This year, the President's Award holds special meaning because it honors two members of the Roadrunners family.
Alumnus Jim Bodenstedt and his wife, liberal arts major Cathy Bodenstedt, are furthering UTSA's mission to provide access to excellence through the establishment of the James and Catherine Bodenstedt Athletic Learning Center.
Created through a $1 million endowment, the learning center will provide academic support and personal development services for more than 250 UTSA student athletes. A portion of the gift also will be used to fund scholarships for the university's new football program. Their generous donation is the largest athletic gift ever received by the university.
Jim Bodenstedt is a 1996 graduate of UTSA's College of Business and was recently selected as a finalist for the world's most prestigious business award, The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He and his wife own and operate MUY Brands LLC, a 117-unit franchise restaurant company employing more than 3,000 employees with locations in Texas and New Mexico.
The couple met in high school in the 1980s while working at a local restaurant. In 2003, they started MUY Brands and acquired 18 Taco Bell and KFC restaurants in West Texas and Corpus Christi. Today, MUY Brands is one of the Top 25 Yum! Brands Inc.'s franchises and includes Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, WingStreet, Long John Silver's and A&W restaurants.
In addition to their generous support of UTSA, the Bodenstedts support charities and organizations everywhere their restaurants are located. The charities include the SA YES Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Wounded Warrior Project, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Operation Hands On, San Antonio Sports Foundation and local food banks.