 Later, he came to understand Fernandez great-grand father was a brother of Álvaro de Albornoz y Liminiana and Carmen de Albornoz y Liminiana (the mother of the Nobel prize-winner Severo Ochoa).At the University of Texas, Hightower studied Classical Civilization, Literature, and Perfance.He studied literature with the late Joseph Maloff, and later with Richard Howard.