Congratulations to Dr. Josiah Rector (Associate Professor of US Urban and Environmental History) on receiving the Kick Ass Award from the Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) in September 2026. Established in 1991, this nonprofit organization focuses on protecting public health, particularly in communities on the frontlines of industrial emissions, toxic waste, and flood risks. TCE also fights to protect endangered species and ecosystems on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Dr. Rector is honored by the award’s recognition. “While I do not view scholarship and political advocacy as the same thing, I do think the two can be complementary, as scholars like Dr. Robert Bullard at [Texas Southern University] and many of our current and retired faculty in the UH Department of History have long demonstrated. As a historian of the environmental justice movement, I have sought to make my scholarship useful for community advocates through teach-ins and workshops at the Houston Climate Justice Museum, the Gulf of Mexico Climate Summit, with unions like TSEU and SEIU, and events with TCE in Houston and Corpus Christi. I sincerely appreciate TCE's support for those collaborative efforts."
Check out the full announcement of Dr. Rector’s award here.