UH System Success Stories MAY 2004

Photo: Abdeldjelil  Belarbi, Assoc. Pharmacy Professor 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.

Photo: Garna Christain, UH-DowntownGarna 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.


Photo: David Garrison, UH-Clear LakeDavid 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.

Photo: Mary K. Natividad, UH-VictoriaThe 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.