UH HONORS FACULTY MEMBERS WITH LONG-TIME SERVICE

It has been a long time coming—decades, in fact. After years of teaching and researching, more than 200 University of Houston faculty members have received their just reward. UH President Jay Gogue recently hosted the first university-wide recognition dinner in honor of faculty members who marked their 20th and 25th anniversaries and those with 30 or more years of service. The idea was the brainchild of Joe Kotarba, professor of sociology and chair of the Faculty Senate Scholarship and Community Committee. “Last year, I was approaching my 25th year and I asked my wife facetiously, ‘Where is my gold watch?’” Kotarba said. “That’s when I thought that UH needed to do something to celebrate the mutual commitment of the university and its faculty.” So, Kotarba took his idea to the Faculty Senate, which wholeheartedly approved his proposal The Faculty Senate’s executive committee loved the idea “because some colleges recognize faculty with long-term service publicly and some don’t,” Kotarba said. He then suggested to Gogue that the university acknowledge these faculty members in a modest fashion such as providing a complimentary dinner or two. “Dr. Gogue said, ‘No, Joe, let’s do something elegant and something where all of the honorees can celebrate together,’” Kotarba said. The dinner was held at the River Oaks Country Club. During the dinner, each faculty member was presented with a leather portfolio and a lapel pin indicating their anniversary. “It was such a wonderful and caring way to say thank you,” Kotarba said.

The University of Houston recently honored more than 200 faculty members who marked their 20th and 25th anniversaries and those with 30 or more years of service.

One of those faculty members was Mamie Moy, professor of chemistry. She has worked at UH for about 52 years. Her UH career started as an instructor and has included stints as the director of graduate studies, associate chair of the chemistry department and director of the Science Mathematics Applied Resources for Teachers Center.

Q  Why have you stayed at UH so long?
A  In the early years, it was a very nurturing and supportive environment. I started in a research lab, but I didn’t like that. It was too impersonal. I focused my efforts on teaching, which I really enjoy. It was a real love. Also, my family was here. In the early days, the support for working mothers on campus was not as great as it is now. My family took care of my child while I was teaching, and that was very important to me.

Q  How has the university changed?
A  When I started at the university, it was still a private college. I witnessed some of the university’s most exciting milestones such as when UH became a state institution and when the administration brought the first educational television in the nation to campus. Back in those days, television was still great big square box. The university was forward thinking in regards to technology and the advancement in communication.

The first big building on campus was E. Cullen, and the library was still in the Roy Cullen building. When they constructed a building for the library that was a true indication of scholarly achievement—an educational institution has to have a library.

Throughout the years, we had winning golf, track, football and basketball teams. I look back at the age when Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes and some of the star football players were here. I think, oh my, they have already retired or plan to retire. They were just students here, and I am working. Yes, those were exciting times. We had growth, and we positioned the university in terms of academic excellence.

Q  What is your most memorable moment at UH?
A  It was when I received an award for outstanding teaching excellence in 1977.

Q  Why haven’t you retired?
A  The university sorely needs community outreach, and I believe that I fill that niche. I work with schools to develop hands-on science workshops. The schools call upon the university to provide these types of services. For example, I just finished a workshop in the Katy Independent School District. I’m working with more than 100 middle school girls involved in the Aldine Independent School District’s mentoring program. The biggest problem in the United States is that our young students are not made aware of the importance of science and math.

Q  Why did you decide to pursue a career in chemistry?
A  It was easiest thing for me. The classics and the liberal arts were not as challenging so they were difficult for me, but science and math were challenging and came easier to me. The problem-solving was exciting and that’s what I like to do.

Q  How did your parents influence you?
A  My parents were some of the first Chinese immigrant pioneers in San Antonio. Their vision was that my two siblings and I were to be educated as much as we could, even though it was extremely difficult for them financially. The legacy of academic excellence that my parents started continues today with our children, and hopefully, our grandchildren.

Here at UH when I see youngsters who say they were the first in the family to graduate from high school or to graduate from college, I know what the families have gone through to get them there. I applaud them for their commitment to education.

Editor’s note:
In addition to her teaching excellence award, Moy has received many other honors including the
Asian Pacific American Women Leadership Institute’s Star Thrower Award, the American Chemical Society’s Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach and the National Science Teachers Association’s Distinguished Service to Science Education Award. She also was presented with the Texas Executive Women’s Woman on the Move and the Houston YWCA Outstanding Educator awards.

Moy is listed in “Who’s Who Among American Women and Who’s Who in the South and Southwest. She also was listed in the 1994-1995 edition of Who’s Who Among Asian Americans.