Cynthia Johnson Adkins 2012 Adelaide Lovett Baker Award Winner

July 2012

Few people have had as broad an impact on the Houston community as the 2012 Adelaide Lovett Baker Award recipient, Cynthia Johnson Adkins. The Adelaide Lovett Baker Award is given annually to one sustaining member of The Junior League of Houston, Inc. who has continued to serve and have a major broad-based impact on the community after her active involvement with the League.

Adkins served The Junior League of Houston, Inc. in a variety of capacities, including as the 1991 – 1992 President. One of her lasting marks was serving as the Chairman of the Building and Plans Committee during the planning and construction of the League building on Briar Oaks. Today all members of the League and those in the community who use the beautiful League building still enjoy the fruits of her labor.

Adkins has applied her League training by serving on the governing boards of organizations such as Bayou Bend, Covenant House Texas, Harris County Hospital District Foundation, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, TIRR Systems, The University of Texas at Austin Development Board, Texas Exes, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Development Board, Vivian L. Smith Foundation, and Whitney Bank. She also served on the Board of Trustees for Episcopal High School twice and for The Kinkaid School. She was the Chairman of the 1997 Theta Antiques Show and will again serve as the Chairman of the 2013 Theta Antiques Show. Additionally, Adkins was the first (and only) woman to serve as President of the River Oaks Country Club.

Professionally, Adkins joined Sterling Associates in 2002 as a non-profit consultant. Since 2006, she has served as the Executive Director of the TIRR Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who have sustained neurological injury.

Adkins also has a storybook marriage to John Adkins, whom she has known since she was a first-grade student at River Oaks Elementary School. She has four children, two grandchildren, and a large group of devoted extended family, friends, and admirers. She is especially proud that many family members, including her mother, sisters, and oldest daughter, have also been active participants in League activities. Adkins’s tireless and selfless dedication to serving the Houston community makes her the ideal recipient of the 2012 Adelaide Lovett Baker Award.

The JLH Sustaining Club’s Adelaide Lovett Baker Award Luncheon is on Monday, October 15, 2012, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm honoring Cynthia Johnson Adkins in the League’s Ballroom.