Winn to be honored as Distinguished Alumnus 

St. Mark’s School of Texas will honor Steve Winn ’64 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award at the Spring Alumni Dinner on Friday, April 19, 2024. 

  

Winn has enjoyed a remarkable career at the intersection of technology and real estate. He co-founded RealPage and led the company as Chairman and CEO for over a quarter century. In that time, RealPage grew to be one of the world’s leading providers of property management software and services. Currently, Winn leads the investment firm Mirasol Capital and serves as Board Chairman for Cosm, an experiential media and technology firm developing uniquely immersive entertainment venues. 

 

“This is a long-overdue recognition for a lifetime of commitment to St. Mark’s and leadership in the broader community,” said Scott McElhaney ’85, chair of the Alumni Awards Committee. “From his visionary business ventures to his unparalleled leadership in promoting and supporting the Science Center that bears his family’s name, Steve has recognized the value of innovation in science and engineering and has ensured that St. Mark’s is well-poised to maintain its position as a center of learning in those fields.” 

As a young boy, Winn was "profoundly inspired" by visiting St. Mark's observatory and entered the School in the 10th grade. After earning an engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Stanford University, Winn served as President of the Research Institute of America and President & CEO of Computer Language Research. In 1998, he co-founded RealPage, a company that provides digital tools for real estate properties. RealPage’s software is now used to manage millions of rental units and other properties worldwide.

 

“When I came to St. Mark’s, I didn’t realize that this place is not just about getting an education – it’s about developing what really matters in life: character, education, fitness, friends, passion, persistence,” Winn said at the January 2019 ribbon cutting ceremony for the Winn Science Center.  

Amid his success, Winn has maintained close ties with St. Mark’s as an alumnus, parent, grandparent and trustee. In 2014, the Winn Family Foundation served as the catalyst for the Science Center Project, resulting in the new Winn Science Center and the renovated McDermott-Green Physical Science Center. Since it opened in 2019, Winn has continued to champion the facility’s upkeep and programmatic needs.  

As the new science center and its state-of-the-art planetarium were imagined, Winn developed a keen interest in digital projection systems, leading to his current venture in experiential entertainment, Cosm.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award recognizes achievement of exceptional nature in any field, vocational or voluntary, covering an entire career. 

 
Previous recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award are: 

1987 – P.O'B. Montgomery, Jr. ’38 

1988 – Samuel W. Papert, Jr. ’37 

1989 – Ray L. Hunt ’61 

1990 – Tommy Lee Jones ’65 

1991 – Carl Sewell ’61 

1992 – Robert K. Hoffman ’65 

1994 – Michael R. Levy ’64 

1995 – William Clarkson IV ’66 

1998 – Robert Decherd ’69 

2002 – H. Ross Perot, Jr. ’77 

2005 – Stephen T. Jurvetson ’85 

2007 – Steve Miller ’61 

2009 – S. Alan Stern ’75 

2011 – Robert M. Edsel ’75 

2013 – Kurt Eichenwald ’79 

2015 – Kenneth Hersh ’81 

2018 – John J. Nance ’64 

2020 – Victor Vescovo ’84 

2022 – Clark Hunt ’83 

 

Click here to read more about each of the Alumni Awards.