Non-profits in the Brown County area are invited to submit project requests for Howard Payne University’s fifth annual William B. Dean, M.D. Lecture Series and Community Impact Day, scheduled for Wednesday, March 25. The day will feature service projects conducted by HPU personnel and student volunteers from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Requests from organizations can include work projects, painting, landscaping, gardening, sorting, organizing and cleaning, and can be submitted at www.hputx.edu/impactday. Submissions will be reviewed for eligibility by HPU leadership, and organizations will be notified following approval. 

“This annual event is a wonderful opportunity for Howard Payne University to serve our community,” said Dr. Cory Hines ’97, HPU president. “We look forward to partnering with local organizations again this year.”

The day’s service projects will be preceded by a message to HPU personnel and students from Dr. Brian Guenther, president of San Marcos Baptist Academy. 

Dr. Guenther joined San Marcos Baptist Academy in 2015, where he initially served as associate academic dean for the lower and middle schools and later as interim academic dean. Prior to his tenure at San Marcos Baptist Academy, he spent eight years at The Master’s School of San Marcos serving as head of school and three years as a music teacher and chaplain.

Dr. Guenther is a certified superintendent, principal and teacher. He earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He also holds a Master of Arts in Christian Higher Education Administration from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He currently serves as president of the Texas Private School Association and chairs the Accreditation Commission of the Texas Association of Baptist Schools.

Dr. Guenther and his wife, Christy, have been married for 25 years and are the parents of four grown children.

HPU was awarded a $200,000 grant by the Dean Foundation to establish the annual service event. The Dean Foundation is chaired by Dr. David A. Dean, son of the late Dr. William B. Dean, distinguished Dallas-area pediatrician and trailblazer in conditions affecting children such as dyslexia and polio. Dr. David A. Dean serves as chair of the North Texas Crime Commission as well as president and CEO of the public policy consultancy Dean International, Inc. He served the State of Texas for more than a decade as general counsel to Democratic Governor Dolph Briscoe and Republican Governor William P. Clements, Jr. He also served as Texas Secretary of State under Governor Clements. He earned the Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University and the Juris Doctor degree from The University of Texas at Austin.