building the future

Entrepreneur gifts $1 million to UT Austin in honor of his father, Texas’ first Black architect

John S. Chase stands in front of his family home in Houston with two of his three children, Anthony (left) and John Jr. (right).

Photo courtesy the John and Drucie Chase Collection

Texas entrepreneur and law professor Tony Chase is no stranger to philanthropy. The founder and CEO of ChaseSource LP — a staffing, facilities management, and construction firm — has long been a generous contributor to myriad city causes. But his newest gift is decidedly personal.

Houstonians Chase and his wife, Dina Alsowayel, have donated $1 million to the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture in honor of his Chase’s father, John S. Chase, FAIA (master’s of architecture ’52). Notably, John Chase is the first Black graduate of UT’s school of architecture and the first Black licensed architect in the state.

This new gift from Tony Chase will create two new permanent endowments. The John S. Chase Family Endowed Graduate Fellowship will be used primarily to recruit graduates of historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, to the school and increase representation in the profession. Meanwhile, the John S. Chase Family Endowed Professorship in Architecture is meant to help recruit and retain outstanding faculty members and support their study of the built environment, according to the university.

John Chase enrolled at UT in 1950 as one of the school’s earliest Black students. He moved his family to Houston in the 1950s and eventually started his own firm — namely because no white architects would hire him. Undeterred, John Chase became the first Black licensed architect in Texas.

In 1952, he designed the headquarters for the Colored Teachers State Association of Texas, according to his bio. UT acquired the building in 2018, restored and converted it to an outreach center for the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, and dedicated it as the John S. and Drucie R. Chase Building last fall.

He went on to design numerous churches, private homes, and eventually — perhaps his crowning achievement — the Texas Southern University campus.

A dedicated business and community leader, Chase was also a passionate volunteer at UT. He served as a member of UT’s Development Board and Commission of 125, and was the first Black president of the Texas Exes. Chase received Texas Exes’ Distinguished Alumni Award in 1990.

“Throughout his life and as reflected in his built works, John Chase was a connector and a community builder,” says Michelle Addington, dean of the School of Architecture, in a statement. “Not only did Chase design spaces that brought people together, but he used his pioneering position to create opportunities for others. We are extremely grateful for Tony’s incredible gift and honored to continue John Chase’s legacy of creating opportunities for a whole new generation.”

In 2019, UT’s School of Architecture hosted “Chasing Perfection: The Legacy of Architect John S. Chase,” an exhibition curated by the Houston Public Library and an accompanying panel discussion.

In 2020, professor David Heymann co-authored “John S. Chase — The Chase Residence” with Houston architecture critic Stephen Fox, which explores the significance of the home Chase designed and built for his family in Houston, both as a work of modernist residential architecture and as a setting for many important social, cultural, and political events, according to a press release.

The first biography of John Chase is set to publish next year, penned by assistant professor Tara Dudley.

Following in his father’s footsteps, the prolific businessman and professor Tony Chase is eager to give back with this gift, noting in a statement, “My father always said, ‘A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.’”

John S. Chase stands in front of his family home in Houston with two of his three children, Anthony (left) and John Jr. (right).

John S. Chase Houston and sons Tony Chase

Photo courtesy the John and Drucie Chase Collection

John S. Chase stands in front of his family home in Houston with two of his three children, Anthony (left) and John Jr. (right).

inspiration preservation university-texas

Austinite who kayaked 86 miles with one arm has Texas Book Fest debut

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Avrel Seale is discussing his post-stroke kayaking expedition at the festival on November 16.

This year’s Texas Book Festival features more than 275 authors who have accomplished amazing things. But only one of them rowed nearly 90 miles down the Nueces River with one arm. (We think.)

Author of The River Nuts Avrel Seale is making his Texas Book Festival debut on November 16, and participating in the 4 pm panel "Memoirs of Adventure & Adversity Exploring Nature" in the Capitol Auditorium. He’ll talk about his feat of physical and mental endurance in a session alongside author Kevin Fadarko (A Walk in the Park) and moderated by outdoor journalist Pamela LeBlanc.

For all intents and purposes, January 19, 2018, was just another ordinary Friday for 50-year old author Seale. The writer and editor for the University of Texas' Marketing and Communications team was in his office on The Drag when he was hit with a devastating hemorrhagic stroke.

"My coworkers called an ambulance, which took me to Seton Main," says Seale. "I had emergency brain surgery that night that probably saved my life."

Avrel Seale Austin author Thankfully, Seale's story includes help from friends along the way.Photo by Daniel Cavazos

The stroke left Seale partially paralyzed on the right side of his body, with his right arm completely immobile. After two years of rehab and physical therapy — and still with just one working arm — Seale decided to undergo one of his biggest self-made challenges: attempting to kayak an 86-mile stretch of the Nueces River with lifelong friend Wade Walker in tow.

Seale's extensive journaling of the adventure would later become his 11th book, The River Nuts. The 182-page story didn’t just chronicle Seale and Walker's voyage down the South Texas river, but also covered the preparation for the journey in great detail.

"I had always wanted to. I thought it would be fun," explains Seale. "The stroke just forced me to find a different way."

Seale and Walker accomplished something that many others have in the past. Kayaking a river to the sea was not a groundbreaking idea, but few people — if any — had done it facing the same challenges as Seale did.

Avrel Seale Austin author with Wade Walker Avrel Seale and his rowing partner Wade Walker.Photo by Kirstin Seale

Someone who has had a dominant hand in a cast can understand how the immediate shift could test one’s patience. Even though most of the journey was spent cruising downstream — not to mention having someone else in the kayak doing the lion’s share of the work — there was quite a bit more to the experience than a spectator might expect.

From pulling up rudders to adjusting foot pedals that help propel the craft, using his functioning arm to man an oar, and helping set up camp each night, Seale started facing difficulties shortly after their launch. Sometimes he was his own worst enemy.

"I had mistakenly reversed the left and right pedal arms for both pedal drives when we first assembled the kayak months earlier,” he explains. “This led to us stripping the threads and losing one pedal completely."

In addition to the rigorous physical demand on the writer, he also faced mental roadblocks.

"The biggest mental challenge was the lead-up to the trip, both the painstaking planning and the very real fear of dying,” he says “By the time we got on the water, that stress and fear lifted, and it was all about making the most of a beautiful experience."

Avrel Seale Austin author Seale's stroke couldn't keep him from nature.Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Published by TCU press in the fall of 2023, The River Nuts came out after that year's submission deadline for the Texas Book Festival. Since then he’s also written The Hewetts: An American Saga in the Age of Vaudeville, Circuses, and Bands, a wild historical account spanning four generations of a family of self-made entertainers.

"I've written 12 books over the last 25 years, and this is definitely the highlight of my career so far," he points out. "Hopefully it will open even more doors for me. I'm tickled to death."

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