December 2006

INSTITUTIONAL

The University of Houston Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic received a $5,000 donation from The Texas Oilman’s Charity Invitational Fishing Tournament. The oilmen involved in this tournament represent a cross-section of small independent companies who are involved in the drilling, supply, maintenance and refining of oil. The tournament was established five years ago as a way for these companies to “give back to community” said David Cowan, who heads the committee that organizes the tournament.

ALUMNI

Fatyn Khawaja (‘06) was named one of two Texas Student Teachers of the Year by the Texas Directors of Field Experiences. She was a student teacher in the Galena Park Independent School District during the spring.

Jane MacNeil (‘06) won the Center for Public Policy Government Internship Award. She was a government intern in Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado’s office.

FACULTY/STAFF

Karim Alkadhi, associate professor of pharmacology, has been appointed to the editorial board of a new scientific publication, The Journal of Pharmacology and
Toxicology.

Michelle Boule, assistant librarian, was selected as a member of the 2006-2007 American Library Association’s Emerging Leaders program.

Hua Chen, assistant professor of pharmacy administration, received a 2006 New Investigators Program for Pharmacy Faculty research grant from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education. The grant will help support Chen’s research on the “Impact of the FDA Antidepressant Black Box Warning on the Utilizations of Psychotherapy, Psychotropic Medications and Antidepressant Follow-up Care among Children and Adolescents.”

Michael E. Clark (’96, ’00), UH Law Center adjunct professor, was appointed as co-chair of the South Texas Region of the American Bar Association’s Section of
Criminal Justice.

E. James Essien, associate professor of pharmacy administration, was appointed to the AIDS and Behavior Journal editorial board.

Kristopher Innanen, assistant professor of physics, received the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ J. Clarence Karcher Award in honor of his significant contributions as a young geophysicist of outstanding abilities under the age of 35.

Amalia M. Issa, associate professor and director of the program in personalized medicine and targeted therapeutics at Abramson Center for the Future of Health at UH, received a $102,918 grant from the Greenwall Foundation to conduct the study “Evaluating Patient Decision-Making and Preferences for Personalized
Medicine.”

Nicolás Kanellos, Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Literature and Arte Público Press director, received the 2006 Texas Association for Bilingual Education Award for contributions to higher education.

Lynn Rehm, professor of psychology, was elected to the National Academies of Practice.

Doug Robertson, audio specialist at KUHT-TV, HoustonPBS, won an Emmy from the National Television Academy Lone Star Chapter for outstanding audio for his work on “Art is All Around Us, Downtown.”

Lois Parkinson Zamora, professor of comparative literature and art history, authored a new book, “The Inordinate Eye: New World Baroque and Latin American Fiction.”

STUDENTS

Pharmacy students Candice Bailey, Charisse Birdwell, Karyn Hemphill and Roy Hendley placed third in the National Community Pharmacists Association’s Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. Additionally, pharmacy students Roy Hendley and Andrew “Andy” Laegeler along with adviser Heidi Bragg, clinical assistant professor, placed third in the Texas Pharmacy Association’s 2006 Innovative Pharmacy Practice Project competition.

Sophomore Lauren McGee was accepted as a student representative of the U.S. Model House of Representatives.

The UH Forensics and Debate Team achieved great success at the 41st Annual Colorado College Al Johnson National Invitation Forensics Tournament. UH placed second in individual events and placed fourth overall among 60 universities. Freshman Chris Hunter earned first place in dramatic interpretation, prose interpretation, poetry interpretation and program of oral interpretation. No other contestant won more than one first-place award. Sunita Dharani, junior, placed third in prose interpretation. Freshmen Whitney Mickel and Myi Watson were finalists in prose interpretation and program of oral interpretation, respectively. Other participants were juniors Michelle Abii, Robert Flores and Helen Vo; and freshmen Blake Gilson, Katie Hunt, Jonathon Morales and Bela Pate.

October 2006

The Mayor’s Office and Keep Houston Beautiful will recognize the University of Houston for the second consecutive year. UH will receive two 2006 Mayor’s Proud Partners Honorable Mention Awards for its landscaping projects at the M.D. Anderson Library and the Science and Engineering Research and Classroom Complex.

FACULTY/STAFF

The Journal of Legal Education appointed Nancy B. Rapoport, professor of law, to its editorial board.

Vincent H. Tam, assistant professor of pharmacy, received a $97,420 grant from AstraZeneca in support of his studies on the prevalence of AmpC in clinical strains of pseudomonas aeruginosa and its impact on clinical outcomes.

Sondra Tennessee, associate dean for student affairs at the UH Law Center, was appointed to a three-year term to serve on the American Bar Association Law School Administration Committee.

The university’s Alpha Phi Alpha Eta Mu Chapter presented its Tribute to Black Women Award to Jean Valayan for her 30 years of service to UH students. Valyan is financial coordinator 1 in the Division of Administration and Finance Office of Business Services.

Alessandro Carrera, associate professor of modern and classical languages and director of Italian studies, received the 2006 A. Bertolucci International Poetry Prize for literary criticism for his book “I poeti sono impossibili” (Poets Are Impossible). The city of Parma, Italy awarded the prize.

Diana Chow, associate professor of pharmacy, has received $100,000 from Pfizer for her research into particle size effects on pharmacokinetic properties of parenteral formulations.

Douglas Eikenburg, associate professor of pharmacy, has received a two-year, $120,000 grant from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression to his research project titled Regulation of GRK3 Expression, A Critical Modulator of Signaling in Bipolar Disorder.

Barry Moore, adjunct associate professor of architecture, will receive the Texas Society of Architects 2006 Award for Outstanding Education Contributions in Honor of Edward J. Romieniec, FAIA. Moore also is the director of the college’s Resources for Historic Preservation and Adaptive Use.

The American Council of Learned Societies awarded a fellowship to Landon Storrs, associate professor of history, in support of her project titled Domestic Insecurity: Gender and Cold War Loyalty Investigations of U.S. Policymakers.

STUDENTS

The University Council for Educational Administration named Allegra McGrew, graduate education student, a Barbara L. Jackson Scholar. The scholar program provides outstanding students of color who intend to become professors with mentoring and career development opportunities.

September 2006

ALUMNI

Jane MacNeil (‘06) won the Center for Public Policy Government Internship Award. She was a government intern in Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado’s office.

FACULTY/STAFF

Tatcho Mindiola Jr., Center for Mexican American Studies director, received a 2006 Mayor’s Hispanic Heritage Award for his contributions in education. Julita Rincon, a UH student, also was presented the award in the youth activist category. Mindiola and Rincon were two of eight Houstonians recognized for their outstanding volunteer service in the city’s Hispanic community.

Journalists with Houston Public Radio, KUHF-FM, 88.7, earned 18 awards for reporting excellence. The Harris County Medical Society and the Houston Academy of Medicine presented three Francis C. Moore M.D., Medical Journalism Awards to Jim Bell, morning news anchor, and one to reporter Ed Mayberry, who also received the Texas Medical Association Anson Jones M.D. Award. Bell and Laurie Johnson, reporter, received third-place awards for soft news and a news series, respectively, from the Houston Press Club. News director Paul Pendergraft received the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters (TAPB) second-place award for best production. Capella Tucker, assistant news director, won a Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) Edward R. Murrow Award for best hard news feature. She received honorable mention from TAPB for best general assignment story and earned a second-place award in sports reporting from the Houston Press Club. Jack Williams won a RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for best sports feature. In the TAPB competition, Williams also placed second for best sports stories and received honorable mention for best production. He earned four Houston Press Club awards. The station’s Web site earned a TAPB first-place award. Lisa Plank is the Web news developer for news content, and Alex Farinas is the Web master. Public service coordinator Rob Cahill won the 2006 Houston Press Club Public Relations Communicator of the Year Award.

The Cornea and Contact Lens Section of the American Academy of Optometry selected Jan P.G. Bergmanson, professor of optometry and founding director of the Texas Eye Research and Technology Center, to present the Max Schapero Memorial Lecture.

Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition nominated Steven Deyle, who will join UH in the fall as an associate professor of history, for its Eighth Annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize for “Carry Me Back: The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life.” Deyle is one of the three finalists. The $25,000 annual award recognizes the year’s best nonfiction book on slavery, resistance and/or abolition.

Staff members at KUHT-TV, HoustonPBS, received community service awards. Patricia Gras, senior host and producer, received the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce Early Loggins Award, the Center for the Healing of Racism Ally Award and the North American Taiwanese Women’s Association Community Award.

KTMD-TV, Channel 47, presented her with the Willy Velazquez Award for Community Service. Gras and Julie Coan, managing producer; Ernie Manouse, anchor and producer; Laura Lucas, assistant producer, received the first Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Community Service Award for their work on the show “the connection.”

Baylor College of Medicine and its alumni association recognized James Gray, UH Health Center chief physician, for his efforts to provide medical care to the community on the 50th anniversary of his graduation from the college.

Vincent H. Tam, assistant professor of pharmacy, received the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) 2006 Young Investigator Award. Tam will present a lecture on his research into infectious diseases and microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents at the 2007 ACCP Spring Research and Practice Forum.

STUDENTS

Julita Rincon, a UH student, was presented the award in the youth activist category. Rincon and Tatcho Mindiola Jr., Center for Mexican American Studies director, were two of eight Houstonians recognized for their outstanding volunteer service in the city’s Hispanic community.

Pradeep Buddharaju, computer science graduate student, received the Summer School on Advanced Biometrics Outstanding Student Paper Award. His paper will be published in Springer Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Students enrolled in the School of Communication’s World Internet News in fall 2005 won six Houston Press Club awards. Curtis Delaney won first place for his radio story “Houston Flooding Could be Related to Local Standards” and second place for the television story “Public and Private Information Up for Grabs Online.” Delaney also received The Press Club of Dallas Katie Award for best student news story for “Houston’s Water Quality Improving.” Matt Dougherty received the first-place award for his TV story “A Day in the Life of a Male Prostitute,” and a third-place award for his other TV story titled “Questions Linger Over the Effectiveness of Proposition 12.” Jenny Yau placed second for her radio story titled “AFL-CIO Splits Over Do-or-Die Unionizing Strategy.” Delaney and Yau are recipients of the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards.

Optometry student Jason Marsack and his co-authors Katrina Parker, clinical assistant professor of optometry; Bill Donnelly, optometry student; and Raymond Applegate, professor of optometry, received The German Association of Contact Lens Specialists/Optometrists 2006 Peter-Abel Preis for their work “Uncorrected wave-front error and visual performance during RGP wear in Keratoconus.” The award recognizes excellent innovative scientific work and practical usage of contact lens optics.

July 2006

ALUMNI

Fatyn Khawaja (’06) has been named one of two Texas Student Teachers of the Year by the Texas Directors of Field Experiences. She was a student teacher in Galena Park Independent School District during the spring.

FACULTY/STAFF

Vincent H. Tam, assistant professor of pharmacy, recently received the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) 2006 Young Investigator Award. Tam will present a lecture on his research into infectious diseases and microbial resistance to antimicrobial agents at the 2007 ACCP Spring Research and Practice Forum.

Rosa F. Yeh, assistant professor of pharmacy, recently won an $18,000 Junior Investigator Research Grant Program award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation. Yeh is studying the impact of complementary and alternative medications use in HIV-infected patients who also are taking antiretroviral medications.

STUDENTS

Pharmacy student Andy Laegeler recently was selected as one of only 12 students out of more than 70 applicants nationwide to receive the 2005-2006 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Student Leadership Award. Laegeler will receive a $2,500 award from the ASHP Research & Education Foundation.

June 2006

ALUMNI

The Houston Alumni Organization, Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company and H-E-B received the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV Outstanding Alumni Relations Program Award for the 15th Annual Operation School Supplies (OSS). The organizations also were awarded a national CASE Grand Gold Award in the Alumni Relations Programs category for OSS. They were the only recipient of a grand gold award out of 1,100 entries.

The World Council of Optometry presented its International Optometrist of the Year Award to Jerry Vincent (’81, ’84) for his outstanding commitment and contribution to the profession and the community.

FACULTY/STAFF

Steven Chiara, intramural supervisor in the Department of Campus Recreation, was named one of six All-American officials at the 2006 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association National Intramural Basketball Championships.

Jerome Freiberg, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Education, spoke to faculty and graduate students at The John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health on culture, climate and school connectiveness.

Jeff Fuller, associate director of admissions, was elected president-elect of the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling.

The UH Libraries presented its Rookie of the Year Award to Tee Thach, senior library assistant in the William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library; its Outstanding Employee of the Year Award to J. Michael Thompson, assistant librarian in the M.D. Anderson Library; and its Outstanding Student Award to Tiffani Lewis. Doris Huang, graphics designer 2 in the Office of Creative Services, also received the Dean’s Library Advocate Award for her work in the library’s branding project.

Ira Colby, dean and professor in the Graduate College of Social Work, was elected president of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Colby will serve one year as president-elect and three years as president. The CSWE is a national association of more than 3,000 members who work or teach in the social work field, and is the nation’s sole accrediting agency for social work education.

Howard Karger, professor of social work at the Graduate College of Social Work, received the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award for “Shortchanged.” His book won in the category of finance/investment/economic. Karger also will participate in the Soros Foundation’s International Scholars Fellowship Program for the upcoming academic year. The fellowship is in Mongolian State University of Education’s Department of Social Work.

STUDENTS

Student-athletes Katie Bush, Jennifer Dry, Sarah Fisher, Millicent Martin, Jonathan and Josh Stirneman and Szintia Szanto received the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal for earning a cumulative 3.75 GPA or above during the academic year.

Richard Murad received a National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarship to study at St. Petersburg State University Smolny Institute in Russia. Murad is majoring in Russian studies.

May 2006

INSTITUTIONAL

The Delta Iota chapter of Phi Beta Delta, honor society of international scholars, inducted some 50 new members and presented a scholarship to Pawan Kapoor, hotel and restaurant management graduate student. The society also presented honorary memberships to Ren Changsong, consul in the education office of Houston’s Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China; Charles A. Ray, diplomat-in-residency in the UH Department of Political Science; and Michael Rierson, UH System vice chancellor and UH vice president for university advancement.

ALUMNI

Edgardo Emmanuel Colon (’80, ’84, ’00, ’03) was selected Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president.

Mario Duarte (’03), security engineer with the Houston Airport System, was named one of the new faces of engineering by the Engineers Week Foundation. President George W. Bush appointed Jacob Monty (’93) to the board of directors of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank. Monty is managing partner of Monty Partners LLP.

Ruth A. Taylor (’75), professor of marketing at Texas State University-San Marcos, was selected for a Fulbright Senior Specialist project at the University of Lima Department of Economics and Business Administration.

FACULTY/STAFF

Landon Storrs, associate professor of history, received an American Council of Learned Societies fellowship.

Roy Weinstein, professor of physics; Ravi-Persad Sawh, supervisor lab 2 physics; Alberto Gandini, research scientist at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston; and Drew Parks, designer research in the physics department, published a paper titled, “Improved Pinning by Multiple In-line Damage” in the “Superconductor Science and Technology” journal.

Kathleen Brosnan, associate professor of history and research director of the UH Center for Public History, is the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of American Environmental History, which will soon be published by Facts on File. Martin Melosi, Distinguished University Professor of History, and Joseph Pratt, Cullen Chair of History and Business, are associate editors.

Donald Fox, professor of optometry, was named a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.

Steven Mintz, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History, was named a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, where he will work on his new book project, a history of American adulthood from the colonial era to the present.

Monica Perales, assistant professor of history, received the Summerlee Foundation Fellowship for the study of Southwestern America from the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University.

Johns Hopkins University Press published a book of poems written by Robert Phillips, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of English.

Susan J. Rasmussen’s book “Those Who Touch: Tuareg Medicine Women in Anthropological Perspective” was published. She is professor of anthropology.

STUDENTS

Bauer College of Business students received numerous honors. Noor Alnahhas and Rosario Romero placed third in TechKnowledge Point/EntrePoint.com’s entrepreneurship competition. This is the college’s 11th award in business plan competitions in the past four years — 11 out of the past 14 competitions entered. Austin Brannon Kroll and Jason Wangler along with their three team members from Rochester and Carnegie Mellon universities placed second in the Finance Case Competition sponsored by Simon Consulting. Javier Lopez, Ryan Mendez and Michael Pettitte placed eighth in the National Collegiate Sales Competition. Pettitte took second place in the competition’s service category. This is the fifth time in six years that Bauer Professional Excellence in Selling students have placed in the top 10 in the competition.

Shawntay Chaney, biology undergraduate student, received the Pfizer Undergraduate Student Travel Award to participate in the 2006 Society of Toxicology annual meeting. She also received a $28,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) supplemental grant to
optometry professor Donald Fox’s NIH grant to support her research on the impact of low-level prenatal lead exposure on retinal toxicity.

Kenneth Norris, graduate student in health and human performance and graduate assistant in the Department of Campus Recreation, received the William N. Wasson Student Leadership and Academic Award from the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association.

April 2006

STAFF

Jenna Berger is the guest curator for the exhibit “Survivors’ Journeys” at the Holocaust Museum Houston. The exhibit runs through Sept. 17. Berger is the managing editor of The Houston Review of History and Culture and the associate director of the Oral History of Houston project in the UH Center for Public History.

Olafs Daugulis, assistant professor of chemistry, was selected by the editorial boards of Synlett and Synthesis as a 2006 Journal awardee. The award honors promising young professors.

Rebecca Forrest, lecturer and visiting professor of physics, received the first American Physical Society M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women in Physics.

Michael A. Olivas, William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law and Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance director, delivered the St. Thomas University Law School’s Annual Distinguished Lecture and Stanford University’s Galarza Distinguished Lecture.

Carlos Ordóñez, professor of physics, was named 2006-2008 scholar with the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The National Academies of Practice in Psychology elected Lynn P. Rehm, professor of psychology and director of UH’s Depression Research Clinic, to join the organization as distinguished practitioner.

Art professors Aaron Parazette, Alfred Souza and Gael Stack, are three of nine finalists for the 2006 Hunting Art Prize, which carries a $50,000 award.

Sandra Guerra Thompson, Law Foundation Professor of Law, presented a talk on American sentencing guidelines at the North American Consortium of Legal Education’s conference.

STUDENTS

Curtis Delaney and Matt Dougherty, broadcast journalism students, and Jenny Yau, theatre student with a journalism minor, will receive four Mark of Excellence Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Region 8. The organization selected Dougherty for his “Questions Linger Over the Effectiveness of Prop. 12” story in the TV General News Reporting category and “A Day in the Life of a Male Prostitute” story in the TV Feature category. Delaney’s “Houston’s Water Quality Improving” placed in the Radio In-Depth Reporting category. Yau was chosen in the Radio News Reporting category for “AFL-CIO Splits Over Do-or-Die Unionizing Strategy” story. The students produced the articles as part of the School of Communication’s World Internet News newsroom in fall 2005.

The Cullen College of Engineering named Ying Hu, electrical engineering student, outstanding senior for 2006 and Julian Vargas, mechanical engineering student, as outstanding junior.

March 2006

STAFF

Laura Pickett Calfee’s exhibition will be on display through March 18 at Rudolph Projects/Art Scan Gallery, 1836 Richmond. Calfee is assistant vice president for governmental relations.

Olafs Daugulis, assistant professor of chemistry, was selected by the editorial boards of Synlett and Synthesis as a 2006 Journal awardee. Individuals chosen for this award are defined by Synlett and Synthesis as promising young professors at the beginning of their career.

Rebecca Forrest, lecturer and visiting professor of physics, received the first American Physical Society M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women in Physics.

Elwyn C. Lee, vice president for student affairs, delivered Prairie View A& M University’s W.E.B. Du Bois History Club George R. Woolfolk Lecture. His speech was titled “The Contemporary Role of the Historically Black College and University: Where Do We Go from Here?” He also delivered a speech titled “Tribute to Black Men” at the annual gala of UH’s Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Sharon O’Neil, professor of information and logistics technology, has been selected to receive a University of Illinois 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award.

The Greater Houston Business Ethics Roundtable named its scholarship program in honor of Bette Stead, professor of marketing emerita, in recognition of the pivotal role she played in founding the roundtable and in recognition of her lifelong commitment to education.

Barbara Tatum, director of counseling and advising in the College of Pharmacy, received the National Women of Achievement 2005 Shining Star Award.

Steve Zamora, Leonard B. Rosenberg College Professor of Law, lectured on international litigation in U.S. courts at the Institute for International and Comparative Law’s Academy of American and International Law.

February 2006

 

STAFF

Richard Alderman, Dwight Olds Chair in Law and Consumer Law Center director, and Thomas Oldham, John H. Freeman Professor of Law, represented the UH Law Center at the Association f American Law Schools annual meeting. Faculty members who spoke at the meeting include Seth Chandler and Bob Schuwerk, professors of law; Antonio Gidi, assistant professor of law; Douglas Moll, Beirne, Maynard & Parsons Law Center Professor; Michael A. Olivas, William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law and Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance director; and Joseph Sanders, A.A. White Professor of Law. Joan Krause, George Butler Research Professor of Law and Health Law & Policy Institute co-director, served as the human embryonic stem cell research program chair. Greg Vetter, assistant professor of law, is the 2007 chair-elect of the Law and Computers Section.

H Texas Online magazine named Paul Chu, professor of physics and T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science, as one of Houston’s leaders and legends. Chu also is executive director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston and is the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology president. Chu also received the Chinese Professional Club Achievement Award.

David R. Dow, University Distinguished Professor in the UH Law Center, was elected to the American Law Institute.

Gary Dworkin, professor of sociology, was a visiting senior fellow at the Australian National University.

Jill Emery, director of the UH Libraries’ Electronic Resources Program, received the 2006 Association for Library Collections and Technical Services’ Esther J. Piercy Award for her contributions in library collections and technical services.

Elwyn C. Lee, vice president for student affairs, will be featured on KPRC-TV’s Salute. He also gave a speech titled “Reflections of the First Tenured Black UH Law Professor” to the Black American Law Student Association, UH Law Center Chapter.

Chenglin Liu’s article titled “Informal Rules, Transaction Costs, and the Failure of the Takings Law in China” was published in Hastings International and Co. L. Rev. 1 (2005). Liu, foreign international law librarian, also presented the article at the Ninth Annual Conference of the International Society of the New Institutional Economics.

Raymond Nimmer, Leonard Childs Professor of Law and co-director of the Houston Intellectual Property and Information Law Institute at UH, received the Fulbright-FLAD Chair in International Commercial Trade and Business Law. He will teach at Lisbon’s Portuguese Catholic University. Nimmer is one of four legal scholars across the nation chosen to participate in the Fulbright Distinguished Chair program this year.

Michael A. Olivas, William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law and Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance director, delivered the Rice University Presidential Lecture on “Terrorism Legislation and Its Effect Upon Colleges.”

Jordan Paust, Mike and Teresa Baker College Professor of Law, delivered a paper titled “Customary International Law: A Rich and Intricate Part of the Law of the United States” at the Eighth Annual Federalist Society Faculty Conference. Paust also was re-elected to the Journal of National Security Law and Policy’s editorial board.

Under the leadership of Jim L. Query Jr., associate professor of communication, the Communication Studies’ (CS) editorial board became the largest in North America and Europe. CS is an academic journal published quarterly by the Central States Communication Association.

Claudia Rankine, associate professor of English, received the 2005 Academy of American Poets Fellowship. The fellowship honors a poet for distinguished achievement at mid-career and provides a $25,000 stipend.

STUDENTS

Four UH Law Center students were recognized by national and international organizations. Travis Combs and Gainey Johnson will compete in the final rounds of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation Law 2005 Student Tax Challenge. Combs is a visiting student from Tulane University. Jim Lawrence and Katarine Sands won the first International Commercial Mediation Competition sponsored by the International Chamber of Commerce. UH alumni Jeff Abrams and Kevin Hedges coached Lawrence and Sands.

Phil Sinitiere, doctoral history student, received the World History Association-Phi Alpha Theta Student Paper in World History Prize (Graduate Division) for his essay “Navigating the Indian Ocean: Exploring the Textures of an African Diaspora.”

January 2006

STUDENTS

Olufemi Ebenezer Akanbi, geosciences graduate student, received the National Association of Black Geologists & Geophysicists 2005-2006 Book Award.

Trinidad Gonzalez’s paper “Conquest, Colonization, and Intra-Ethnic Mexican Relations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, 1900-1933” was presented at Harvard University’s Culture Lines: Emerging Research in Ethno-Racial Boundaries Conference. Gonzalez is a doctoral
history student.

Clayton Lust, graduate history student, received the best graduate student paper prize from the Northern Great Plains Historical Conference. His paper is titled “Confluence and Conflict: Houston and the Camp Logan Riot, 1917.”

** NEWSMAKERS **

Gas Daily quoted David Crump, professor of law, in an article regarding the legal implications of a judge waiving a jury trial for two Duke Energy North America trading officials accused of fraudulent activity.

M2 Presswire quoted Thomas R. DeGregori, professor of economics, in two articles — “GM Food the Key to Future Survival?” and “Conference Designs Tomorrow’s Farm Animal.”

The New York Times quoted David Dow, professor of law, in an article about the transition of the new Supreme Court justices. Dow also discussed his book “Executed on a Technicality” on “Word on Words with John Siegenthaler” on PBS.

The New York Times quoted Howard Karger, professor of social work, in an article titled “Families at the Bottom.”

Joan Krause, George Butler Research Professor of Law and co-director of the Health Law and Policy Institute, was quoted in a Houston Chronicle article on the litigation against Louisiana nursing homes for failure to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina.

The Fort-Worth Star Telegram quoted Tatcho Mindiola, Center for Mexican American Studies director, in an article on Hispanic Heritage Month.

Steven Mintz, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History and director of the American Cultures Program at UH, was quoted in an Ascribe Newswire article about a family conference at UH.

An Economist.com article titled “When Government Fails” quoted Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy and professor of political science. The Associated Press also quoted him in a story about the possible change in Texas’ political patterns caused by the influx of Hurricane Katrina survivors.

Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education mentioned the Graduate College of Social Work in an article about national experts on drug abuse visiting the UH campus.

The Rio Grande Valley Monitor quoted Sandra Guerra Thompson, Law Foundation Professor of Law, in an article on accomplice liability law.

** OF NOTE**

Richard Alderman, Dwight Olds Chair in Law and director of the Consumer Law Center, published the seventh edition of his book “Know Your Rights! Answers to Texans’ Everyday Legal Questions.” He also published the 2005-2006 edition of “Texas Consumer Law: Cases and Materials” and the 2005 supplement to “The Lawyers’ Guide to the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.”

Gary Dworkin, professor of sociology, will serve as a visiting senior fellow at the Australian National University.

Phyllis Gingiss, professor of health and human performance, spoke about the Texas Web-based system for tracking local secondhand smoke ordinances at the National Tobacco Control Program at the Center for Disease Control.

Patricia Gras, senior producer at KUHT-TV, HoustonPBS, received the Willy Velazquez Hispanic Excellence Award for 2005 for outstanding contributions to the Hispanic community. KTMD-TV, Channel 47, presented the award.

Steven Liparulo, program director for pedagogy and instructional design at the Writing Center, presented a study of novels by Duong Thu Huong and Lan Cao at the Thirty Years After Conference at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Ernie Manouse, host and producer, and Matt Brawley, videographer and editor at KUHT-TV, HoustonPBS, won the Press Club’s Dallas Katie Award in the interview/talk show category for the interview with Bob Schieffer on InnerVIEWS.

Charlie Matthew, Cullen Performance Hall technical director, received the National Association for Campus Activities Regional Larry Markley Award for his outstanding contributions to the organization.

The Cullen College of Engineering received two out of three top awards for research at the 2005 Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training’s Annual Research Conference poster competition. Chemical engineering graduate student Mariaclara Añez and Associate Professor Michael Nikolaou received second and third place, respectively, for their collaborative research projects.

Gangbing Song, associate professor of mechanical engineering, presented his smart materials research and their applications at the 18th Annual Mechanical Engineering Conference at the Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

Dan Wells, professor of biology and biochemistry, received the Multiple Hereditary Exostoses Coalition’s Humanitarian Scientific Achievement Award. Wells is the first recipient of the award and was chosen for having repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to the organization’s cause.

2005 Of Note Archives

2004 Of Note Archives