About the Jamisons

A lifelong resident of Denton, Alonzo Jamison served seven consecutive terms in the Texas Legislature starting in 1954. He left the Legislature in 1968 to join the faculty of TWU. He became chair of the TWU Department of History and Government in 1981 and retired from the university in 1984.

He received a Bronze Star for his World War II service as an Army antiaircraft artillery officer in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Germany. He passed away in 2011.

In 1947 he married Elisabeth McCullar of Denton. Elisabeth Jamison received her bachelor's degree in music from the Texas State College for Women, now TWU, in 1943. She died in 2009.

The Jamisons were longtime supporters of the university and members of TWU's Old Main Society.

TWU Foundation receives $1.7 million estate gift

7/2/14
The Texas Woman's University Foundation has received a $1.7 million gift from the estate of former State Rep. Alonzo W. Jamison, a longtime TWU faculty member, and his wife Elisabeth, an alumna of the university.  Full Story>>

The Jamison Legacy

In 2014, the Jamison estate donated $1.7 million to Texas Woman's University to fund the Jamison lecture and other university needs. The Jamisons were longtime supporters of TWU and members of TWU’s Old Main Society. Alonzo Jamison served seven terms in the Texas State Legislature before joining TWU faculty in 1968. During his tenure, he became chair of the TWU Department of History and Government before retiring in 1984. He passed away in 2011. His wife, Elisabeth Jamison, received a bachelor’s degree in music from the Texas State College for Women, now TWU, in 1943. She died in 2009.

In 2016, legendary attorney Sarah Weddington, believed to be the youngest person ever to win a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, spoke about women’s leadership and the future during the university's inaugural Jamison Lecture.

In 2017, three national experts on women in politics discussed “Women in Politics: A Conversation About the Future.” Event speakers were Dianne Bystrom, director for the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women in Politics at Iowa State University; Ann Bookman, director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston and Cindy Simon Rosenthal, director and curator for the Carl Albert Congressional Research & Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma. Krys Boyd, host of local NPR station KERA’s, “Think” program, served as moderator.