Ona Underhill, department business administrator for finance and operations in the Department of Plant Operations, received the 2004 C.F. McElhinney Distinguished Service Award, the University of Houston’s highest staff honor. From serving as secretary to manager of personnel training to her current position as business administrator, Underhill’s ability to work in multiple roles has made her a valued asset to the university for some 40 years.

Alumni

The Houston Alumni Organization presented Leroy Burrell (’94), Rose Cullen (’55) and Charles Matthews (’70 J.D.) with 2004 Distinguished Alumni Awards. Richard Coselli (’59), Graham Painter (’72) and Matthew (’55, ’58 J.D.) and Shirley Provanzano received Distinguished Service Awards. Becky Hyatt (’93) received the Outstanding Alumni Volunteer Award.

Faculty/Staff

Richard Alderman, Dwight Olds Chair in Law and director of the Consumer Law Center, received the State Bar Association’s Nancy L. Garms Memorial Award.

Edgar Bering, professor of physics and electrical and computer engineering, and Michael Brukardt, research assistant in physics, received the 2004 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Best PaperAward for technical and scientific excellence.

Roland Glowinski, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and professor of mechanical engineering, was awarded the 2004 Theodorevon Kármán Prize, an international honor in the field of mathematics.

Susan Hardin, associate professor of biology and biochemistry, received a 2004 Top Houston Women in Technology award.

Barbara Keyfitz, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Mathematics, is the first woman to be appointed director of Canada’s Field Institute, a prestigious international center for mathematical research.

Dan Luss, Cullen Engineering Endowed Professor and professor of chemical engineering, received the Abraham E. Dukler Distinguished Engineering Faculty Award.

William Miller, assistant professor of optometry, received the Cora and J. Davis Armistead Faculty Teaching Award.

Joe Papick, director of the Child Welfare Education Project in the Graduate School of Social Work, was elected Staff Council president.

Cydney Rax, administrative assistant in the Departmentof Facilities Planning and Construction, has published her first book, “My Daughter’s Boyfriend.”

Jerald Strickland, interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, received the Dr. Jack Bennett Innovation in Education Award.

Jerry Waite, associate professor of technology, along with his co-authors, were honored with the Best inCategory award for “CMYK Color: Visual & Digital References for Professionals,”a resource for color printing.

Jack Williams, KUHF 88.7 FM news reporter, was named the Houston Press Club Radio Journalist of the Year.

Students

Mehnaz Bhayani, senior computer science major, was awarded a Kathi Bowles Scholarship benefiting outstanding women pursuing careers in technology-related fields.

Brad Sayles, graduate student in music composition and senior recording engineer for KUHF 88.7 FM, is the recipient of the Telly Award for his musical score of the seven-minute NASA film,“To Fly.”

The Red Rose Ball 2004 raised $250,000 in supportof 25 Red Rose Scholarships ($3,000 each), the Dean’s Scholarships for highly qualified transfer students and Scholars Academy Scholarships for students in science, technology, engineering and math.

Anisul Islam, professor of economics, was honored with an Excellence in Teaching award, UH-Downtown’s top faculty recognition. Islam joined the UHD faculty in 1990. He is coordinator of the degree program in international business, which started with four declared majors in 2001 and now has 110 participants.

Faculty

Roberto Garza, lecturer in geology, will serve on an American Meteorological Society advisory board for an education program that would put ocean studies courses online. Garza successfully led an effort to install a weather station at UHD as part of KPRC Channel 2’s weather station network.

Anne Sherman, director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, received a fellowship through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

UHD faculty members acknowledged their peers at the annual Faculty Awards. Larry Spears, professor of chemistry, was honored for Excellence in Service. Sandra Dahlberg, associate professor of English, and Janice Nath, assistant professor of education, were co-recipients of the Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activity award.

Students

Tiffanie Chatman, biology major, and Vien Lam, chemistry major, were selected for the Texas Joint Admission Medical Program.

Biology major Caroline Daigle received a $2,000 Award of Excellence from Phi Kappa Phi, the oldest, largest and most selective all-discipline national honor society.

Senior Mary Anne Fogarty, professional writing major, is one of only two students nationwide to receive an Eli Lily student scholarship to attend the annual meeting of the American Medical Writers Association.

Jeeba Kuriakose, microbiology major, received the Association of Women in Science, Houston Gulf Coast Chapter’s annual undergraduate scholarship.

University of Houston-Clear Lake, in partnership with the Harris County Department of Education and Clear Creek, Deer Park, Galena Park, Goose Creek Consolidated and Pasadena Independent School Districts, received a grant for $863,813 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the Collaborative School Librarian Training Project. The project will recruit and prepare school librarians to work with Hispanic students to help ensure academic success.

UHCL Mathematics Institute received a $7,500 gift from ExxonMobil Baytown.

The Art School for Children and Young Adults received a $2,000 gift from the Kinder Morgan Foundation.

Robert Hodgin, associate professor of economics, received an $84,925 award from the Texas Council on Economic Education to support the Center for Economic Education. The center’s focus is on teacher workshops designed to incorporate economics in grades K-12 curriculum. Hodgin is the director of the center, an affiliate of the Texas Council on Economic Education at UHCL. He is also the author of “Economics for Educators” (Texas Edition).

Alumni

Chuck F. Hall Jr. (’97 MBA) was appointed executive vice president and treasurer of Southwest Bancorporation of Texas Inc.

Gregory C. Johnson (’84 BBA) published his second book,“ The Saban Way.”

Donald R. Puddy (’78 MBA) was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame.

D’Lisa R. Simmons (’85 BBA) was elected district governor of Rotary District 5890 for the rotary centennial year, 2004-05.

Faculty/Staff

Yvette Bendeck, professor of finance, was named associate vice president for academic affairs.

Suzanne Brown, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, received a $79,999 award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for a proposal titled “UHCL Mathematics Institute 2004-2005.”

Raj Chhikara, professor of mathematics and statistics, received a $25,000 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Services, for the development and evaluation of mixed model procedures to estimate the stratum variances used on allocating area frame samples for agricultural surveys. He also received a $5,578 subcontract award with Geotechnology Research Institute/Houston Advanced Research Center for UHCL’s project to analyze data of water quality and fishery in Galveston Bay from 1977 to 2001.

Peggy Hill, associate professor of reading and language arts, received a $53,000 award from the National Writing Project Corporation for the Greater Houston Area Writing Project.

Shelly Kelly, archivist, published an essay, “Cutting It Close at Hobby,” in the Houston Chronicle’s Texas magazine.

Christine Kovic, associate professor of anthropology, was awarded a one-month Rockefeller Residential Fellowship at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México to study culture, politics, migration and transnational processes.

Bonnie Mackey, assistant professor of early childhood education, co-authored a book, “Collaborating for Real Literacy: Librarian, Teacher and Principal.”

David Malin, professor of psychology and neuroscience, received a National Institutes of Health $51,432 subaward — the first year of a three-year award — to support his ongoing efforts to develop a vaccine to block the effects of nicotine.

Deepa Reddy, assistant professor of anthropology, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston, received a $55,190 subcontract award for the first year of a three-year grant.The National Institutes of Health-National Human Genome Research Institute granted an award for a proposal on the perspectives of the Indian and Hindu communities in Houston on genetic research and the International HapMap Project.

Larry Rohde, assistant professor of biology, received a three-year $208,513 award from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health for research on new proteins binding apoptotic stimulator of p53, ASPP2. The p53 tumor suppressor is the most frequent genetic lesion implicated in human cancers.

Brenda Slough, staff assistant in research administration, was awarded the 2004 National Association of Educational Office Professionals’ Education Foundation Marion T. Wood Member Scholarship.

Zerong Wang, assistant professor of chemistry, received a three-year $150,000 award from The Welch Foundation for research on the synthesis of novel heterocycles from carbonimidic dichlorides.

Brenda Weiser, lecturer in science education, received a $15,000 award from the Houston Advanced Research Center for a project that would provide accurate, balanced educator workshops and to demonstrate how to utilize the Central Southwest Gulf Coast Information Node National Biological Information Infrastructure Web site for classes.

Chunlong Zhang, assistant professor of environmental science/environmental chemistry, received a $21,000 award from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a proposal on teaching environmental sciences.

Students

Members of the Association for Childhood Education International won Best Fundraiser, Best Children’s Event/Community Service and the Elizabeth Breathwaite Mini-Grant at the ACEI Annual International Conference. Marlene Morgan, ACEI president, won the Elisabeth Breathwaite Student Leadership Award.

Michelle Jackson, a graduate student in the School of Business and Public Administration, received the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation Graduate Student Leadership Award.

Brian Scheffman, a graduate student in the School of Business and Public Administration, along with two of his coworkers, received the 45th Space Wing Commander’s Coin Award at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida for saving the life of a coworker.

Li Chao, associate professor of mathematics and computer science, was awarded the 2004 Enron Teaching Excellence Award. The award recognizes faculty members at University of Houston System universities for their outstanding teaching ability. He currently is working on a special teaching lab for computer science majors. Chao has been an associate professor in the School of Arts and Sciences since 1995.

Alumni

Leslie Crews (’94) was promoted to senior vice president of First Victoria National Bank.

Teresa Duroher-Arnecke (’96) has joined First Victoria National Bank as risk management officer/manager.

Nanette Mackay (’96) is the new principal at Pettus Elementary School.

Laura Pustejovsky (’88) was promoted to assistant principal at Myatt Elementary School in El Campo.

Larry Ramirez (’99) was appointed principal at Palacios High School.

Meta Schwader-Chavez (’02) was promoted to audit officer at First Victoria National Bank. She has been employed with the bank since November 1996.

Annette Scott (’80) was appointed executive director of curriculum and instruction for the Galveston Independent School District.

Valerie Segovia (’98) was appointed assistant principal at Palacios High School.

Leann Sweaney (’04), a biology teacher at Memorial High School in Victoria, was chosen as one of 45 finalists statewide for an H-E-B Excellence in Education Award.

Faculty/Staff

Estella De Los Santos, associate professor of education, was appointed by unanimous vote to fill the District 5 position on the Victoria Independent School District School Board.

June Lu, assistant professor of management, received the Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Internet Research for her submission “Technology Acceptance Model for Wireless Internet.” Lu co-authored the paper with Chun-Sheng Yu, assistant professor of management, and others.

Jo Ann Spears won first place in the Crafts Division in the Cultural Council of Victoria’s 19th annual citywide On My Own Time Employee Art Show. Natalie Burge won third place in the Black and White Photography Division and third place in Drawings/Graphics. June Secrist won third place in Digital Photography

Students

Laura Janak, Allison Keller and Franciscus“Harry” Kumala won the Spring 2004 MBA Case Competition. Teams participating in the competition prepared original business case analyses on the company Red Hat, which provides Linux and open source technology.