and dinner at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, at the Merket Alumni Center.

Jeff D. Morris

Jeff Morris is president and CEO of ALON USA, a refining and marketing company based in Dallas.

Jeff D. Morris’s background in chemical engineering and leadership has well prepared him to serve in his current position as the president and CEO of ALON USA, a refining and marketing company based in Dallas.

After graduating from Texas Tech in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, Morris worked developing processing operations. During this time, he earned 10 U.S. and six foreign patents in polymer processing and production. He also published on polystyrene in the Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design. As a result of his research and development efforts, he was able to help design and build the world’s largest polystyrene plant in Baton Rouge, La.

In 1989, Morris began working in the refining field. He held senior management roles at FINA refineries in Port Arthur and Big Spring. With his efforts, the Big Spring Refinery is one of the most reliable in the country, processing 50,000 barrels of crude oil daily. As a result of his success, Morris was made responsible for all of FINA’s downstream operations.

In 2000, Morris joined ALON USA, which formed when Alon Israel Oil Co. Ltd. purchased FINA Inc.’s downstream operations. Under his leadership, ALON USA has flourished, doubling its size with the acquisition of the Paramount and Edgington refineries and associated asphalt business in California in 2006. His concern for energy and environmental policy is exhibited by ALON USA’s plans in California to improve these refineries by doubling their fuels production while at the same time reducing the greenhouse emissions for the plants. ALON USA intends to convert these plants to the lowest emissions refineries in the U.S., per barrel of fuel produced.

Although he has a very busy career, Morris is also actively involved in the communities that ALON USA serves. He is a board member for the Dallas Region of Communities in Schools, the Dallas Center for Performing Arts and the Trinity Trust. He works with numerous charitable organizations in Dallas and California.

Texas Tech recognized Morris’s accomplishments with prestigious honors. He was named a Distinguished Engineer by the College of Engineering in 1997. The college also honored him with induction into the Chemical Engineering Academy in 2004.

Morris and his wife, Karen, have two sons, Justin and Matthew.

Dunia A. Shive

Dunia Shive is the president and CEO of Belo Corp., one of the nation’s largest pure-play, publicly traded television companies.

Dunia A. Shive has put her background in accounting to good use in the business world. She is the president and chief executive officer of Belo Corp., one of the nation’s largest pure-play, publicly traded television companies. Belo owns 20 television stations and their associated Web sites and two regional cable news channels.

Shive earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas Tech in 1982. She also has completed executive education courses in strategic marketing management at the Harvard Business School and in leading change and organizational renewal at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

After Shive graduated from Texas Tech, she joined Arthur Young & Co. She was an audit manager when she left the firm to become assistant controller for Tyler Corp. in 1989. She is a past recipient of a regional Ernst & Young Outstanding Alumni Award.

In 1993, Shive joined Belo Corp., where she began a successful and steady climb up the corporate ladder. Her first position with the company was corporate controller. Within two years, she was promoted to vice president/controller, and in 1996, she became vice president/finance. She then served in several senior positions, including chief financial officer, executive vice president/media operations and presidential/chief operation officer.

Shive was named president and chief executive officer of Belo Corp. in November 2007.

Shive is a member of the Television Operators Caucus and the Board of Directors of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

She and her husband, Robert, have three children. They live in Dallas.

Dale V. Swinburn

Dale Swinburn is the owner of Dale Swinburn Farms in Tulia, Texas and he is a partner and director of Windstar Inc., a cotton ginning and investment company.

Agriculture has been a driving force in Dale V. Swinburn’s life. Since earning a bachelor’s degree in agronomy in 1965 from Texas Tech, he has been involved in numerous activities and organizations related to farming.

After graduating from college, he began farming a variety of crops, including cotton, corn, sorghum and wheat. He also runs stocker calves on wheat pastures. In addition to owning Dale Swinburn Farms in Tulia, Texas, he is a partner and director of Windstar Inc., a cotton ginning and investment company. He also is an advisory director for Happy State Bank in Plainview.

Swinburn remains involved with his alma mater, serving on the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Advisory Board and the Plant and Soil Science Advisory Council. He is an honorary member of the Agronomy Club. He also is a member of the Alumni Association, The Red Raider Club and the Chancellor’s Council.

The College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources has honored Swinburn as a Distinguished Alumnus. He has received the Gerald W. Thomas Award for Outstanding Agriculturalist in 2002 from the college. He also has received the Southwest High Cotton Award.

For the agriculture community, Swinburn contributes his expertise by serving several organizations. He has been on the Board of Directors for Cotton Inc. He serves as chairman for Plains Cotton Growers Cotton Improvement Committee and has been a member of that group since 1992. He is on the Texas State Support committee and is a director for the Food and Fiber Research Council, a division of the Texas Department of Agriculture. He has been a member of the TAES Advanced Technologies Advisory Committee and the TAMU Cotton Strategic Plan Planning Committee.

Swinburn has been a member of the Swisher County Appraisal District, the Tulia Independent School District and West Texas Federal Land Bank. He has been a member of the Swisher County Hospital board and the Swisher County Memorial. He has been a board member of the First United Methodist Church. He also serves on the Ceta Canyon Methodist Camp Board of Trustees.

He and his wife, Cheryl Culwell Swinburn, have three sons, Chad, Scot and Dane.

For more information regarding the Distinguished Alumni Dinner, please contact the Texas Tech Alumni Association at (806) 742-3641 or contact Peggy Pearce.