Vernell Sturns took his dad’s advice about the importance of education and soared to heights that included leading Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as executive director.

Sturns, who joined the TCU Board of Trustees in 1992 and was appointed Trustee Emeritus in 2002, died Aug. 23. He broke ground as the university’s first Black Trustee and worked with TCU to open its doors wider to students of color, said his son, Robert Sturns ’97 MBA.

Vernell Sturns “grew up very poor in East Texas,” his son said, but he never lacked for determination. “My grandfather instilled the importance of education into my father and uncles, and they instilled that in their own kids. Education was a critical path to success for our family.”

Before joining DFW Airport, the U.S. Air Force veteran served as Fort Worth assistant city manager and as acting city manager in the mid-1980s.

Hired to clean up management issues at the airport, he had been on the job only 18 days in 1985 when an inbound Delta Air Lines flight crashed, killing 135. He expertly pivoted to emergency mode, revealing his leadership skills, his son said.

As a TCU Trustee, Sturns drew on his work in city government, including managing growth and its effects on surrounding neighborhoods.

That experience proved invaluable to Horatio Porter ’92 (MBA ’94), who graduated the year Sturns joined the TCU Board.

“When I began working for the city of Fort Worth, he was instrumental in giving me insight,” Porter said. Like his mentor, Porter moved into transportation and is now chief financial officer for the North Texas Tollway Authority.

In his later years, Sturns served on several boards, including Harris Methodist Health Plan.

“He liked the investment that TCU was making in Fort Worth,” Robert Sturns said, “not just from building or construction, but pouring into the population of Fort Worth to succeed.”