Jack Virgil Light studied engineering at AC in 1940 and 1941, earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and began a career with the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation that spanned 35 years. He supervised design of highways and bridges in 17 Panhandle counties. Jack won his department’s Gibb Gilchrist Award for Engineering Excellence in 1979 for designing the rotary directional interchange where Interstates 17 and 40 and U.S. Highways 60, 87 and 187 meet. He was named Engineer of the Year by the Panhandle Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers in 1983.