“I’m telling you, that is one smart, hard-working, gracious, wonderful lady.” — John F. Baugh
In times of darkness, Emily Tinsley’s commitment to bettering the Baylor Family shone through.
“I think [she] wanted to see Baylor be … more transparent, more honorable, the ways that they believed it had been and could be,” said Robyn Tinsley, Emily’s daughter.
Over a lifetime of service, Tinsley became a central figure in the Baylor story: a Baylor regent for the maximum nine years, president of the Baylor Alumni Association, and a key player in the ousting of University officials in the 2016 sexual assault scandal, among many other titles.
Born in 2940 in Beaumont, Tinsley expressed from an early age a keen interest in literature and culture. Among her many creative talents, she was an avid reader, kept many journals, and spent much of her time volunteering. Emily later said her parents encouraged her to engage in community service to keep her “off the streets” and “out of trouble.”
Following her graduation from Houston’s Lamar High School, Tinsley moved to Waco, where she planned to attend Baylor and study education. Quickly becoming a familiar and well-loved member on campus, Emily immersed herself in student life.
Following graduation, Tinsley moved to Dallas and taught in the public school system, then returned to Houston, where she and her husband, Richard, envisioned raising their two daughters, Robyn and Allison. There, Emily filled their home with creativity. Her love of the arts shaped her days and created lasting memories for her daughters.
“She sewed, she painted, she did needlepoint, she painted needlepoint canvases, she did stained glass, she gardened, she built things,” Robyn said. “She was so incredibly creative.”
“What happens in the classroom at Baylor is really what is best about Baylor.”
Emily Tinsley
Over the years in Houston, her service grew to include positions on both the Memorial Hermann HealthCare System Board and the Memorial Hermann Hospital System Board, as well as serving as the founding chairman of the Memorial Hermann Annual Gala.
Yet Emily’s story of service is incomplete without understanding the impact she made on the place that first shaped her: Baylor.
In 1984, Emily took over as vice president of the Baylor Alumni Association, where she championed the idea that everyone belonged in the Baylor community. She worked to ensure Baylor alumni were recognized for their unique achievements and had a knack for making people feel seen.
“She was a classy person who would put you at ease and would remember your name,” said Dr. Steve Gardner, Professor Emeritus of economics and international business, who not only had the privilege of crossing paths with Emily many times but also of teaching her daughter Robyn during her time at the University.
Robyn Tinsley attended Baylor while her mother was actively involved with the University. “I ran into them [Richard and Emily] every time I turned around,” Robyn said. “Of course, they knew so many people at Baylor and in Waco that we used to laugh that I had sort of left home – but sort of not.”
Emily Tinsley’s involvement with the BAA and her family’s continued Baylor legacy motivated her to seek a role within its governing structure and in 1988 join the Baylor Board of Regents. She served the maximum nine-year term, was one of only five women on the board at the time, and chaired the Academic Affairs Committee.
“What I loved about it was working with the faculty and the students,” Tinsley later told The Baylor Line. “What happens in the classroom at Baylor is really what is best about Baylor.”
Having built a resume a mile long — culminating over 25 years of board experience in higher education and health care — and established deep, long-lasting connections within the Baylor community, it was only fitting that Emily would take over as president of the Baylor Alumni Association in 2010. In fact, no one was better suited for the job.
“Emily is as cool-headed, poised, and graceful as anyone I’ve ever been around,” Jeff Kilgore, former CEO and executive vice president of the BAA, told The Baylor Line in 2010. “But don’t make the mistake of perceiving that as a weakness because it’s quite contrary.”
During her presidential term, one of Emily’s most lasting contributions was formalizing the BAA’s Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony. In 2011, she, along with her husband and several colleagues, brought the event to life with music, great food, and better company. While the BAA had long recognized outstanding alumni through various awards, Emily envisioned the Hall of Fame as an event that would elevate and unify those traditions.
“The Baylor Alumni Association celebrates extraordinary alumni every day, but this landmark new event will take [the BAA’s] long-standing alumni awards program to a higher level. In one festive occasion, we will commemorate Baylor alumni—past, present, and future—who typify the best of The Baylor Line in which each of us proudly has a place, she explained.
Following a failed attempt to approve a transition agreement between the Alumni Association and the University in 2013 — an episode that resulted in the resignation of nearly a third of the board of directors and four officers — Tinsley was called once again to serve the Baylor Alumni Association as board secretary.
In 2016, Tinsley rose again as one of the brave Baylor Boosters who spoke out against the board in the wake of a sexual assault scandal on the football team that rocked the University.
The scandal compelled Tinsley, along with other prominent Baylor alumni, to advocate for greater transparency within the University’s governing structure. After fifteen women came forward with accusations against Baylor football players, the University’s law firm concluded Baylor had responded inadequately to multiple allegations of sexual assault.
Emily and other Baylor advocates believed a lack of openness at the board level had contributed directly to these failures and called on the University to release more details from the final report.
“They cannot keep running [the University] like it is their own small, privately held company,” Emily told the Texas Tribune in 2016.
Emily’s advocacy, alongside others, ultimately contributed to the removal of University President Kenneth W. Starr and football coach Art Briles. Never losing faith in the University, Tinsley demanded better of it and that the University continued to grow toward its highest ideals.
“Emily is as cool-headed, poised, and graceful as anyone I’ve ever been around. But don’t make the mistake of perceiving that as a weakness because it’s quite contrary.”
Jeff Kilgore
“She just always had a love for Baylor and believed strongly in giving back. It’s where she and my dad met … and I just think that it was family for her,” Robyn Tinsley said.
Emily Tinsley passed away on December 23, 2025. She is survived by her daughters, Robyn and Allison; grandchildren Karl S. Maier and Tinsley Maier; and an enduring legacy of service and leadership that helped shape Baylor for the better.
