Ben Sargent, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1982, was the first recipient of the Amarillo College Distinguished Alumnus Award. Ben graduated from Amarillo High in 1966 and spent the next two years at AC, where he served as co-editor of the student newspaper, The Ranger. He worked on The Daily Texan while attending the University of Texas. After graduation, Ben worked for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the Austin American-Statesman and United Press International. His cartoons have appeared in syndication in dozens of newspapers throughout the country, he won numerous professional awards and he authored a couple of books.