Baylor University Announces 2026 Alumni Awards Honorees

Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-709-5959
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Baylor University has announced the recipients of the 2026 Baylor Alumni Awards, which honor individuals who embody the distinctive mission of the University and their remarkable achievements. A celebration honoring this year’s recipients will be held on campus on Nov. 5, 2026, during Homecoming Week.

“It is a pleasure and an honor to announce this year’s honorees for the Baylor University Alumni Awards – men and women who exemplify this institution’s mission: to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service,” Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., said. “These alumni represent a steadfast community leader, an international business leader, a champion of the faith and a global advocate and protector of child welfare. These honorees represent the best of Baylor. We look forward to celebrating this distinguished group of 2026 Baylor Alumni Award recipients during our Homecoming festivities and telling their stories of impact and contributions to Baylor and society.”

“Our Alumni Board of Advocates is honored to present such a distinguished group of awardees that collectively illustrate the depth and diversity of contributions Baylor alumni make every day both locally in their communities and globally around the world,” said Mark Howard (BBA ’85), President of the Baylor Alumni Board of Advocates.

This year’s Baylor Alumni Awards recipients are:

Baylor University Alumnus of the Year
John David Rainey

The Alumnus of the Year honor is awarded to a graduate who has achieved distinction through exceptional contributions to our international, national, state or community welfare. This year’s Baylor Alumnus of the Year is John David Rainey (B.B.A. ’93, M.B.A. ’95) of Bentonville, Arkansas, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Walmart.

Rainey has built an exceptional career at the intersection of finance, innovation and leadership. Throughout his career, he has emphasized the importance of people, humility and adaptability. His experiences – from working construction during college to leading through major industry transformations – shaped his belief that every person and every role matters.

“Careers today are less about spending your working years at one company moving up the ladder,” Rainey said. “A career now is about honing skills and applying those to your calling. Callings can shift in a lifetime, which can be an intimidating and daunting idea. However, it also can be energizing and invigorating to learn and to try to master something new.”

Rainey’s passion for finance began at Baylor. After graduation, he went on to spend 18 years in the airline industry with United Airlines and Continental Airlines, followed by seven years as CFO of PayPal before joining Walmart in 2022. Rainey’s current role is a combination of his previous two jobs: capital intensive like the early days of PayPal and brick-and-mortar like the major airlines. He also manages a fast-growing digital presence that is 25% of all Walmart’s business today. It’s a perfect blend of all the stops along his road so far. 

“You have to determine what success looks and feels like to you and not let others be the yardstick by which you measure success,” he said. “There is no secret code to success but that doesn’t mean it’s complicated. Work hard and treat people well then everything else is going to fall into place.”

Rainey also serves the business community through his work on the boards of directors for Microsoft and PhonePe. Rainey and his wife, Kelly, are members of the Hankamer School of Business Pillars and also served on Baylor University’s President’s Leadership Council. They previously served on Baylor’s National Campaign Steering Committee for the Give Light Campaign, the most successful fundraising campaign in university history.

Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service
Kenyatta Gilbert, Ph.D.

The Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service is awarded to individuals whose broad contributions to Christian ministry have made an immeasurable impact. This year’s Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service is awarded to Kenyatta Gilbert (B.A. ’96), Ph.D., Dean and Professor of Homiletics at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C.

“It is humbling on a number of levels to receive this award,” Gilbert said. “As an alum, to return in this way and to be honored in this way by my peers who have served and continue to invest in Baylor's mission, I'm humbled by it. What I've learned over the course of time is that if you truly love God, then it ought to be expressed in the way in which you do your work in the world.”

In addition to his Baylor degrees, Gilbert holds an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Gilbert is an ordained Baptist minister, and he has preached to congregations across the country and in Kenya. In 2006, he joined the faculty at Howard University, where, in 2011, he founded The Preaching Project, a transformative ministry dedicated to empowering ministers for effective service within African American churches and communities. In 2024, he was named Dean of the Howard School of Divinity. During his inaugural year, Gilbert was awarded a $1.25 million Compelling Preaching Initiative grant to launch programs on African American preaching at Howard. Gilbert also served as the Black Congregations Resource Center’s founding director at Howard.

“Faithfulness can be the mark of your life,” Gilbert said. “That’s what I want to be said about me when I make my transition. That I was faithful, I was sincere, I understood my limitations, but I also understood that every day brings an opportunity to do better, to do more, to love better, to love more, to serve better, to serve more and to rest and reflect.”

Among his many honors, Gilbert was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College in 2022 and received the Diamond Award for Excellence in Leadership from the Not Alone Foundation Inc. He also has received the Baylor Black Alumni Alliance’s Robert L. Gilbert Distinguished Alumni Award, named after his father, the Rev. Robert L. Gilbert (B.A. ’67) who was an influential educator, pastor and civil rights leader in Central Texas, as well as the first African American student to graduate from Baylor University.

Pro Texana Medal of Service
Brenda Snitzer

The Pro Texana Medal of Service recognizes an individual whose contributions in furthering the mission of Baylor have made an immeasurable impact in the public or nonprofit sector. This year’s Pro Texana Medal of Service is awarded to Brenda Snitzer (B.S.Ed. ’85, M.S.Ed. ’86), executive director of The Stewpot, a community ministry of First Presbyterian Church in Dallas. The Stewpot provides critical resources like housing and stabilization services, educational opportunities and meal programs to people experiencing poverty and homelessness.

For Snitzer serving others is more than a calling – it is a way of life. She has spent her career helping people find resources, community and renewed hope. After graduation from Baylor, Snitzer worked as a probation officer in inner-city Dallas. The experience opened her eyes to the circumstances that can lead people into the criminal justice system and strengthened her desire to pursue social services focused on prevention and intervention.

At The Stewpot, Snitzer has helped create a place where people can be heard, cared for and equipped to move forward. Under her leadership, the ministry’s physical space was transformed into an inviting environment for healing and community, while programs expanded to address the whole person. In 2025, The Stewpot served nearly 309,000 meals and distributed 2.08 million pounds of food through their food pantry, while the ministry’s new campus facilitated 8,265 healthcare visits, as well as job training, shower services, haircuts and more for people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness in the Dallas area.

For Snitzer, the heart of the ministry is simple: “Love is active – service is transformational.”

Pro Mundo Medal of Service
Biak Nu Sung

The Pro Mundo Medal of Service recognizes individuals whose contributions in furthering the mission of Baylor have made an exceptional global impact through sustained service, advocacy and leadership. This year, Baylor presented the inaugural Pro Mundo Medal of Service to Biak Nu Sung (M.S.W. ’12), a Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF dedicated to advancing child welfare and protection in Myanmar.

“I feel responsible for the people in Myanmar,” Biak said. “I’ve been fortunate to visit and work in beautiful places, and I hope I can share just a little bit of that with them. How can I bless them with what I have been blessed with?”

Biak Nu Sung, who is from Myanmar, first came to Baylor University on the recommendation of Pastor Tom Ogburn (D.M. ’05) whom she had met during her undergraduate studies in Singapore. Biak enrolled in the Global Mission Leadership (GML) Scholars Program at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, and after graduation, she returned home where she initially found work at her church before joining UNICEF.

“All I knew about UNICEF was that they provided aid. I didn’t even realize that it was part of the United Nations,” Biak said. “But during the final interview, I felt a deep sense of peace – like divine intervention.” 

In the 12 years since, Biak has used her Baylor social work training to influence international child advocacy, policy development and family support initiatives. She contributed to the development of Myanmar’s Child Rights Law of 2019, which provided a framework for protecting children throughout the country, and she has provided mentorship and educational resources to Chin families around the world navigating cross-cultural parenting and educational systems.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for nearly 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.