The College of Education is the recipient of a $3 million grant from the Greater Texas Foundation to create the Integrated Science, Math and Reflective Thinking program.

The Moores School of Music Concert Chorale earned several awards at one of the world’s oldest choral music events, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales. The chorale earned first place in the Chamber Choir Competition, second place in the Mixed Choir Competition, and third place in both the Youth Choir and Folk Choir competitions. The chorale also was the only U.S. choir to perform in the festival’s opening night Peace Concert. Betsy Cook Weber is the chorale director.

Alumni

Oluwadamilola Folorunsho (’08) was selected as a Fort Ben Independent School District Rookie Teacher of the Year.

Daniel C. Hughes (’99, ’04) won a Mentored Career Development Award from the National Cancer Institute.

Alisa Petrovich (’97), assistant professor at Brazosport College, received a National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Award.

Faculty

UH recently honored outstanding faculty. Demetre Economou, John and Rebecca Moores Professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, received the university’s highest faculty honor, the Esther Farfel Award. Eric Bittner, professor of chemistry, and Lawrence Hogue, professor of English, were named John and Rebecca Moores professors. Excellence in Research and Scholarship Awards were given to Arnold M. Guloy, professor of chemistry, Shiv Halasyamani, associate professor of chemistry, and Olafs Daugulis, assistant professor of chemistry. Teaching Excellence Awards were given to Eugene Chiappetta, professor of curriculum and education; Nicole Coleman, assistant professor of educational psychology; Holly Hutchins, assistant professor of human development and consumer sciences; Nina Tucci, associate professor of French; and K.H. Wang, professor of civil engineering. Stuart Long, professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the Teaching Excellence Career Award.

UH presented its Teaching Excellence Instructor/Clinical Award to Rebecca Forrest, instructional assistant professor of physics, and Curtis Haaga, philosophy lecturer. Keith Hollingsworth, professor of mechanical engineering, received the Faculty Award for Mentoring Undergraduate Research. The Provost Faculty Advising Award was given to Michael Newman, director of accounting programs at the Bauer College of Business.

David Dow, University Distinguished Professor at the Law Center, received the Civil Rights Award from the State Bar of Texas Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section. The organization also honored Joseph Vail, founding director of the Law Center’s Immigration Law Clinic, posthumously with its Texas Young Lawyers Association Outstanding Mentor Award.

Julie Fix, director of undergraduate studies and an instructional communication professor, received the Houston chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s Excalibur Legacy Award. The award honors outstanding contributions to the field from professionals who have been active for 25 years or more.

Rebecca Lee, associate professor of health and human performance, has been elected to become a Society of Behavioral Medicine Fellow.

Staff

Keith Kowalka, executive director of the University Center and Associated Facilities, received the university’s highest staff honor, the Charles F. McElhinney Distinguished Service Award. UH also presented Staff Excellence Awards to Bernice Cantu, office assistant 1 in Residential Life and Housing; Theresa Crosslin, reservationist in Student Affairs; Larry Flowers, carpenter in Plant Operations; Karen Jubert, senior career counselor at University Career Services; Regina Nixon, office supervisor in Residential Life and Housing; Shirley Mitchell, business administrator at the College of Pharmacy clinical sciences and administration department; Jon Schultz, director of development at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel Restaurant Management; and Steven Wright, lead carpenter in Plant Operations. UH also honored Carlo Deason, academic adviser 3 in the College of Technology, with the George Magner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising, and Kimberly Williams, academic adviser 2 in the English department, with the Professional Academic Advising Award.

Students

Several music students were honored at various competitions. Desirée Alejandro won first place in the vocal division and the overall grand prize at the 25th Annual Young Texas Artist Music Competition. Natalie Lin won first place in the string division and the Audience Choice Award at the competition. Daniel Alexander earned first place at the 24th Annual Texas Flute Society Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition.

Electrical and computer engineering students John Hemmick and Osaid Shamsi captured first place in the 2009 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.) Region 5 Technical, Professional and Student Conference regional circuit design competition.

Students received high honors at the Texas Society of Health- System Pharmacists annual seminar. In the Clinical Skills Competition, Allison Palmer and Christi Parker placed first, and Aimee Hammerstrom and Connie Reyes placed second. Jacob Hall was honored with the Glenda Lawson McRee Pharmacy Student Award. Hammerstrom was named the student recipient of the Lourdes Cuellar Circle of Excellence Award. Palmer and Hammerstrom also teamed to earn an honorable mention in the Disease State Management Competition.

 

Student Vanessa Nunez recently helped President Obama launch the Office of Social Innovation at the White House and explained how Houston nonprofit Genesys Works helped her decide to attend college. Nunez and six others were Obama’s special guests, as he called on foundations, philanthropists and the private sector to invest in community solutions to local problems.

Alumni

Ed Gonzalez (’00) was elected to the Houston City Council.

Mark Chavarria (’99) was a member of the stunt team that won a World Taurus Stunt Award for Best Fire Scene in the movie “Ironman.” The Screen Actors’ Guild nominated the team’s work in “Ironman” for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.

Marco Cervantes (’02), a doctoral candidate in The University of Texas-San Antonio English department, received the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, a stipend of $21,000, to complete his dissertation.

Faculty

Garna Christian, professor of history, received the David C. DeBoe Memorial Award from the Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society for his dedication to the society’s UHD chapter.

Ann Jennings, professor of English, received the Jay R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching Technical Communication from the Society for Technical Communication. The award recognizes excellence in teaching and academic mentorship outside the classroom and beyond graduation.

Trevor S. Hale, assistant professor of management, marketing and business, received a Senior Summer Faculty Fellowship from the Office of Naval Research to research logistics, operations and techniques to improve the U.S. Navy’s energy efficiency at Port Hueneme in Oxnard, Calif.

Janice Nath, associate professor of teaching, received the Robert B. Howsam Award from the Texas Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The award honors individuals who have demonstrated leadership at the state and national levels, and have made significant contributions to education.

Staff

Dominique Dominguez, administrative assistant in the testing office, won the 2009 Distinguished Staff Award. Van Le, benefits coordinator in the Employment Services and Operations and Robert Jurica, chief dispatcher and records manager at the police department, won Merit Awards.

Brad Thomason, gallery assistant in the O’Kane Gallery, codirected the documentary “Rock-afire Explosion,” which won Best Feature at the Akron Film Festival.

Students

Graduating seniors Jared Brooke and Jesse Sweet tied for first place with 12 other teams at the Best Strategy Invitational Grand Champions, a global business strategy game. Their instructor, Roger Dartt, received the Master Professor Award for successfully teaching the concepts of strategic analysis. English student Joseph Middleton’s essay, “The Texas Southern University Police Riot of 1967,” which won a C. M. Caldwell Memorial Award at the Texas State Historical Association annual meeting, will be included in the next issue of the TSAH journal Touchstone.

The university received several awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District IV communications competition. UHCL’s homepage received a Silver Award of Excellence in the World Wide Web Page category. Photography featured in the university’s magazine, Egret, received a Bronze Achievement Award in the Color Series category.

Associate professor of curriculum and instruction Sue Brown received a two-year, $202,283 award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Teacher Quality Grants Program for UHCL Mathematics Institute 2009-2011. She has successfully competed for this grant for 20 consecutive years, a record for a UHCL faculty member. Additionally, Brown received a University Faculty Fellowship for 2009-2010.

Alumni

Irene H. Araneda (’79) was named 2008 Florida Elementary School Counselor of the Year by the Florida School Counselor Association.

Sylvia Chapa (’01) was the College of the Mainland Police Department’s first recipient of the Police Officer of the Year Award.

Steve Christopherson (’98, ’81) was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas State Board of Examiners for Professional Counselors.

Oscar Perez (’05) was named Clear Creek Independent School District McWhirter Professional Development Laboratory School Teacher of the Year.

Faculty

Distinguished faculty awards were presented recently. History professor Angela Howard received the President’s Distinguished Service Award. Literature professor Gretchen Mieszkowski received the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Paul Wagner, professor of philosophy and educational foundations, was honored with the President’s Distinguished Research Award. Krishani Abeysekera, lecturer/system administrator of computer science and computer information systems, received the 2009 Outstanding Lecturer Award.

Kumar Peeris, adjunct professor in the School of Science and Computer Engineering, was honored with the 2009 Outstanding Adjunct Award.

George Guillen, executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston, received an array of grants totaling more than $250,000.

Fulbright Scholar grants were awarded to Jeffrey Lash, associate professor and program chair of geography, and Mike McMullen, associate professor of sociology. Lash will be a visiting lecturer in political geography at the University of Belgrade in Belgrade, Serbia, during the 2009-2010 academic year. McMullen will lecture at the American University in Cairo in Egypt.

Beatrice Long, adjunct professor, received Project Learning Tree’s Barbara Pitman Outstanding Educator Award.

The first-time Barrios Technology Faculty Fellowships are professor of chemistry Jack Lu for his project “Supporting Research for Aerospace Application” and assistant professor of software engineering Lei Wu for his project “Robotic and Intelligent Remote Security.”

Kathryn Matthew, associate professor of reading and language arts, received a $46,000 continuing award from the National Writing Project for the “Greater Houston-Area Writing Project 2009-2010.”

Assistant professor of psychology Camille Peres and assistant professor of industrial hygiene and safety Magdy Akladios received a $100,000, one-year continuing award from Schlumberger Inc. for their project “Software Ergonomics Assessment Tools.”

LieJune Shiau, professor of mathematics and computer science, received a $152,772, three-year award from the National Science Foundation for “RUI: Applied Bifurcation Theory.”

Mary Stafford, associate professor of school psychology, is the recipient of the International School Psychology Association Distinguished Services Award for her contributions to the association.

Brenda Weiser, director of environmental education for the Environmental Institute (EIH) of Houston, received a one year, $148,523 award from Texas Regional Collaboratives for EIH/UHCL Regional Collaborative initiative.

Staff

UHCL presented its Hugh P. Avery Prize, the president’s distinguished staff service award, to Ann Hinojosa, coordinator of academic advising for the School of Human Sciences and Humanities. The President’s Staff Merit Awards were given to Roberta Hohmann, administrative secretary in the sponsored programs office, Katherine Justice, executive director of human resources, and David Rachita, assistant dean of student life.

Students

The National Society of Leadership and Success presented an On the Rise Award to UHCL’s student chapter for a membership growth and bestowed National Excellence in Leadership Awards to students Elizabeth Anne Cravey, Doan Duong, Prashanti Pandit, Rebecca Threatt, Tina Stokes, Tracie Lowe, Jennifer Tribble and Anthony Lindie. Several history students garnered Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society’s C.M. Caldwell Memorial Awards for Excellence in History Competition. In the graduate student division, Leigh Ann Shelfer took first place. For the undergraduate competition, Lori Glaspie won first place, Brandon Goodwin took second place and Autumn Vaughn received the third-place award.

UHCL’s student-produced publications were recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The Signal, the student newspaper, received honorable mentions, which went to Laurie Vaesa-Perez (news photo) and Wendy Westmoreland (single-subject package). Bayousphere, a literary magazine, garnered eight awards. First place was given to Scott Turnbough (cover design). Second place went to Kourtney Pace and Richard Willis (cover design) and Donna Cox (black-and-white photo). Third place was given to Pace and Willis (page design). Honorable mentions were awarded to Turnbough (overall design and literary single spread), Donna Pauley (free-verse poem) and Miguel Herrera (illustration). The publications also received several awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. The Signal received fi rstplace staff awards in special section/edition, picture story and headline categories. First-place awards went to Krystin Hewitt (news feature story) and Cryss Godoy (sports feature story). Second-place awards went to Godoy (sports action photo) and Jorge De La Garza (sports feature photo). Third-place awards went to Jeff Meier (editorial), Jenna Lewis (news feature story) and Karen Raney (feature photo). Honorable mentions were handed to Laurie Vaesa-Perez (sports feature and feature story) and to the staff (overall excellence and online general excellence). The association also recognized Bayousphere’s Turnbough (magazine cover design award) and Lona Chain (feature photo award). Third-place awards were given to Joel Carter (news photo); Carter, Pace and Richard Willis (literary package); Jimmy Franks (essay); Pauley (poem); and Donna Cox (photo essay). Carter also received an honorable mention in the feature story category.

Sandra Bogus, Katherine Griggs and David Westmoreland were recognized with the Houston Human Factors and Ergonomics Best Student Submission Award for their presentation on “Discrete Sounds vs. Sonifications” at the organization’s symposium.

 

Alumni

Author Tanya Spiker Michna (’98) recently published her second novel, “Baggage Claim.”

Faculty

Three faculty members were recognized for their outstanding work. Associate professor Ziad Swaidan received the Enron Teaching Excellence Award. Associate professor Nagarajan Ramamoorthy was named the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Service Award. Professor Massoud Metghalchi received the Research and Scholarly Activities Award.

Nora Hutto, professor of education and human development, and Sandy Venneman, associate professor of psychology and biology, received a $210,000 Teacher Quality Grant to fund a project. Ray Foley, education professor, was awarded a $200,000 Teacher Quality Grant.

Denise Neill, assistant professor of nursing, was elected president of the Texas Nursing Association District 20.

Farhang Niroomand, business administration dean, had two papers accepted for publication in academic journals. “Distribution of Income and Expenditures Across Nations” will be published in the Journal of Economics and Finance. “Capital Inflow and Outflow of Foreign Direct Investment by Economies” is scheduled for publication in the International Trade Journal.

Professor and director of history programs Hal Smith; history instructor Beverly Tomek; Academic Center staff members Ernest Amador (’07), Amy Hatmaker (’07) and Summer Libensperger (’00); and UHV alumnus Nathan King (’07) wrote 25 articles for The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, 1500 to the Present.

Yun Wan, assistant professor of computer science, served as editor for the reference book Comparison-Shopping Services and Agent Designs.

Staff

Wayne Beran, vice president for administration and finance, is the president of Goliad Independent School District board of trustees, which was named Texas Rural Education Association 2009 Outstanding School Board of the Year.

Chief of staff Margaret Rice was one of 101 outstanding female leaders selected for the Leadership Texas Class of 2009.

Students

Outstanding undergraduate students for the spring were Diana Lynn Barton, School of Nursing, Lindsey Nicole Ferguson, School of Business Administration, Lindsay S. Hedding, School of Arts and Sciences, and Debra M. Marshall, School of Education and Human Development. Outstanding graduate students were Shannon Lee Beyer, School of Education and Human Development, James Albert Martinez, School of Arts and Sciences, and Lissette Maria Guerra, School of Business Administration.