Belton, Texas - As the construction of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s new performing arts center nears completion, the university announced today that it will be named the Sue & Frank Mayborn Performing Arts Center.
“We are proud that this beautiful new center at the front door of our campus will be named to honor our great friend Sue Mayborn and her late husband, Frank Mayborn, for their longstanding and unwavering commitment to UMHB,” said Dr. Randy O’Rear, UMHB president. “They have enriched the educational experiences of countless UMHB students, and we are delighted that this significant addition to the campus will carry their names.”
Frank Mayborn was a man of action. He was a visionary with the ability to recognize needs, problems, and challenges of the future and take immediate action in the present. For more than 50 years, he devoted his time and energy to the betterment of Central Texas and his journalism and broadcast endeavors. Until his death in 1987, perhaps no other man’s influence had been more pervasive and the fruits of his work more evident on the face of Central Texas than those of Frank Mayborn.
“I regret that I never had the opportunity to meet Frank Mayborn,” said President O’Rear. “Clearly he is deserving of the many accolades he still receives to this day. However, I have had the great pleasure of working closely with Sue Mayborn for many years, and I have seen first-hand how the lives of UMHB students have been enriched, thanks to her vision, leadership, and philanthropy.”
In 1988 Sue Mayborn established the Frank W. Mayborn Chair of Arts and Sciences at UMHB. She was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Humanities by UMHB in 1991, in recognition of her dedication to the university and her commitment and volunteer efforts in Bell County and the State of Texas. Her passion for UMHB’s Christian mission has been demonstrated through her partnership over the years in the construction of the Frank & Sue Mayborn Campus Center and the Isabelle Rutherford Meyer Nursing Education Center, as well as in the establishment of endowed scholarships for students.
“Sue served as a member of our Board of Trustees from 2008 through 2016, and her active involvement helped shape the future of Mary Hardin-Baylor. UMHB will never be the same, thanks to Sue. Her impact on our university and Central Texas will live on forever,” said O’Rear.
The Sue & Frank Mayborn Performing Arts Center is a 40,725-square-foot building that features a 525-seat performance hall with a proscenium stage, fly space, and orchestra pit. The ingenious design of the center includes many multifunctional rooms which allow it to be used as a teaching facility through the school year as well as a venue for musical and theatrical performances. Located near the entrance of the campus on the corner of Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, the beautiful new center is in its final stages of completion and will be formally dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 13.
