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Phase II - Donor Gallery - David Norcom '73
No More Games of Catch-Up:
David Norcom implores Aggies to stay ahead in the facilities arm race
Development Corner
By Rusty Burson
Dallas-area businessman David Norcom vividly recalls the condition of Texas A&M’s athletic facilities as recently as 10 years ago. And like so many other A&M former students and fans at that time, Norcom was under the impression that A&M’s facilities were—at the very least—comparable to the competition.
Those seem like “B.C.” days now to Norcom—before construction.
In 1997, Reed Arena was yet to open; Kyle Field had a horseshoe on the north end and a parking lot beyond the south end zone; there was no indoor facility for any sport; there was no covered batting cage for baseball; and the locker room facilities for volleyball, softball, soccer, cross country and track and field were minor and measly, at best.
Norcom says that if he would have known then what he does now, he would have been gravely concerned about A&M’s athletic future. But he says he was simply oblivious to how far the Aggies had fallen behind their Big 12 competition.
“If I would have sat down and had a conversation 10 years ago about where we were compared to the schools that we were competing against, I would have been scared to death about our future,” said Norcom, Class of ’73. “And if somebody would have sat me down 10 years ago and told me that we would have everything in place that we do now, I would have said, ‘I think you are stretching that.’
“But the reality is that we had a whole lot of ground we had to cover just to catch up with the competition. And now that we have so much in place, you can see that our athletic department is on the rise. Other universities, especially in the Big 12, are taking serious notice of what we are doing, and they are now trying to play catch up. We should not rest as ease thinking that we are finally passing everyone because in a matter of a few short years and enough contributions with other alums at other schools, they can catch up and surpass us. We must stay ahead of the curve, and that takes the vision of a Bill Byrne and the contributions of donors.”
Norcom has certainly answered the call to contribute. He has made two six-figure donations to phase II projects of the Championship Vision Capital Campaign. And he is hopeful that the progress of the past 10 years will continue for the foreseeable future.
“We, as former students and fans, need to be listening to what Bill has to say in terms of where we need to be two, three, five or 10 years from now to continue to stay ahead,” Norcom said. “We can do it. But what we can’t afford to do is to be oblivious to what the schools around us are doing. It has taken us so much effort just to catch up. Now that we are gaining ground we need to continue to be a leader in our development efforts, and that will keep us as a leader in the conference standings.”
DAVID NORCOM AT A GLANCE
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THE ATTRACTION TO A&M: Norcom’s father was Class of ’52, and Norcom says he basically came out of his mother’s womb as an Aggie fan. He spent much of his childhood in Tulsa, and he fondly recalls listening to A&M games on the radio with his father.
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A&M EXPERIENCE: Earned B.B.A. in Business in December of December of 1972, graduating in three and a half years. Norcom, the oldest of five children, said he rushed to graduate to ease the financial burden of his father, who developed a rare and serious lung disease while Norcom was at A&M. “I wanted to get off his payroll where I wasn’t a financial drain on him,” Norcom said.
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BUSINESS TRAVELS: Following graduation, Norcom went to work for E.F. Hutton in Waco for a year and then moved to Dallas. He worked in the broker/dealer industry for E.F. Hutton and subsidiary company Smith Barney for 20 years and then went to work for a smaller company called Morgan Keegan & Co. for four years. In 2004, he started his own company called NorCap Advisors, LLC.
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FAMILY: Norcom met his wife, Sharee, through a business associate in Dallas. She became the head of human resources for Michael’s stores. Norcom has two sons: Ross is 19 and a freshman at A&M; Drew is 18 and a senior at Highland Park High School. He also has two step-children: Mindy is 27 and works for an architectural firm in Dallas; Johnny is 25 and works in the defense industry in California.
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WHAT INSPIRES NORCOM TO GIVE BACK: “I credit A&M—and not just academic stuff—for molding my attitude toward work and other people. I would not have gotten the same kind of education at a different university as I did at A&M. Because of that, I feel like I should give back.
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WHAT EXCITES NORCOM MOST ABOUT A&M ATHLETICS: “I think A&M athletics are on a meteoric rise, and we are rapidly getting to the place that we should have been all along. For a university of our size, with our radical fan support and the resources we have, we should not expect anything less. I would almost say shame on us that it took us this long to get here. I think it’s highly unfortunate that five or 10 years ago we weren’t moving more aggressively with our facilities. But better late than never.”
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