Business & Science
Lowry Mays
Houston-born Texas A&M graduate Lowry Mays built San Antonio's Clear Channel Communications into a global media company and later gave his name and substantial support to Texas A&M's business school.
- Roster rank
- #185
- Category
- Business & Science
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Lester Lowry Mays was born in Houston in 1935, grew up in the Dallas area and earned a petroleum-engineering degree from Texas A&M in 1957 before Air Force service and a Harvard MBA. He moved into investment banking in San Antonio and entered radio ownership in 1972.
Mays led the company that became Clear Channel Communications, with Red McCombs as an important early partner. After deregulation, Clear Channel grew from a local radio operation into a vast media business. Mays also served multiple terms on the Texas A&M System Board of Regents, including as chairman, and the university's business school carries the Mays name.
Defining work
What to know
- Clear Channel Communications
- San Antonio Broadcasting Company
- Mays Business School
- Texas A&M Board of Regents
- media-industry expansion
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1935Born in Houston, Texas.
- 1957Graduates from Texas A&M in petroleum engineering.
- 1972Enters San Antonio radio ownership and begins the company that becomes Clear Channel.
- 2003Begins a term as chairman of the Texas A&M System Board of Regents.
- 2022Dies in San Antonio at age 87.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Houston
Birthplace.
College Station
Texas A&M education, regent service and business-school legacy.
Base of the broadcasting company that became Clear Channel.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Mays helped transform local San Antonio broadcasting into one of the world's largest radio and outdoor-media enterprises.
His long Texas A&M service and philanthropy created an education legacy separate from the media company's later controversies and restructuring.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles