Lee Bagan
BA 2005, MA 2007
Middle East and Central Asia Specialist
Naval Special Warfare Command, Group 1
Washington, DC

Bagan grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in 2005 and a MA in 2007, both in Middle East Studies. Throughout his time in Austin, Bagan was a firm advocate for disabled students, serving on the President’s Committee for Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility and the Austin Mayor’s Committee for Disability Policy. In 2007, the UT Board of Regents established the Lee Bagan Endowed Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to economically disadvantaged disabled students at the University of Texas. After graduation, Bagan served in Iraq as the Middle East and Central Asia Specialist for Navy SEAL Teams 1, 3, 7, and 10 from 2009 to 2010. Today Bagan continues to advise Naval Special Warfare forces on the tribes, history, cultures, religions, geo-political dynamics, and insurgent groups in operationally relevant locales throughout the Department of Defense’s Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility.

Ben De Leon
BA 2001, BS 2001, JD 2004
Vice President and Managing Partner, De Leon & Washburn, P.C.
Austin, Texas

De Leon, a native Austinite, received a BS in Corporate Communication and a BA in Spanish from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001. He went on to receive his JD from UT Law School in 2004. Today he’s vice president and managing partner at the law firm of De Leon & Washburn, P.C., founded by his father and 2010 UT Distinguished Alumnus, Hector De Leon. He has served as a pro bono attorney through Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas since 2005, where he represents Spanish-speaking clients who need guidance through the Travis County judicial system. He was selected as a 2011 Texas Rising Star in the area of administrative law, and as a 2012 Texas Rising Star in the area of business litigation. De Leon has served as a Big Brother to Anthony through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas since 2006. In 2009, he was selected as the National Big Brother of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America out of more than 250,000 mentors nationwide.

Richard J. "Rich" Reddick
BA 1995
Assistant Professor in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas

A proud Austinite and former Jeopardy! champion, Reddick graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Plan II Honors in 1995. He went on to receive graduate degrees from Harvard before joining the faculty as an assistant professor in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Administration at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the coordinator of the M.Ed. program in College and University Student Personnel Administration, and an affiliate of the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies and the Gender and Sexuality Center at UT. Reddick’s teaching and research focuses on diversity in higher education, the sociocultural adaptation of Black families, and qualitative research methods. Reddick has co-authored and co-edited four books on the African-American family, historically Black colleges and universities, and the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling on diversity in American education.

Laura Wilkinson
BS 2001
Olympic and World Champion Platform Diver
The Woodlands, Texas

A three time Olympian, Wilkinson graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001 with a BS in Public Relations. Beating what many said were impossible odds in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history, Laura, starting in eighth place and with a broken foot, came from behind to win the 2000 Olympic platform gold medal. She has also won the 2004 World Cup and the 2005 World Championships, becoming the first woman in history to win all three coveted world titles in platform diving. Along the way, Laura has won 19 US National Titles, 2 NCAA Titles, competed on 3 Olympic Teams, been voted by the American public the 2000 US Olympic Spirit Award winner and was nominated for an ESPY award. Laura's passion for the sport of diving goes well beyond her love of training and competition. She dreams of seeing the USA re-emerge as the world leader in diving and has set up the Laura Wilkinson Foundation, a non-profit organization to accomplish this dream.