Greene Honored

Members of the Arlington and UTA communities honored Richard Greene for his years of public service and his donation to UTA Libraries at a retirement celebration on Wednesday, Aug. 9, at College Park Center.  

Greene served as mayor of Arlington (1987-1997), city council member and Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator before coming to UTA. At UTA, Greene served as a professor of Practice for the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs.  

Greene expressed his thanks for everyone's support over the years.  

He told the crowd that his biggest supporter is his wife Sylvia, who has provided encouragement at critical moments.  

When referring to his wife's support, Greene compared Sylvia to Tom Hanks' character in "A League of Their Own," baseball coach Jimmy Dugan who encouraged his players to do their best.  

"There were times when I would grow a bit weary, maybe a little withdrawn and kind of semi-depressed. I might say something along those lines like, 'Maybe this is getting to be a little bit too hard," Greene said. "Her answer would be that it is supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. So, get over yourself, get with it and take care of it."  

Some of Greene's first steps as mayor were to improve public safety and infrastructure across the city. He helped to develop a public-private partnership to secure a new home for the Texas Rangers, which opened in 1994 and convinced General Motors to retool its Arlington manufacturing plant instead of closing it. 

The event also celebrated the donation of Richard and Sylvia Greene's papers to the UTA Libraries Special Collections Department.  

The papers document their years of public service, with Richard working for the city of Arlington and Sylvia working on different civic projects like establishing  River Legacy Park and its Nature Center. 

Kera Newby, director of Special Collections and Archives, stated that the Greene's papers are an excellent resource for people to learn about local history. 

"The university and the city are partners in capturing local history," Newby said. "So, in Special Collections, it is vital that we collect these records that tell the stories of our regional leaders and make them available for people to research." 

Newby stated that the event was a great celebration of Greene's contributions to the local and regional area and UTA, particularly CAPPA students. 

People interested in studying the Greene’s papers can view them upon request in the Special Collections Department at the UTA Central Library building. Special Collections is open weekly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.