UH System Success Stories MAY 2008


The department of health and human performance placed No. 1 among colleges and universities with health, physical education and recreation programs surveyed by Academic Analytics’ Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index. The index is an independent ranking of doctoral programs in research universities across the country.

The Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture received nearly $1 million in grants from the Houston Endowment and the Meadows Foundation to support sustainable design programs.

The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the Cullen College of Engineering received an $8.8 million grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental to purchase a portable emission testing system and an engine dynamometer, a machine that tests an engine outside of the vehicle.

The National Council for Black Studies presented its Sankore Award to the African American Studies Program. The award is given annually and recognizes the outstanding African American Studies program of the year and its contributions to the field of Africana Studies.

Photo: Vassiliy LubchenkoVassiliy Lubchenko, assistant professor of chemistry, has been named as one of only 16 recipients of this year’s Beckman Young Investigator Award, which includes a $300,000 grant. The award is given to young faculty in the life sciences engaged in the most innovative research – those with the potential to achieve major advances in their fields. Lubchenko was among a select group that included scientists from Columbia University, the University of California at Berkeley and other renowned institutions.


Alumni

Photojournalist Adrees Latif (’00) won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for his photograph of the fatal shooting of Japanese videographer Kenji Nagai. Former Cougar Hakeem Olajuwon was selected as an inductee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Julian Schnabel (’73), artist and screenwriter, was nominated for the Achievement in Directing Award by the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”

Crystle Stewart, a former student, was crowned Miss USA.

Faculty

UH recently recognized outstanding faculty. David Francis, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor in the department of psychology, received the Esther Farfel Award, UH’s highest accolade recognizing faculty excellence. Vincent Donnelly, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Thomas O’Brien, professor of history, were named John and Rebecca Moores professors. Demetre J. Economou, professor of chemical engineering; Eric R. Bittner, associate professor of chemistry; and Vincent H. Tam, assistant professor of clinical sciences and administration in the College of Pharmacy, were presented with the Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award. Teaching Excellence Award recipients are Ron Lazer, assistant professor of accountancy and taxation; Sang-Hoon Lee, assistant professor of engineering technology; Brian K. McFarlin, professor of health and human performance; and Vern Paulsen, professor of mathematics.

Teaching Excellence Awards for the provost’s core were given to James R. Benbrook, professor of physics, and William R. Dupre, associate professor of geology. Virginia Leigh Hollyer, mathematics instructor, received the Teaching Excellence Award for innovation in instructional technology. A Teaching Excellence Award for graduate teaching assistant was presented to Alana Lynes, graduate teaching assistant in biology and biochemistry. Margot Gayle Backus, associate professor of English, received the Faculty Award for Mentoring Undergraduate Research. The Provost Faculty Advising Award was bestowed upon Simon Bott, director of undergraduate affairs and advising in the chemistry department.

The Houston American Advertising Federation presented its Silver Medal award to Robert Culpepper, communication lecturer, for his lifetime achievement in the Houston advertising industry. Culpepper also was awarded with a Hall of Fame trophy for his “Luv Ya Blue” campaign for the Houston Oilers. The federation also awarded to the School of Communication’s student campaigns class a Silver Addy and two Citations of Excellence for their recent work on the Central Intelligence Agency campaign. Nathan Hoang (’07) was the campaign’s creative director.

Olafs Daugulis, assistant professor of chemistry, was named a 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.

Chitra Divakaruni, professor of English, has received the South Asian Literary Association 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award for her contribution to South Asian literature.

Kwon Eun-Sook, associate professor of architecture, was named the general director of the World Design Olympiad Seoul 2008.

Maria Gonzalez, assistant professor of English, has won this year’s Michael Lynch Service Award from the Gay, Lesbian/ Queer Caucus of the Modern Language Association.

Creative writing professor Tony Hoagland received the Jackson Poetry Prize by Poets & Writers Inc. The honor is awarded to an American poet of exceptional talent who has published at least one book of recognized literary merit but has not yet received major national acclaim.

Mat Johnson, professor of English, received the $50,000 James Baldwin Fellow in Literature from the United States Artists.

Gino Lim, assistant professor of industrial engineering, received the Moving Spirit Award from the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science for outstanding service to his chapter.

Kishore Mohanty, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, will receive a 2008 Society of Petroleum Engineers Improved Oil Recovery Pioneer Award.

Jerald W. Strickland, assistant vice chancellor for international studies and programs, received the Doctor of Science honorary degree from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. He also gave the keynote address at the college’s May commencement ceremony.

Jessica L. White, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy, has been named one of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy 2007 Teachers of the Year.

Students

Michael S. Bryson, music student, won honorable mention in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Voices of Change Young Composers Project for his song “Sleepers on the Hill.”

Arman Jahangiri, biology student, was named a 2008 Merage American Dream Fellow – one of only a dozen such students honored nationwide. The nationwide scholarship competition recognizes the most exceptional immigrant students with the greatest potential to contribute to their new homeland. Jahangiri will receive a $20,000 scholarship.

Moores School of Music students placed first in prestigious competitions: Jessica Wei Zhu won in the Collegiate Young Artist Piano Competition. Ashlyn Rust won in the Vocal Division and the Grand Prize in the 24th Annual Young Texas Artist Music Competition Concert of Finalists. In addition, the Halcyon Saxophone Quartet, under the direction of Karen Wylie, won in the Winds Division at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition.

 

The Nielsen Company, the world’s leading provider of marketing information and audience measurement, awarded $7,500 to the Houston PREP program. The prefreshman enrichment program enhances the academic backgrounds of socially and economically disadvantaged and disabled students at the middle and high school level to encourage them into pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

UH-Downtown and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez received a $161,825 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for Paving the Road to Professorship for Female Students. The project is part of the NSF funded Computing Alliance Hispanic Serving Institutions of which the two universities are members. It focuses on female computing engineering and computer science students.

Chris BirchakThe University of Houston-Downtown was named to the 2007 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the “support of innovative, effective and exemplary community service programs.” The honor recognizes UHD’s Family Literacy Project, which is associated with the House of Tiny Treasures, a preprimary school for homeless children. Chris Birchak, dean of University College, submitted the entry for the community service award.

Alumni

Imi Mosaheb (’94) has been appointed Micro Devices country manager for the Sub-Saharan region of South Africa. Liz Lara-Carreño (’96) has joined the Carreño Group as president.

Faculty

UH-Downtown presented its 2008 UHD Faculty Awards to Aaron Krochmal, for excellence in teaching; Ryan Pepper for excellence in scholarship/creativity; and Gene Preuss for excellence in professional/institutional service.

Hank Roubicek, professor of communication studies, had published the narrative text to the textbook “Public Speaking: Choices for Effective Results.”

Aaron Gillette, assistant professor of history, recently had published “Eugenics and the Nature-Nurture Debate in the Twentieth Century.”

Elizabeth Walden, assistant professor of psychology, published her work, “An Exploration of the Experience of Lesbians with Chronic Illness,” in the Journal of Homosexuality.

Dan Ghosh, lecturer in marketing, presented the paper “U.S. Foreign Direct Investments in India: A Strategic Partnership” at the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines conference. The paper received a research award. Ghosh was recognized for his service as a session chair for the conference.

Staff

René Garcia, Scholars Academy (SA) program manager, Vicky Estrera, SA director, and Mitsue Nakamura, lecturer in mathematics, presented “Case Study: Innovative workshop for underrepresented minority freshmen in STEM discipline,” at the 2008 Hawaii International Conference on Education. They co-authored the paper with Larry Spears, professor of chemistry.

Distance education advisers Reginald Jayne, Bill O’Neil, Rita Patel and Reyna Romero presented “Illuminating Lives: How Advisors Become Beacons to Non-Traditional Students Lost in the Storms of Life by Using a Panoptic Approach to Advising,” at the National Academic Advising Association conference.

Students

Adolfo Aranzales’ abstract “Tests with Concrete Having Different Fly Ash Content” was accepted for poster and oral presentations at the Texas-Section American Society of Civil Engineers Conference. Jorge Tito-Izquierdo, visiting professor of engineering, supervised Aranzales’ research.

Audrey Gonzalez, sophomore in biotechnology, and Betsy Escobar, sophomore in biology, have been accepted into the Joint Admission Medical Program.

Christine Mastracchio will receive the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston Gopal Savjani Scholarship for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Nicolas Spampinato received the Cohen Premedical Studies Scholarship. Spampinato also was selected for the Junior Kaplan Achievement Award.

Antonio Tito’s and An Vo’s poster presentations were accepted to the 22nd National Conference for Undergraduate Research. Mian Jiang, assistant professor of chemistry, supervised the students’ research.

UH-Clear Lake recognized supporters for their contributions to the university. The President’s Cabinet Leadership Award went to librarian Frances Roppolo and her husband distinguished alumnus and Barrios Technology owner and President Sandy Johnson (’82) received a President’s Cabinet Philanthropy Award.

The School of Education received the Association of Teacher Educators’ Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award. The national award honors outstanding teacher education programs that demonstrate strong, viable partnerships between education agencies in the preparation of quality teachers.

Dennis CasserlyDennis Casserly, division chair of natural sciences and associate professor of industrial hygiene and environmental science, was honored by the American Industrial Hygiene Association with a Fellow Award for his significant contributions to the field of industrial hygiene.

 


Alumni

UHCL hosted “Ten Grande Dames,” a photography exhibit by distinguished alumna J. Pamela Culpepper (’80, ’83).

Stephanie Jones Hawley (’83) was appointed interim vice president for academic affairs at Malcolm X College of Chicago.

Michael Kapp (’87, ’91) was named president of VT Griffin and key management member of the board of directors for VT Services Inc.

Rita Karl (’01) was named director of educational programs at the Challenger Center for Space Science in Alexandria, Va.

Keith Parrott (’95) was named president of Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala.

Faculty

UHCL recently presented top faculty honors. Edward Waller, professor of finance, received the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award. The 2008 Distinguished Research Award was presented to Terry Feagin, professor of computer science, and the 2008 Distinguished Service Award was given to Grady Perdue, professor of finance.

Photography instructors Van Edwards and Leslie Plaza Johnson exhibited the photographic essay “A New World Becoming” at The Arts Alliance of Center at Clear Lake as part of FotoFest 2008.

Staff

George Guillen, executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston and associate professor of biology and environmental science, received a $25,000, two-year continuation award from the Harris County Flood Control District for his proposal “Comparison on the Evaluation of Influence of Various Stream Substrates on Aquatic Biota and the Evaluation of Pool and Riffle Complexes (boulder) on Cowards Creek.

UHCL’s Educational Support Staff Association awarded the distinction of Certified Educational Office Professional to Debbie Brooner, School of Education administrative secretary; Alison Cariker, School of Business senior secretary; Emilie Chaney, office of administration and finance senior business assistant; Martha Douglas, office of the cashier account assistant; Rennell Kirkendall, office of the provost senior business coordinator; and Ruby “Winnie” Walker, office of admissions evaluator.

UHCL’s Support Staff Association awarded scholarships to Marie Best, administrative secretary in the office of the provost; Nicole Wheatley, secretary in the School of Human Sciences and Humanities; and Anurag Nagar, programming technician in the School of Education.

Students

Graduate student Sharon E. Karriker and undergraduate Melissa Arias received the prestigious Dr. Patricia Potter Wilson School of Education Outstanding Graduate and Undergraduate Student Scholarships.

 


UHV is the new home for the Society for Critical Exchange, an organization that works to create theoretical discussions on specific topics by experts in a range of fields. The society was based at Case Western Reserve University.

The master’s degree in economic development and entrepreneurship degree program was one of two finalists for a national entrepreneurship education award from the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Charles BullockGetEducated.com recently rated UHV’s Global Master of Business Administration one of its top 30 “Best Buys” for the first time, while the university’s Strategic M.B.A. made the list for the third time. The School of Business Administration’s Global M.B.A. was second on the list, and its Strategic M.B.A. was 11th on the list of high-quality, low-cost online M.B.A. programs offered nationally. Charles Bullock is the school’s dean.

Alumni

Patti Shafer (’85, ’93) will be the first principal of the new WoodCreek Junior High School in Katy Independent School District.

Van G. Garrett (’06) had his first book of poetry, “Songs in Blue Negritude,” published.

Lily Monroe (’05) was named the 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year at Houston’s Arizona Fleming Elementary School.


Faculty

UHV presented the Enron Teaching Excellence Award to Tim Berkey, assistant professor in the School of Education and Human Development, and the Research and Scholarly Activities Award to Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, associate professor in the School of Business Administration. Barba Patton, assistant professor in the School of Education & Human Development, received the Distinguished Service Award.

School of Arts & Sciences Dean Jeffrey R. Di Leo co-edited the book “Fiction’s Present: Situating Contemporary Narrative Innovation.” Di Leo also had an opinion piece, “Public Intellectuals, Inc.,” posted online at Inside Higher Ed.


Staff

UHV received a gold ADDY Award from the American Advertising Federation District for advertising creative excellence for the university’s 2006-2007 Stepping Up to the Plate annual report. Ernest Amador, former communications coordinator, Darin Kazmir, former employee, and Melody Vecera, graphic designer, worked on the report.

President Tim Hudson was selected as one of 50 leaders from across the country to participate in the U.S. Department of Defense 75th Joint Civilian Orientation conference.

Jaguars baseball coach Terry Puhl took a leave of absence to coach Team Canada to an Olympic berth. Former Houston Astros manager Phil Garner coached the team in Puhl’s absence.

Stanley Lester, a network specialist in information technology, was named the January Employee of the Month. The February Employee of the Month was Holly Verhasselt, School of Business Administration coordinator of constituent relations.

Students

Graduate students Ayowale B. Ogunye and Nagarajan Ravishankar placed seventh for their return on equity in the final week of a semester-long Business Strategy Game simulation game. The game involved 2,018 teams representing 162 institutions worldwide.

Patti Goehring made a presentation about a new way to use a database to determine how well a medical facility is working at the American Nursing Association National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators conference.

A team of students competed against seven other universities on the “Know Your Heritage: Hispanic College Quiz,” a nationally televised show. Team members were Nicole Marie Garcia, Elizabeth Michelle Martinez, Juan Diego Martinez and Luis Silvestre Torres. The assistant coach and alternate was Daniel Ochoa, director of Letting Education Achieve Dreams. The team was coached by Vic Padelford, director of international programs.