The Lasting Influence of Maggie Bains, From Classroom to Coast
This is part of a series of stories looking at the history and impact of HRI over the last 25 years.
In 2013, the Maggie Bains Endowed Scholarship was created at the Harte Research Institute (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). Through contributions from donors such as Cecilia Bridges and many others, the fund supports full-time graduate students in marine biology who conduct their studies at HRI.
This type of support plays a vital role in HRI’s mission to train the next generation of marine scientists, and for Bridges, contributing to the fund was a meaningful way to honor her “dear friend” of more than 50 years while ensuring Bains’ lifelong dedication to marine science continues to inspire future researchers.
Bridges’ friendship with Bains began with a small exchange in a La Porte High School biology class in 1963. Bains, who was teaching the course, returned a test paper to Cecilia with the letters “CEC” written at the top.
“At the end of class, I asked Mrs. Bains what it meant,” Bridges recalled in a letter years later. “She said, ‘You don’t look like a Cecilia to me — I’m going to call you Cec.’”
Bridges accepted the nickname with one condition — she would call her teacher “Bains.” From that moment on, the two forged a lifelong friendship that helped shape Bridges’ life and career.
Bridges went on to earn a master’s degree in marine biology and later became an attorney practicing land-use law, and Bains remained present through many of her most important milestones — a testament to the deep influence she had throughout her long career as a science educator.
That commitment to excellence extended far beyond the classroom. From the students she taught to the researchers she supported at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) and later at HRI, Bains left a lasting impression across the marine science community.
“She was just real jolly and friendly, and she loved to cook and would even bring in casseroles to the lab,” recounted Rick Kalke, a research assistant in HRI’s HydroEcology Lab who worked with Bains for more than 30 years at UTMSI and HRI. “She would come in and mainly pick, or sort, benthic samples for us, and I think she was really trying to keep busy.”
Even after moving to Wimberley, Bains returned to the Texas coast year after year to work in the labs she loved.
“It was kind of a vacation for her,” Kalke added.
Bains passed away in 2019, but her impact continues to be felt across Texas and beyond.
“She would really appreciate the fact that a scholarship is in her name that is out to help future marine scientists,” Kalke said.
Bridges hopes her support of the endowed scholarship will help sustain that influence for generations to come.
“Hopefully through my donations I can help build a lasting legacy for Maggie based on her love of marine science and her wish to support young marine scientists,” Bridges said. “I believe Maggie would be pleased and proud that this is how she will be remembered.”