Hunt-Pierce Academic Complex sign on the wall of the Reading Room.

Texas Exes Thomas and Laurie Hunt made their initial gifts to the Stark Center to honor the memory of Mrs. Hunt’s father, Dr. Paul “Red” Pierce of Alpine, Texas. Dr. Pierce served as head football coach at Sul Ross University, and then as head football coach, head track coach, and athletic director at Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville, Texas. In 1965, he was named the Knute Rockne Little All-American Coach of the Year and, in 1968, returned to Sul Ross as Professor and Chairman of the Physical Education Department. At Sul Ross, he also coached the women’s volleyball team to a national championship. Dr. Pierce served as president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and was also on the board of the United States Olympic Committee. The gifts made by the Hunt family in his honor facilitated the Stark Center’s recognition as an Olympic Studies Center and the creation of the 1968 US Olympic Team Oral History Archive. In return for their generosity, the University has named our research and reference area as the Hunt-Pierce Academic Complex.

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