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University of Houston engineering alumnus Abdeldjelil “DJ”
Belarbi (’86 MSCE, ’91 Ph.D.) received one
of the nation’s most prestigious teaching awards from Chi
Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society. Belarbi,
a professor of civil engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla,
is a former student of Professor Thomas Hsu, who is recognized as
one of the world’s leading authorities on the effects of earthquakes
on concrete structures.
Alumni
Julie Garcia (’03) graduated with honors
in English and was offered a full-time position with the Houston
Texans after a successful internship with the Houston Texans Foundation.
Each semester, the Department of English places its majors in
internships that are related to their studies in language and
literature.
Amanda Tullos (’03), a graduate of the
Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, received the 2003 Houston
American Institute of Architects Design Award in the “Best
of Show” category for the On-the-Boards Division. The award
honored the student project, Brochstein’s Mill work facility.
Faculty
Rigoberto Advincula, associate professor of
chemistry, received the Arthur K. Doolittle Award in the Polymeric
Materials: Science and Engineering Division at the American Chemical
Society’s (ACS) 227th National Meeting in March. The award,
established by the Union Carbide Corporation (a subsidiary of
Dow Chemical Company), is given to the authors of an outstanding
paper presented at each national meeting of the ACS.
An expert collaborator and leading innovator in materials chemistry,
Professor Allan Jacobson is this year’s
recipient of the Esther Farfel Award, the University of Houston’s
highest faculty honor. Carrying with it a cash prize of $10,000,
the Farfel Award is described as “a symbol of overall career
excellence.”
Students
The UH Law Center team of Michelle Benavides,
Eddie Berbarie and Julie Gray
defeated a team from Stetson University’s College of Law
during the 2004 National Trial Competition finals held in March.
The UH team beat Suffolk, Denver, Washington University, Syracuse
and George Washington in earlier rounds. It was the first time
that a UH team has won the championship in what is considered
the most prestigious of all trial competitions. The annual event
attracts teams from more than 100 law schools across the country
and involves more than 1,000 law students.
The UH cheerleaders won two national titles in a row and three
during the past four years. The team came in at first place in
the Division 1A Small Coed 1 finals at the National Cheerleading
Association (NCA) 2004 Chick-fil-A Cheer and Dance Collegiate
Championship. The squad, led by Coach Sean Garland
and Assistant Coach Lindsay Neal, competed against
15 national teams including Southern Methodist University, San
Diego State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Captain Wendy Walker and co-captains Aesha
Sanford and Matt Hill led the small
coed team to its third win.
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Garna
Christian, professor of history, was named a Fellow of
the Texas State Historical Association. Christian, a charter member
of UHD’s faculty, has organized the Houston Area History Fair
for middle and senior high school students each year. UHD hosted
the fair for 25 years, making it the longest continuing history
fair in the Houston area.
Bobby Bizzell, dean of the College of Business, led a successful
effort for re-accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business - AACSB International. This prestigious accreditation
is given to only one in four undergraduate business schools.
UHD honored Gene Vaughan, chairman of Vaughan
Nelson Investments L.P., at the 2004 Red Rose Ball.
The event raised $250,000 for the Red Rose Scholarship program.
Co-chairs were Joe Hafner, president and CEO of Riviana Foods, and
George Martinez, chairman of Sterling Bank.
Faculty
Pat Golemon, assistant professor of English
in UHD’s professional writing program and a member of the
Houston chapter of the Society of Technical Communicators, chaired
the student writing contest portion of the Science and Engineering
Fair of Houston, which is co-sponsored by UHD. Finalists are then
entered in the International Student Technical Communication Competition.
For the third year, a Houston student has won the top prize in
the international competition.
Students
Larry Bellot and Carmen Galvan,
UHD undergraduates and members of the Leeuwenhoek Society for
microbiology students, won best poster and best talk, respectively,
at the Texas Branch of the American Society of Microbiology conference.
UHD’s chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, a national
honor society for business students, was named an exemplary chapter
for 2003. Biology major Leslie Cook won first place at the Texas
Academy of Sciences poster competition where she presented her
fungal research conducted during a summer environmental project
at Lake Sheldon State Park.
Members of UHD’s student chapter of the American Marketing
Association won three major awards at the 2004 International Collegiate
Conference. Mariana Garza, chapter president,
and team members Mandy Jo Euresti, Diana
Glass Onyekwelu, Carla Leah
and Scott Waldrum were recognized for outstanding
marketing week activities, community service and professional
development.
UHD students swept the awards ceremony at the annual Texas State
Historical Association meeting. Christine Kowrach,
Phyllis Cannon and Sean McCoy
took first, second and third place honors, respectively, for their
individual essays on Texas history. The students all attend classes
at UH System at Sugar Land. In addition, UHD’s chapter of
the Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society won the “Outstanding
Chapter” award in recognition of the chapter’s efforts
in obtaining a Texas Historical Commission marker for College
Memorial Park, one of Houston’s oldest African American
cemeteries.
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David
Garrison, assistant professor of physics and chair of physics
and physical sciences, was awarded a summer faculty fellowship to
work with NASA Johnson Space Center’s Advanced Space Propulsion
Laboratory. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently
approved a graduate program in physics at UHCL.
Alumni
Regina Blue (’94), NASA Johnson Space
Center engineer, was commended as one of the Modern Day Technology
Leaders at the 18th Annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference
in Baltimore, Md.
Kimberly Brouillard (’94) was named assistant
principal at League City Intermediate School.
Sue Chapman (’84) was appointed elementary
math coordinator at Clear Creek ISD.
Manuel Garza (’00) was appointed assistant
principal at Clear Creek High School.
Odette Bolano Merceron (’89) was named
chief executive officer of Doctors Hospital of Dallas.
Alfred L. Ray Jr. (’91 MS, ’86 BS)
is principal of Timberview High School in Mansfield ISD.
Faculty/Staff
James Dabney, assistant professor of systems
engineering, and Tietronix Software Inc. received a $99,971 award
through NASA’s Small Business Technology Transfer program.
Practical applications would permit detailed modeling of the space-based
robot actuation environment. As the research institution in this
partnership, UHCL received $50,985 of the grant.
Paula Griffith, adjunct professor and sixth-grade
language arts teacher at Dunbar Middle School in the Dickinson
Independent School District, received the 2004 Outstanding Middle
School Teacher of the Year award from the Texas Council of Teachers
of English/Language Arts.
David Malin, professor of psychology and neuroscience,
continues his research on potential treatments to stop nicotine
dependence. Malin received a grant from GlaxoSmithKline Inc. for
$61,000.
Jeffery Oakley, assistant professor of environmental
science and occupational safety, received a $9,346 award from
the Southeastern Universities Research Association Inc. and the
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Jefferson Lab,
to conduct an environmental health and safety review as well as
to develop a train-the-trainer class.
Mary Ann Shallberg, executive associate to the
president, was recognized as one of Bay Area Turning Point’s
10 honorees during the Men and Women of Heart Gala.
UHCL’s 26th Annual Faculty and Staff Awards recognized
service award recipients of five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years. Distinguished
faculty and staff honorees included Laurie Weaver,
assistant professor of bilingual and multicultural education,
Distinguished Teaching Award; Leslye Mize, associate
professor of family therapy, Distinguished Service Award; Dale
Cloninger, professor of finance and economics, Distinguished
Research Award; and Theresa Presswood, director
of communications, Hugh P. Avery Prize/President’s Distinguished
Staff Service Award. The recipients of Staff Merit Awards are:
Gabriel Galvan, maintenance assistant; Wanda
Honeycutt, office supervisor; and Nancy Weise,
benefits coordinator.
Craig White, associate professor of literature,
recently published a journal article, “The Praying Indians’
Speeches as Texts of Massachusetts Oral Culture,” which
appeared in Early American Literature. The article discusses the
first Puritan mission to evangelize the American Indians in the
1600s.
Students
UHCL student publications garnered eight 2004 Columbia Scholastic
Press Association Awards for issues published in 2003. The university’s
literary magazine, “Bayousphere” 2003, received six
awards and the student newspaper, “UHCLIDIAN,” received
two awards.
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The
Mu Kappa Nu Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota, chartered in December 2003,
has been named in honor of Mary K. Natividad, dean
of the School of Education. Its mission is to promote scholarship,
research, professionalism, leadership and excellence in counseling
and to recognize academic and clinical excellence in counseling.
Alumni
Danette Johnson (’98 BA, ’03 MAIS)
is the Title V developmental education specialist at The Victoria
College. She previously was employed by the Victoria Independent
School District as an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Crain
Middle School.
Jennifer Ortiz-Garza (’97) was named director
of the Title V Development Program at The Victoria College. She
also is a counselor at the college.
Mike Samford (’95) has been promoted to
associate director of the UHV Small Business Development Center.
He is a certified business adviser IV and has been employed with
SBDC for eight years.
Faculty/Staff
UHV faculty members inducted as honorary members of Phi Kappa
Phi Honor Society include Cam Caldwell, assistant
professor of management; Elizabeth Heywood, assistant
professor of education/counseling; and Dan Jaeckle,
interim provost and vice president for academic affairs and dean
of the School of Arts and Sciences.
UHV’s contributions during the 2003 State Employee Charitable
Campaign were recognized by the Coastal Bend United Way. UHV’s
employee donations reflected a 104 percent increase over 2002-2003.
Diana Pennington, financial aid senior secretary,
was UHV’s coordinator of the State Employee Charitable Campaign.
The husband and wife team of Hal Smith and Judith
McArthur, both professors at UHV, has won two state book
awards and was a finalist for a third award. The duo was honored
by the Texas State Historical Association for their book, “Minnie
Fisher Cunningham: A Suffragist’s Life in Politics.”
The book won the association’s 2003 Liz Carpenter Award,
given annually for the best scholarly book on the history of women
and Texas. The book also won the Texas Historical Commission’s
T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award, which recognizes books based on original
research that preserve, record and recount the prehistory or history
of Texas.
Students
Danny Ochoa and Rebekah Shimek
will participate in the International Mission on Medicine along
with 78 other students from across the United States. Siva
Somasundaram, assistant professor of biology, nominated
the students for the mission. Ochoa will be completing his mission
in Australia and will learn about medicine and pharmacology of
the Aboriginal people. Shimek will travel to South Africa to learn
about the efforts to stop the spread of HIV/Aids.
Outstanding students for the spring semester are Trent
Thigpen (graduate) and Bindu Nair (undergraduate),
School of Arts and Sciences; Cynthia Gayle Zoch
(graduate) and Loc Phat Phan (undergraduate),
School of Business; and Leann Tripson (graduate)
and Lavenia Diaz (undergraduate), School of Education.
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