The Legion of Merit Award honors those outstanding members of our Fraternity who have made a lifelong commitment to the service of Phi Delta Theta. The recipients of this award are not only living testimony that Phi Delta Theta is a “Fraternity for Life,” but they are also the men who give this phrase meaning for so many of us.
Brother Jeffrey B. Love was initiated into the Tennessee Alpha Chapter at Vanderbilt University on April 2, 1968. While an undergraduate, he broke three all-time Vanderbilt University Baseball Hitting Records in Southeastern Conference competition and was an Academic All American. Thereafter, he received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law, and subsequently, was the youngest graduate in the Law School’s history to serve as National President of the Law School Alumni Association.
Brother Love is Chairman of the Houston Office of Locke Lord LLP, a 650 lawyer firm with offices in 11 cities in the U.S., one in London and one in Hong Kong. He joined the firm as the 24th attorney in 1976. Since joining the firm, he has served as Chairman of Client Development Firm-Wide for 20 years.
Jeff has been very active in civic and charitable undertakings, including:
- Service as a National Trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- Board and Executive Committee of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
- Boards of Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation (of which he was a past Chairman)
- Memorial Hermann Healthcare Foundation and Memorial Hermann Community Benefit Corp.
- University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center and the Greater Houston Partnership
Brother Love received the Fraternity’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2009 and joined the Phi Delta Theta Foundation board as a Trustee in 2010. This brother’s financial support of Phi Delta Theta has been magnanimous, and he has been extremely influential in the establishment of multiple Whole Man Scholarships for the Foundation. Jeff served as Honorary Consul General of Sweden in Texas for six years and for his service, was granted Swedish Knighthood by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden. He serves on the Fred Jones Capital Corporation Board, and also served on the JP Morgan Chase Houston Regional Advisory Board for 20 years and as Chairman of its Board Nominating Committee for 10 years.
Brother Love was the co-honoree at the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association of Greater Houston Annual Dinner in April 2011; and has been an Honoree of The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs Dinner; the Boys & Girls National Trustees’ Dinner (Southwest Region); and The Children’s Scholarship Ball of the Jewish Community Center, Family Service Center and Child Advocates. He has received the Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award, presented by the University of Texas Ex Students Association annually to four alumni under 41, and he was the first recipient not to attend the University of Texas as an undergraduate. He was selected for the Five Outstanding Young Houstonians and Five Outstanding Young Texans Awards.
His wife, Kathy, is an accomplished artist and equestrienne. They have two children. Benton is a Vanderbilt University National Merit Scholar, who secured his MBA at the University of Texas, and is now in the Acquisitions and Divestitures Group at Black Stone Minerals Company, LP of Houston. Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she was a member of the National Scholars Honor Society and has attained a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston. Elizabeth’s husband, Adam Ross, is a UT graduate with an MBA from UH, and is with Plains All American.
For his lifelong dedication and commitment to Phi Delta Theta, the Fraternity is proud to honor Brother Jeffrey B. Love with the Legion of Merit.
