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The Center for Mexican American Studies was one
of six recipients of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s
Star Award, which recognizes exemplary contributions toward closing
educational gaps in the state. Tatcho Mindiola is the center’s
director.
 An international mathematics conference was held recently
at the Russian Academy of Sciences in honor of the 60th birthday
of Yuri Kuznetsov, M.D. Anderson Distinguished
Professor of Mathematics and noted Russian computational mathematician.
Kuznetsov was presented with proclamations from Texas Gov. Rick
Perry and Houston Mayor Bill White, who declared Sept. 16 as Yuri
Kuznetsov Day in the city.
Kuznetsov was head of the Numerical Analysis Laboratory of the
Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He has written four books and more than 80 research papers. He serves
on the editorial boards of six scientific journals and four volumes
of selected papers.
Alumni
NASA astronaut Bonnie Dunbar (’83) was
selected as president and CEO of Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
Hernán Ruiz-Bravo (’92) was appointed
counselor-in charge of legal affairs at the Mexican embassy in
Ottawa, Canada.
Sue Simpson Schwartz (’95, ’78)
was presented with a 2005 Gainesville Independent School District
Education Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award.
Faculty/Staff
The Texas Bandmasters Association named Tom Bennett,
associate professor of music and director of bands at the Moores
School of Music, Texas Bandmaster of the Year.
The College of Optometry awarded its Benedict/McFadden Professorship
to Yuzo Chino and its Benedict/Pitts Professorship
to Adrian Glazer.
George E. Fox, professor of biology and biochemistry
and professor of chemical engineering, received the 2005 Sigma
Xi Faculty Research Award.
The National Human Genome Research Institute awarded a $4.2 million
grant to VisiGen Biotechnologies, a local company created by UH
researchers working on a new process to sequence the human genome.
VisiGen’s President and CEO Susan Hardin,
an adjunct professor of biology and biochemistry, is the project’s
principal investigator.
Associate Professor Todd Helwig and Assistant
Professor Reagan Herman, both in the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, received a Texas Department
of Transportation Top Research Innovation Award for developing
a more effective and less expensive bridge construction methodology.
A paper written by Ozgur Egilmez, a graduate
research assistant on the project, earned Helwig and Herman the
Structural Stability Research Council’s Vinnakota Award.
Houston Public Radio, KUHF 88.7 FM, earned 11
Houston Press Club Lone Star Awards. Recipients were Wayne
Bell, correspondent; Ed Mayberry and
Laurie Johnson, reporters; Rod Rice,
afternoon news anchor; Capella Tucker, assistant
news director; and Jack Williams, reporter. Williams
also won a regional 2005 Edward R. Murrow Award for journalistic
excellence.
The Digital History Web site placed second in the Center for
Digital Education’s Best of the Web and Digital Education
Achievement Awards in the integrated/ multi-focus category. Steven
Mintz, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History and
director of UH’s American Cultures Program, and Sara
McNeil, specialist in instructional technology and associate
professor of curriculum and instruction, are the Web site creators.
The National Endowment for the Humanities listed Digital History
as an exemplary online resource on its EdSITEment. Best of History
Web Sites ranked Digital History among the top five sites on U.S.
history.
The Office of Public Affairs was honored with
awards in public relations, communications, graphic design and
marketing. The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) District IV presented awards to Doris Huang
and Gini Reed, senior graphic designers, and
Mark Lacy and Thomas Shea, photographers
2. Additionally, the University Photographers’ Association
of America bestowed three awards each to Lacy and Shea, who also
received a Houston Press Club Lone Star Award. The Houston Press
Club also honored Albert Chan, multimedia specialist;
Chris Evans, interim director of creative services;
and Sheryl Taylor, writer/editor 2. Lisa
Merkl, senior science writer, received a Texas Public
Relations Association Award and two IABC/Houston Bronze Quill
awards. UH Campus News won a CASE District IV
award. The Department of University Marketing was
a finalist for the American Marketing Association–Houston
Crystal Awards in the category of corporate identity.
Students
Optometry students Ling Chi Huang, Jason
Marsack, Joy Martin, Lisa Ostrin
and Danielle M. Robertson were awarded five of
eight American Optometric Foundation William C. Ezell Fellowships.
Martin was named as the Advanced Medical Optics Ezell Fellow.
Marsack received the Bausch & Lomb Ezell Fellowship, and Ostrin
was awarded the Essilor of America Ezell Fellowship for 2005.
Huang and Robertson also received the VISTAKON Ezell Fellowships.
Hassan Khalil, biomedical engineering student,
was awarded an American Society of Artificial Internal Organs
Fellowship.
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President
Max Castillo spoke on behalf of the Hispanic Association
of Colleges and Universities (HACU) at the signing of an agreement
between Spain’s government and HACU. The agreement promotes
educational experiences in Spain for Hispanic students and faculty
in the United States.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College
of Sciences and Technology and Baylor College of Medicine
received $2.16 million to support a joint program that trains and
educates the nation’s workforce to render better elderly care.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the funding
via the Texas Consortium of Geriatrics Education Centers.
UHD was named in a 2005 Intel survey identifying
the top 50 “Most Unwired College Campuses” in the United
States.
 The
university’s Commerce Street Building received
the Award of Merit in Texas Construction’s “Best of
2005” competition in the higher education category. All winning
projects will be listed in the December magazine and winners will
be recognized that same month. The building, which houses the College
of Public Service, also received the Associated Builders and Contractors
2005 Excellence in Construction Award in the category of institutional
projects $10 million to $25 million category.
Alumni
Eshfaqur Khan (’97) has designed a computer
software system for a unique $40 million super rig known as HAH-124,
which will enable Kuwait Oil Company to explore for gas at deep
levels.
Darrell Wilcox (’05) received the Stafford
Award for Outstanding Computer Information Systems Graduate from
the university’s business college.
Faculty/Staff
UHD has appointed two deans: Donald Bates, College
of Business, and Susan Ahern, College of Humanities
and Social Sciences.
Elizabeth McConnell was selected chair of the
criminal justice department, and Dennis Rodriguez
was named chair of the computational and mathematical sciences
department.
Floyd Newsum, professor of art and artist-in-residence,
was commissioned by the City of Houston Housing and Community
Development to create a sculpture for the Acres Homes Multi-Service
Center.
The College of Sciences and Technology’s Scholars
Academy received $300,000 to support its Minority Pre-doctorate
Training in Environmental Science. The U.S. Department of Education
Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program awarded the
grant. Lisa Morano and Vicky Estrera
are the co-principal investigators.
Students
Mohammad Abedi, Karla Alvarez,
José Barajas, Emily De La Garza,
José Jaimes, Vien Lam,
Claudia Mendez, Moses Osoro,
Juan Razo and Patricia Ramon
received grants to attend and present undergraduate research at
the 2005 Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans
in Science. De La Garza also won a poster presentation award for
her work.
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UHCL
received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
to offer the joint Master of Healthcare Administration and Master
of Business Administration program at the Texas Medical Center.
In the Texas Fiscal Year 2005 Semiannual Historically Underutilized
Business (HUB) Report, UHCL ranked first among
state agencies that spent more than $5 million with HUB vendors.
Raj Chhikara, professor of mathematics and statistics,
received $40,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
National Agricultural Statistics Division for his proposal, “Determination
of Supplemental and Combined 2007 Area Frame Sample Allocation.”
The project will aid the department with estimating the number of
farms for the 2007 Agriculture Census.
Alumni
The alumni association presented its Distinguished Alumni Awards
to Arnold Adair (’99, ’88), Kimberly
Campbell (’92, ’87), Randy Garner,
(’89, ’86) and Charles A. McClelland
(’00). Kimberly Barfield (’01) received
the association’s Leadership Service Award. Cris
C. Daskevich (’97) was honored with its Early Achievement
Award.
Debra Kelly-Ennis (’81) was appointed
chief marketing officer of Diageo’s North American division.
Faculty/Staff
Wren Bump, lecturer of teacher education, was
selected to become a leader in a new Texas Computer Education
Association’s educational technology professional development
program.
Phillip Decker, professor of healthcare administration,
received a $53,521 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration.
The grant supports programs that provide student financial assistance,
help increase minority enrollment and encourage health graduates
to work for underserved communities.
Nick de Vries, professor of fine arts, was a
judge in the Second Contemporary Mosaic Biennial International
exhibition in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While there, de Vries gave
a presentation on the ceramic technique of Raku, and presented
a tile that he created specifically for the exhibition to the
Argentine Museum of Contemporary Ceramics’ collection.
Vera Garcia, administrative assistant, received
the Texas Educational Support Staff Association’s 2005 Lorene
Roby Rogers Memorial Scholarship.
Thomas Harman, professor of computer engineering,
and Naveed Saleem, professor of management information systems,
were named UHCL’s 2005-2007 Distinguished Professors.
Dorothea Lerman, associate professor of psychology,
received two $19,999 awards—one from Clear Creek Independent
School District and one from Pasadena Independent School District—establishing
graduate student assistantships in psychology.
David Malin, professor of psychology and neuroscience,
received a $25,200 subcontract award from the Minneapolis Medical
Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health for
his nicotine immunization project.
Camille Peres, assistant professor of psychology,
received a $12,482 subcontract award from Rice University to support
an online statistics multimedia course.
Alfredo Perez-Davila, associate professor of
computer science, received a $65,612 grant from the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board’s Technology Workforce Development
Grants Program for his proposal, “Minority Oriented Recruiting
Effort in Computer Science.”
Emily Sutter, professor emeritus of psychology,
received the Texas Psychological Association Distinguished Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Jean Walker, associate professor of marketing,
received the Marketing Management Association 2005 Hormel Meritorious
Teaching Award.
Students
A team of marketing students — Joshua A. Boone,
Karey L. Gibson, Serdar Karasula,
Arnoldo Rodriguez and Hope Wright
— placed second in the Advanced Marketing Strategy Global
Competition.
The Texas Intercollegiate Press Association presented 14 awards
to Bayousphere, a student literary magazine, and the student newspaper
UHCLIDIAN. Honorees were Foy Curley Jr.,
Roxann Grover, Lindsay Humphrey, Candace
Lehew, Sarah Milstead, Brandi
Minchew, Samuel Moreno, Amy
Rhoads, Jessica Sonntag, Haley
Stringer-Hedderick and UHCLIDIAN staff.
Josephine Tittsworth was elected as the National
Association of Social Workers Texas Board of Directors’
undergraduate student representative.
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UHV
President Tim Hudson participated in the New Presidents’
Academy of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved a Master
of Science in Computer Information Systems program at the
UH System at Sugar Land.
The M.G. and Lillie A. Johnson Foundation donated $250,000 to the
new nursing program to establish the university’s
first endowed professorship.
Newland Communities pledged $100,000 to the UH System at
Sugar Land expansion project.
 John
Stansell has been named the School of Education and Human Development’s
new dean. With more than 30 years of experience, 60 publications
and 160 conference presentations, he is an expert in the fields
of literacy development and teacher education. In 1974, Stansell
earned a master’s degree in curriculum instruction/reading
from UHV before earning his doctorate at Indiana University. He
is returning to UHV after serving as chair of the University of
North Texas Department of Teacher Education and Administration.
Alumni
Richard DuBroc was named principal at Rosenberg’s
Lamar Consolidated High School.
Mike Samford was hired as State Bank’s
vice president and commercial lender in the Victoria loan office.
Faculty/Staff
Jeffrey R. Di Leo, School of Arts and Sciences
interim dean and assistant professor of humanities, co-organized
the 2005 Southern Comparative Literature Conference with Marc
Zimmerman, chair of UH’s Department of Modern and Classical
Languages.
Oxford University Press will publish a paperback edition of “Minnie
Fisher Cunningham: A Suffragist’s Life in Politics”
authored by Hal Smith, professor of humanities
and history, and co-authored by Judith McArthur,
resident adjunct professor.
Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, associate professor of
management, published three journal articles: “Determinants
of Innovative Work Behavior: Development and Test of an Integrated
Model,” “Commitment, Flexibility and the Choice of
Employment Contracts” and “Individualism/ Collectivism
and Attitudes Towards Human Resource Systems: A Comparative Study
of American, Irish, and Indian MBA Students.”
Sarah Simon, alumni relations specialist, was
accepted to the 2005-2006 Leadership Victoria Class.
Students
Hari Damodaran presented a poster with Richard
Gunasekera, associate professor of biology and bioinformatics,
at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computational
Systems Bioinformatics Conference.
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