Arvind
Mahajan
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Year Awarded: 2015
Arvind Mahajan, Regents Professor and the Lamar Savings Professor of Finance in the Mays Business School, earned his Ph.D. from Georgia State University and joined the Texas A&M University faculty in 1980. He is known as a pioneer in international business education. His nominator says, “Simply stated, Arvind Mahajan is one of the best teachers I know. He has consistently excelled in educating our students at all levels.” Course evaluations, testimonials from peers, former and current students, and business executives, as well as the innovative teaching materials he has developed establish beyond a doubt that Dr. Mahajan is a demanding, deeply caring, and highly effective teacher. Supporters say that he affects students on multiple dimensions and his life mission is to broaden his students’ horizons, deepen their understanding, and help them succeed. And he has been doing this successfully at Texas A&M for 35 years! Over his career he has developed countless new courses, “internationalized” Aggies by taking them on Study Abroad expeditions, cultivated thousands of minds, and helped many students become successful scholars, executives, lawyers, and business professionals. While Dr. Mahajan motivates his students to do their best, he also demands the best from himself. A former student writes, “I would notice that Dr. Mahajan’s light was still on as I left the West Campus Library after a late night of studying. He was no doubt helping a student…or continuing his own research.” His nominator concludes, not much has changed since that student graduated; Dr. Mahajan’s light still remains on and students are always welcome.
College: Mays Business School
Award Level: Teaching
Sandra
Maldonado
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Year Awarded: 2015
Sandra Maldonado, a 17-year veteran staff member at Texas A&M University, is the business administrator for the Department of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts. She previously worked in similar capacities for the College of Medicine and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. She is the recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Superior Service Award, the President’s Meritorious Service Award, and a College of Liberal Arts Staff Professional Development Grant. She holds an associate’s degree in business administration from Blinn College and is continuing her studies as a part-time student at Sam Houston State University. Her strengths include mentoring and developing other staff members, helping them appreciate the important roles they play in the success of higher education. In that, she serves as an excellent role model and mentor. Her positive attitude, patience, and strong work ethic are shared as staff are developed and promoted into leadership roles within the university. Her nominator says that she is the most talented, dedicated, and innovative staff member that he has worked with over his career. He says, “What separates her from other staff members…is the combination of her being a high performer and the demonstrated impact she has had on the lives of the people who work with her, both within our academic department and beyond.” She achieves her consistent and high level of performance by paying attention to the details of the job and going beyond what is expected. Her colleagues credit her with creating a supportive departmental climate and always exhibiting grace under pressure. In difficult circumstances, she has consistently demonstrated a pattern of stepping up and being a calming influence in the middle of a storm. A faculty member in the department concludes, “I cannot imagine where the department would be without her faithful service over the years.”
College: College of Liberal Arts
Award Level: Staff
Stjepan G.
Mes?trovic´
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Year Awarded: 2015
Stjepan G. Meštrovic earned his Ph.D. from Syracuse University and taught at Lander College before joining the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts in 1991. He is well known for his work on social theory, culture and war crimes. He has served as an expert witness at The Hague for the International Court of the Tribunal for Yugoslavia, at courts martial pertaining to abuse at Abu Ghraib, and at multiple other courts martial and clemency hearings. He is the author or editor of 18 books as well as more than 70 articles, chapters, or essays. He has garnered numerous awards and honors for his research. But, along with his incredibly productive research record, Dr. Meštrovic has always been known for his inspiring teaching. His quantitative teaching evaluations are always among the very highest in the Department of Sociology, and his students often remark that he has inspired and transformed their thinking. His nominator says that a large part of what makes Dr. Meštrovic such an effective teacher is his ability to explain incredibly complex issues and analyze them in ways that do not completely overwhelm his students. In addition, he is well known for taking time to talk to students both inside and outside of class. A current student credits Dr. Meštrovic with changing his whole outlook on his college experience, writing, “I became far more interested in school when I found a professor that actually taught through conversation and application as opposed to a professor that simply talked at me. I found a professor that left me constantly thinking about theory and its true application.” A graduate student summarizes, “He has repeatedly modeled the type of professor that I would like to be one day; compassionate but not a pushover, humorous yet serious about education and about fostering a love of learning—esteemed yet humble.”
College: College of Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
James D.
Pennington
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Year Awarded: 2015
After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Jim Pennington joined the faculty of the College of Science in 1998. His primary responsibility and professional passion is teaching three sections of sophomore organic chemistry for non-majors each semester. He says being able to interact with and influence these future doctors, dentists, veterinarians, and engineers at a critical time in their intellectual development is a blessing and incredibly rewarding. Among his colleagues and students, he has earned a reputation as an energetic, enthusiastic, challenging, and rigorous instructor who holds his students to the highest standards while doing everything in his power to help them succeed. He holds multiple office hours most days and an evening help session once a week. For his devotion, his students honored him as a Fish Camp Namesake. Dr. Pennington also enjoys motivating others to enjoy and learn about sciences in his role as the coordinator and chief presenter for the Texas A&M Chemistry Road Show, one of the premier outreach programs of the university. The Chemistry Road Show is a K-12 program that is presented 50 to 60 times per year at schools and to other organizations throughout Texas, reaching about 10,000 students annually. Many of these students are motivated to pursue careers in science—perhaps at Texas A&M. Serving as coordinator of the Roadshow has an added bonus for Dr. Pennington because he has the opportunity to work closely with and mentor 20 or so Aggies who participate as assistant demonstrators, putting them on a path to involvement in service and community outreach. A former student writes, “Dr. Pennington renewed my love for science and gave me the motivation to continue pursuing my goal of becoming a physician.… I am now in medical school…and without a doubt, he is the most helpful and encouraging professor I have had during my academic career.”
College: College of Science
Award Level: Teaching
Shawn
Ramsey '90
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Year Awarded: 2015
Shawn Ramsey, associate professor and assistant head for undergraduate programs in the Department of Animal Science, joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences upon completing his Ph.D. at New Mexico State University. For the past 18 years, his teaching has touched the lives of more than 10,000 Aggies. By the numbers, Dr. Ramsey teaches close to 700 students each long semester and receives average course evaluation scores of 4.8 or above on a 5.0 scale. However, the real success of his teaching goes well beyond these statistics. A former student in one of his largest classes—typically 350 students—stated, “I felt like he was talking directly to me. Despite the 349 other students in that class, Dr. Ramsey always had a way of making me, and every other student, feel important, feel respected, and feel valued.” Another student stated, “He is the epitome of encouragement and motivation, and he went above and beyond to prepare me to achieve my goals.” Dr. Ramsey is known for his efforts to get to know each student, to learn about their specific interests, and then to introduce them to other students with similar backgrounds or interests. In addition to classroom teaching, Dr. Ramsey coaches the undergraduate wool and mohair judging team. He teaches them not only how to evaluate wool, he also teaches them how to succeed outside their comfort zones. Not surprisingly, he has coached four national champion and eight intercollegiate champion teams. Dr. Ramsey’s accomplishments do not stop with his classroom teaching or coaching a judging team. He also leads one of the largest study abroad programs to New Zealand and conducts the annual Aggieland Lamb and Goat Camp for junior high and high school students during summer. His nominator sums up, saying that Dr. Ramsey is unquestionably one of the most outstanding teachers in the college, the university, and the nation.
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Dorothy E.
Shippen
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Year Awarded: 2015
Dorothy Shippen joined the faculty in Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences in 1991 after earning a Ph.D. in biology at the University of Alabama and completing postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco. She established the plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model for understanding the structure and function of telomeres, which are the “caps” on the ends of chromosomes. She has received numerous awards, including the Texas A&M Faculty Fellow award, the AgriLife Research Senior Faculty Fellow award, the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research, and The Association of Former Students’ Distinguished Achievement Award for Research. These accomplishments would not have been possible without her dedication to mentoring graduate students. She has mentored 23 graduate students, and 17 have earned their doctorates so far. Fifteen of these students continued their research careers as postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Shippen is one of the most successful graduate mentors in the department: on average, her Ph.D. students publish 4.5 papers (twice the departmental average) and graduate in 5.7 years (one year less than the departmental average). Recognizing that successful graduate students need more than scientific mentoring, Dr. Shippen developed courses and workshops on building lab management skills. Uniformly, her graduate students praise her mentorship, declaring that she treated them as colleagues, both respecting their ideas and placing high expectations on them. One former student writes, “The most important value I acquired from Dorothy is perseverance.” Another says, “She always listens and considers every idea, and truly celebrates and cheers every success.” Still another adds, “…there is always some part of our spirit that stays in Dorothy’s lab. …I believe this is due to Dorothy’s personal charm, her charitable mentorship, friendship, encouragement, and inspiration.”
College: College of Science
Award Level: Graduate Mentoring
Nova J.
Silvy
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Year Awarded: 2015
Nova Silvy, Regents Professor, Senior Faculty Fellow, and associate department head for undergraduate programs in the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences, has been a faculty member in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences since earning his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1975. Over his 40 years of service to Texas A&M University, Nova Silvy has authored more than 280 refereed publications and contributed to the understanding of more than 100 wildlife species. Undoubtedly, he has made an impression in the wildlife profession. Dr. Silvy firmly believes that both undergraduate and graduate education are integral to a university research program. He also believes a quality education begins with the involvement of students in field research. This philosophy has empowered hundreds of undergraduates and more than 100 graduate students through field experiences and “hands-on” training. Here’s what some of them have to say. “Nova was always available within and outside work hours.… He always treated his graduate students as equals and as a result, promoted their professional development. He never needed to demand excellence—his students were always willing to give him their best effort.” “Dr. Silvy simply led by example. He personally demonstrated what a good ethical scientist is all about on a daily basis.” “His guidance not only was critical to my success in graduate school, but also prepared me well for professional achievement. The fact that he can offer individualized guidance while routinely directing 15-18 graduate students is nothing less than amazing.” Ultimately Dr. Silvy’s impact will be seen in years to come the accomplishments of the next generation of wildlife scientists.
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Vijay P.
Singh
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Year Awarded: 2015
Vijay Singh is a professor and the inaugural holder of the Caroline and William N. Lehrer Distinguished Chair in Water Engineering in the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering. He joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences in 2006. He earned his Ph.D. from Colorado State University and his D.Sc. from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. A world-renowned hydrologist in the area of water resources engineering, he is recognized for his seminal contributions in several key areas, including: watershed modeling, floods and droughts, entropy theory-based modeling, copula-based analysis, risk and reliability analysis, and climate change impacts on water resources. With more than 700 refereed journal articles, 23 books, another 55 edited books, and 80 book chapters, his scholarly contributions have immensely impacted water research and education globally. Dr. Singh has received more than 60 national and international awards for his contributions and professional service, including the Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering Award; the Torrens Award, the Norman Medal, and the Vent Te Chow Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers; and the R.K. Linsley Award and Founders Award of the American Institute of Hydrology. A supporter writes, “Prof. Singh is always far ahead of his time with interesting and profound ideas which have had a significant impact on the direction and practice of hydrology and water resources. His long contribution to the body of knowledge is stunning.” Another supporter sums up, writing “I truly believe that…when we assess the creative thinkers and doers of this generation of hydrologic engineers that Dr. Singh's name will be among the elite. He is certainly known and respected by everyone currently in the field of hydrologic analysis and design.”
College: College of Engineering
Award Level: Research
Ching-Yun
Suen
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Year Awarded: 2015
Ching-Yun Suen earned his Ph.D. from the University of Houston. After teaching there and at Texas A&M University, he joined the faculty of Texas A&M at Galveston in 1984. His outstanding reputation as a teacher stems from his deep commitment to the teaching profession and his lasting influence on his students. Dr. Suen is loved by his students. He is known for treating them with respect and devotion. A former department head writes that there were always students coming to Dr. Suen’s office and that he spent endless hours helping them to understand mathematics. A colleague adds that Dr. Suen brings “enthusiasm into all his classes” as evidenced by his excellent course evaluations and glowing comments from students. A former student commented that he remembers how much he “enjoyed his class and how easy he made understanding calculus.” But perhaps the most touching endorsement is that of a former student who wrote a strong letter of support for Dr. Suen despite the fact that she was just released from the hospital following a second heart transplant. During her freshman year, the student was diagnosed with heart failure and could not attend classes. She was given “incompletes” in most of her courses, but her Calculus I professor required her to take the final exam. Although not the professor in question, Dr. Suen volunteered to tutor her three times a week for four weeks at her parents’ home, which required him to travel from Galveston to Sugar Land, Texas, each time. With his help, she passed the course and ultimately graduated. She writes, “He went above and beyond to help a student like me with special circumstances, and I know I would not have passed the final exam without his help. He is a very generous, kind and caring teacher.” A colleague sums up, saying, “Dr. Suen is an outstanding teacher and a valued member of our department.”
College: Texas A&M Galveston-General Academics
Award Level: Teaching
Haiyan
Wang
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Year Awarded: 2015
Haiyan Wang is a professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, who currently works part time at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a program director in the Division of Materials Research. She joined the faculty of the Dwight Look College of Engineering in 2006 after earning her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Wang’s research covers a wide range of topics in ceramic thin film and materials science, including: high temperature superconductors, solid oxide fuel cells, nuclear radiation-tolerant materials, and batteries and thin film devices, all related to energy research. She has published more than 300 journal articles in prestigious journals, presented 150 invited talks at international conferences and holds 8 patents in the areas of thin film processing and architectures. She has been cited more than 6,500 times with an H-index of 39. She is a fellow of the ASM International. Her awards and recognitions include the TAMEST O’Donnell Award in Engineering, an ASM International Silver Medal Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Materials Scientist, an NSF Career Award, the Presidential Early Career Award, and an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. Her nominator comments that “…Professor Wang has strongly demonstrated her exceptional abilities as a teacher, engineer, and scientist.” Other supporters add, “Dr. Wang is unquestionably an outstanding scientist with exceptional skills and extraordinary achievements in the areas of electronic materials and nanotechnology,” and she is well known as a “stellar researcher and leader in the ceramic field. Without any doubt, she will continue to make great contributions to our society!”
College: College of Engineering
Award Level: Research
Mark E.
Westhusin '83
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Year Awarded: 2015
Mark Westhusin is a professor in the Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology, joining the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences in 1992. He earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. His research program has successfully cloned bulls, goats, the world's first cat and first white-tailed deer. As a result of his and his colleagues’ efforts, Texas A&M is now recognized as having cloned more different animal species than any other institution in the world (6 species - cow, goat, pig, horse, cat, white-tailed deer). The goal of all this once futuristic and now mainstream activity is to produce genetic copies of world-class animals and genetically engineer livestock with improved production characteristics, such as increased muscle development and resistance to disease. Dr. Westhusin has received numerous honors, including the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award, the American Society of Animal Sciences Scholarship Award, Pfizer Research Award, and Richard H. Davis Teaching Award. He was picked as one of Texas Monthly’s “35 People who Will Shape Our Future.” He has authored more than 75 scientific publications in prestigious journals, given more than 60 invited talks through the world, and contributed to several books. Here are a few comments from his supporters. “Mark has been at the forefront of developing and applying reproductive technologies to real world problems.” “Dr. Westhusin has an excellent and balanced record with strengths in multiple areas including research publications and extramural funding, excellent teaching skills in both the classroom setting and individual mentoring, and a high level of collegiality as supported by his multiple collaborative projects.” “Dr. Westhusin has clearly changed the world with his research and will continue to do so for a very long time.”
College: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Award Level: Research
Kirk O.
Winemiller
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Year Awarded: 2015
Kirk Winemiller is Regents Professor in the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences. Earning his Ph.D. from the University of Texas—Austin, he joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences in 1992. He has published more than 200 papers and has been cited nearly 11,000 times. His research focuses on enhancing understanding of populations and communities of freshwater and estuarine fishes and has contributed significantly to the development of food web theory in basic ecological research. He has applied this research to enhancing the management and conservation of these fisheries in Texas and around the world. He has received a number of very significant honors, including the Vice Chancellor’s Graduate Teaching Award and the Vice Chancellor’s Undergraduate Teaching Award at Texas A&M, the Outstanding Fisheries Research Award and the Special Recognition Award from the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, and the Ecological Society of America’s prestigious Mercer Award. In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His nominator says that Kirk Winemiller’s name is “synonymous with fisheries ecology and management worldwide.” A former student credits his research with clarifying many aspects of the very complex ecology of freshwater fishes, “from the evolution of life history strategies (i.e., how and when fishes allocate resources into reproduction) and the evolutionary origin of tropical fish diversity, to the structure of food webs in aquatic communities, the flow of nutrients in large tropical river ecosystems and the human impacts on aquatic systems from invasive species and altered surface flow to gold mining, hydroelectric dams, and overfishing.” A colleague concludes, “Without doubt he is contributing to consolidate the TAMU reputation in general ecology, fish ecology and aquatic ecosystems management around the World.”
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Research
I. Yucel
Akkutlu
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Year Awarded: 2016
Yucel Akkutlu, associate professor of petroleum engineering, the George & Joan Voneiff Career Development Professor, and William Keeler Fellow, is the Director of Graduate Advising in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Dr. Akkutlu joined the faculty of the College of Engineering in 2013 after serving in academic positions with the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics in Brazil, the University of Alberta in Canada, and the University of Oklahoma. His main research interest is fluid flow, transport, and reactions in porous media. He is the current executive editor of the SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Journal. Two years ago, in addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Akkutlu took on the role of Director of Petroleum Engineering Graduate Advising. His nominator wrote that Dr. Akkutlu “takes great pride and ownership of his responsibility as a faculty member and the graduate advisor for our department,” going on to describe him as “a listener and problem solver, firm in his decisions, with ability to produce positive outcomes, always putting the student first, with genuine care and concern.” In this role, he is devoted to helping students. No matter how busy he is, he makes himself available for the students. He is described as an optimistic individual, who through patience is able to keep his interactions with students positive. His demeanor calms upset or angry students and often allows them come up with proactive solutions to their problems. Dr. Akkutlu is described by his supporters as showing a genuine concern for the well-being of each student.
College: College of Engineering
Award Level: Individual Student Relationships
Terry
Alfriend
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Year Awarded: 2016
Terry Alfriend, TEES Distinguished Research Professor of Aerospace Engineering, joined the faculty of the College of Engineering in 1997. He earned his Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Virginia Tech. Before coming to Texas A&M, Dr. Alfriend served on the faculty of Cornell University, conducted postdoctoral research at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and held positions with the Naval Research Laboratory, CIA Office of Development and Engineering, and the Naval Postgraduate School. He has been the leader of the Texas A&M team addressing the dynamics and control of satellite formation and is regarded internationally as a preeminent leader in astrodynamics, space situation awareness, and the dynamics and control of satellite formations. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). He has received the prestigious AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award and AAS Dirk Brouwer Award. He was recently notified that he will receive the 2016 AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Award that is given to one person every other year. Dr. Alfriend has published one book, two book chapters, and more than 280 journal and conference papers in astrodynamics. His paper “The State Transition Matrix of Relative Motion for the Perturbed Non-circular Reference Orbit” has been cited more than 200 times. A colleague outside the university wrote, “In his nearly 50-year long stellar professional career as a world-class research and educator, he (Dr. Alfriend) played several major leadership roles and provided significant technical contributions to aerospace sciences that have set the bar and established the course of the field. Indeed he has made seminal contributions in just about every area of GNC.”
College: College of Engineering
Award Level: Research
David
Bessler
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Year Awarded: 2016
David Bessler, professor of agricultural economics and Regents Professor, joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1982. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. Before coming to Texas A&M, he was a member of the faculty of Purdue University. Dr. Bessler is credited with the creation and use of time-series modeling approaches for forecasting the effects of policy, environmental, and market forces on agricultural prices, production, and consumption. His accomplishments and discoveries in this area have transformed applied economic modeling, provided great societal benefit, and have been acknowledged not only within agricultural economics but also more broadly in the fields of economics, finance, management science, and computer science. He has published 136 refereed journal articles, and his work has been widely recognized by colleagues through numerous awards and honors, including being named a Distinguished Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association and a Distinguished Scholar of the Western Agricultural Economic Association. He has also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Agricultural Economics Association and The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Graduate Mentoring, and was named a Simon Fellow in Econometrics at Victoria University of Manchester, U.K. His accomplishments are highly regarded by international leaders in agricultural economics. A colleague from the Sorbonne wrote, “Professor Bessler has revolutionized econometric thinking in matters of causal models.” Another colleague from the University of California, Davis, wrote that his “work has had a profound influence on the profession in price forecasting, analysis of futures markets, modeling of trade flows and measurement of integration of markets to name just a few.”
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Research
Minnette
Bilbo
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Year Awarded: 2016
Minnette Bilbo is the business administrator in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She joined the Texas A&M University staff in 1975 and has held progressively responsible positions throughout her 41 years with the university. Her nominator wrote that there are many ways in which her service and ability exceed the usual duties of her job and emphasized that one of her most valuable assets is “her nearly encyclopedic knowledge” of all aspects of business in the department. “There are hundreds of accounts and sub-accounts under the Department of Physics and Astronomy and she knows what all of them are and to whom they are assigned.” In addition, she is known as “a master of all Texas A&M’s various procedures: Concur, Aggie-Buy (and now BAM).” But the hallmark of Ms. Bilbo’s service to the department is her willingness and ability to work with principal investigators (PIs). The department has 72 faculty members, so the number of PIs is large. She works with each one to carefully organize their array of funding streams to maximize productivity. Ms. Bilbo is also the supervisor for other staff members who coordinate purchasing, travel, and payroll. But she is no ordinary supervisor. She is a master of all the functions that report to her and gladly steps in to fill the gap if a member of her team is out. Ms. Bilbo’s management makes the most difficult staffing days appear to be “business as usual.” In addition, she is very involved in the department’s outreach program, the Physics and Engineering Festival. During the festival, the department hosts about 4,000 visitors for a full day of hands-on demonstrations and talks. Such a program works only because of the large number of student, faculty, and staff volunteers. Ms. Bilbo organizes food for the volunteers and handles countless other logistical details. In sum, her supporters agree that “Ms. Bilbo has a profound dedication to Aggieland.”
College: College of Science
Award Level: Staff
Wesley
Bissett '97
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Year Awarded: 2016
Wesley Bissett is an associate professor of food animal medicine and director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) in the Department of Veterinary Large Animal Clinical Services. He earned his D.V.M. and his Ph.D. in microbiology from Texas A&M. Before joining the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVM) in 2000, he was in private practice. Following the experiences of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the campus and region, Dr. Bissett began to focus on disaster preparedness and response. He became a leader in the CVM’s new initiative to respond to animal issues during emergencies and disasters. In 2009, Hurricane Ike struck Texas and initiated the formation of the VET at the request of the Texas Animal Health Commission and Division of Emergency Management. Dr. Bissett has been the Director of the VET since its inception and has presided over the development of a 38-person team with assets valued in excess of $2 million. In addition, he has led the development of the nation’s first required clinical rotation in emergency preparedness and response. Dr. Bissett and his team of volunteer faculty, staff, and students have been deployed to provide aid following the 2011 Bastrop Complex Wildfire, a 2012 Brazos Country Alzheimer’s patient search, the 2013 West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion, the 2014 response to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Ebola Outbreak, and the 2015 Wimberley Floods. The deployments have provided an exceptional educational experience for students while simultaneously serving the citizens of Texas. The impact the VET has on students revolves around the understanding that Aggies are committed to selfless service. The chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management summed up, writing that rarely “has one person in the emergency management community inspired so many to be better for the greater good than Dr. Bissett.”
College: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Award Level: Extension, Outreach, Continuing Ed, & Prof Dev
Megan
Carpenter
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Year Awarded: 2016
Megan Carpenter is a professor of law and one of the original faculty members of the Texas A&M School of Law, as well as the founding director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property (CLIP), which has become a flagship program of the law school. She previously served on the faculty of the Texas Wesleyan University law school and in private practice. She earned an M.S. and a J.D. from West Virginia University and an LL.M. from the National University of Ireland. She is a nationally known expert in intellectual property with particular interest in entrepreneurship and the arts. She chairs the Academic Committee of the International Trademark Association and the Law and Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group for the United States Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE). Her nominators wrote that she is committed to the students’ learning and professional development beyond the classroom. She has been instrumental in providing students with hands-on experience by creating legal clinics that enable students to practice intellectual property and business law on behalf of actual clients, including collaborations with student entrepreneurs and inventors at Startup Aggieland on the campus in College Station. This is the first full-service clinic in legal education to cater particularly to a university’s own student entrepreneurs. Professor Carpenter has also established a mentoring program, called Need to Know, in which she encourages law students to conduct workshops that educate underserved segments of the community on relevant legal issues. This program has been a valuable way for students to develop their expertise as future professionals and share the knowledge they have gained in law school while serving the larger community. To date, students have educated more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, artists, and musicians.
College: School of Law
Award Level: Graduate Mentoring
Haipeng "Allan"
Chen
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Year Awarded: 2016
Haipeng “Allan” Chen is associate professor of marketing, Mays Research Fellow, and director of the Ph.D. Program in Marketing. He joined the faculty of the Mays Business School in 2007 after earning his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). He conducts research in the area of behavioral decision theory, and his research interests focus on examining decision biases of individual consumers and managers, and their economic and cultural ramifications. Dr. Chen enjoys a reputation as an outstanding teacher at both the undergraduate and graduate levels who upholds high academic standards; demonstrates a high level of commitment, dedication, and passion for excellence; makes a concerted effort to provide the most relevant and current knowledge to his students; and motivates his students to be eager and committed learners for life. One former student wrote that every time she stepped into to Dr. Chen’s class, she knew three things would happen. She would learn something she was actually interested in. She would feel like a better student. And Dr. Chen would give the lesson his all. She concluded that his focus was not just to make his students better marketers but instead to make them better people. A doctoral student commented that Dr. Chen “draws every student’s attention with his clearly organized lectures, sharp thinking, expressive body language, and a friendly smile.” Another former student wrote that, in her marketing role at Union Pacific Railroad, she uses the lessons she learned from Dr. Chen on a daily basis. She also lauded Dr. Chen for making learning “exhilarating and enjoyable.”
College: Mays Business School
Award Level: Teaching
John L.
Crompton '77
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Year Awarded: 2016
John Crompton, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. He joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1974. He has also served on the faculty of the Department of Marketing and as a consultant. His numerous awards include the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Agriculture Sciences National Excellence in Teaching Award, a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor award for excellence in teaching at Texas universities, a Texas A&M University Presidential Professor of Teaching Excellence award, and The Association of Former Students University-Level Award for Teaching. Over his career, he has chaired more than 30 Ph.D. and 50 M.S. committees. Each of these students has been taught to conceptualize abstract concepts and to empirically examine phenomena. In addition, through his mentorship, these students have learned to distribute the results of their research through high-quality writing and presentations. A colleague and former graduate student wrote, “John Crompton’s interest in his graduate students can be described as nurturing, parental, empowering, critical, intense, intrusive and invasive. We wouldn’t have it any other way!” His nominator commented that it is obvious that Dr. Crompton “enjoys helping young researchers and professionals achieve their potential,” and noted that he has the “uncommon ability to help people of all skill levels realize their potential.” A supporter added, “He always knew how to create a person-specific academic environment in which there is room for individual creativity and professional growth, bringing out the best in his students.” His supporters consistently praise his ability to instill confidence by encouraging students to raise their aspirations and demonstrating to them that they can accomplish much more than they think they can.
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Graduate Mentoring
Darryl
de Ruiter
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Year Awarded: 2016
Darryl de Ruiter, professor of anthropology, earned his Ph.D. in anatomical sciences from the University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He joined the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts in 2003 after completing postdoctoral research with the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontology in South Africa. Dr. de Ruiter is internationally recognized as a preeminent scholar in the field of paleoanthropology. He has co-authored more than 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, including almost a dozen papers in the journals Science and Nature. His research has been featured on the covers of Science, Time Magazine, Discover Magazine, and Scientific American, as well as on television programs on the National Geographic Channel and in a recent PBS NOVA special. Dr. de Ruiter is one of three principal investigators at the famous Malapa site in South Africa, responsible for analyzing the skulls, jaws, and teeth of the early human ancestor Australopithecus sediba. He serves as a principal investigator at the newly discovered Rising Star Cave fossil site in South Africa, where the remains of dozens of individuals of a new type of human ancestor have been found, which Dr. de Ruiter and his colleagues call Homo naledi. Support letters from around the world indicate that his research is transforming the field of paleoanthropology, saying that he is “doing work at the forefront of human evolutionary studies”; “his actions represent “a new ethos in the discipline”; he is “clearly at the top of his field and deserving of recognition for excellence in research”; his work “has been groundbreaking” and brings “a never-before held, detailed understanding of early hominin behavior; and “the breadth and impact” of his “work has been equaled by very few” in the field.
College: College of Liberal Arts
Award Level: Research
Eduardo
Espina
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Year Awarded: 2016
Eduardo Espina, a native of Uruguay, joined the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts in 1987 after earning his Ph.D. in Hispanic-American literature from Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Espina is an expert in Latin American poetry and essay from the 19th century to the present, as well as fiction, theater, and culture. He is the author of eight books of criticism, four collections of essays and more than 10 poetry collections and anthologies. In addition he has published 30 refereed articles. Dr. Espina has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards for his work and is also an active conference and event organizer. He has successfully directed four dissertations to completion, including the first one to come out of the Department of Hispanic Studies. Among his honors and awards, Dr. Espina has been the recipient of the Premio Nacional de Ensayo (National Essay Prize) by the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura of Uruguay, the Premio Municipal de Poesía (Municipal Poetry Prize) by the City of Montevideo, and the Latino Literature Prize by the Latin American Writers Institute. A supporter wrote that Dr. Espina is “one of the most important poets of his generation in Latin America” and “has made TAMU the most important U.S. University in terms of contemporary Latin American poetry and poetics.” Another supporter wrote that “He sets the international gold standard of research not only for the vastness and richness of his knowledge, but especially for his unequalled dazzling and engaging writing,” “Reading Dr. Espina’s essays is absorbing, engaging, amusing, and enriching.” Another supporter stated, “Texas A&M University is very lucky to count Professor Espina as faculty. He is a distinguished scholar and original and fruitful thinker.”
College: College of Liberal Arts
Award Level: Research
Richard
Gomer
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Year Awarded: 2016
Richard Gomer is the Thomas Powell '62 Professor of Biology. He received a B.A. in physics from Pomona College and Ph.D. in biology from Caltech. After doing postdoctoral work at the University of California at San Diego, he served as a member of the faculty at Rice University. While there, he was also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and an adjunct faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine. He moved his lab to Texas A&M and joined the faculty of the College of Science in 2010. Until 2003, Dr. Gomer split his research between astronomy—focusing on mass transfer in close binary stars—and developmental biology—focusing on the formation of tissues of defined size and composition. In 2003, he and a postdoctoral researcher in his lab found a potential therapeutic for fibrosing diseases, such as congestive heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, end-stage kidney disease, and pulmonary fibrosis. After this discovery, he stopped his astronomy work to focus on developmental biology and fibrosis, and co-founded a company to pursue the potential therapeutic. In clinical trials, the therapeutic is showing good efficacy at reversing disease in patients with pulmonary fibrosis and patients with myelofibrosis, a bone marrow fibrosis. At Texas A&M, in addition to doing basic research, his lab has identified a potential therapeutic for a lung disease called acute respiratory distress syndrome, as well as two second-generation therapeutics for fibrosis. He has authored more than 160 high impact publications, serves on the editorial boards of four journals, and holds 13 patents. His recent awards include being named Inventor of the Year by the State Bar of Texas and a National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences.
College: College of Life Science
Award Level: Research
Melissa
Grunlan
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Year Awarded: 2016
Melissa Grunlan, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Southern California. After completing postdoctoral work in Texas A&M’s Department of Chemistry, she joined the faculty of the College of Engineering in 2005. She has been the director of undergraduate programs in biomedical engineering since October 2013. Her research is focused on developing polymer materials to improve the performance of medical devices. Her colleagues credit her outstanding contributions in teaching to the strength of her research program. Dr. Grunlan started the biomaterials focus area within the department and teaches core undergraduate courses. Her goal is the development of a comprehensive and cohesive biomaterials curriculum. Her teaching philosophy is to equip students with a strong understanding of fundamental principles that enable them to succeed in their future careers and become life-long learners. A current student, who is a 2015 Goldwater Scholar, credits Dr. Grunlan with her success and wrote, “Dr. Grunlan takes an unparalleled interest in the success and development of her students.” Another student wrote, “Research in Professor Grunlan’s laboratory transformed my educational experience and prepared me to pursue a Ph.D. after completing my undergraduate studies.” She added that “Dr. Grunlan fosters a fun and productive research environment where students are treated exceptionally well and can contribute meaningfully on a project while developing critical experimental and technical communication skills.” She concluded, “Prof. Grunlan is exceptionally talented at what she does. Clearly she has made substantial contributions toward the academic success of students and Texas A&M through her research, mentorship, and teaching.
College: College of Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Subodha
Kumar
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Year Awarded: 2016
Subodha Kumar, associate professor in the Department of Information and Operations Management, joined the faculty of the Mays Business School in 2009 after earning his PhD. from the University of Texas at Dallas. In his six years here, he has received three different teaching awards—the Montague-CTE Scholar Award, The Association of Former Students College-Level Award for Teaching, and the student-voted Teaching Excellence Award. His department head wrote that Dr. Kumar excels in all dimensions: excellent in research, excellent as a colleague, and excellent in teaching. In the past few years Dr. Kumar has taught the undergraduate Business Statistics core course, including the honors sections, and the MBA core course for Quantitative Methods. For both, his average course evaluation is 4.84 of a possible 5. Colleagues say the undergraduate statistics course can be difficult to teach because the students’ incoming level of knowledge and mathematical ability can vary widely. It is often a class that is loathed by students, regardless of the quality of the instructor. But, Dr. Kumar clearly has reversed that trend. He is innovative in the classroom and goes beyond the basic responsibility of teaching facts and formulas, providing a very comfortable leaning environment and exposing students to how statistics are used in the real world. One of his students said, “Prof. Kumar was awesome!! I don’t ever think I had a teacher that cared so much about his students.” Another commented, “I despise math, but INFO 303 has been my favorite math course. I think it helps that the material is presented in business terms & related to business applications.” An MBA student wrote, “He is essential in the MBA setting in my opinion.” And another MBA student put it succinctly, writing, “Just one word. Outstanding.”
College: Mays Business School
Award Level: Teaching
Jennifer
Mercieca
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Year Awarded: 2016
Jennifer Mercieca, associate professor in the Department of Communication, earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and joined the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts in 2003. She has taught 51 courses including graduate seminars, mass lecture undergraduate courses, and writing-intensive undergraduate courses. Her teaching record is outstanding. Her colleagues say that Dr. Mercieca’s exceptional dedication to her students is evident in her career-long commitment to high-impact teaching and in her work establishing the Texas A&M Agora, which provides opportunities for students throughout campus to learn political skills outside of the classroom. Dr. Mercieca has developed seven different high-impact undergraduate courses that merge theory with practice and enable students to solve real-world problems. Her students have gone out into the community to solve problems for local charities and to register voters. In addition, some of her students have written political campaign plans and served as speechwriters for their representatives in Congress. Under her direction, Aggie Agora has established engaged citizenship workshops and hosted guest lectures on political topics ranging from issues of civil liberties to food security. In short, she seeks to create a vibrant culture of learning both inside and outside of the classroom, enabling her students to be future leaders and problem solvers. A former student wrote, “I loved this class. It really made me aware of what is going on in the world today, and there are a lot changes that are needed.” Another student commented, “For the first time ever, I felt like an active citizen.” A former student, now a doctoral student in Georgia, wrote “Mercieca’s commitment to the success of her students, her ability to inspire her students intellectually, and the priority she places on mentorship continues to play an instrumental role in my life.”
College: College of Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
Jeffrey
Musser
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Year Awarded: 2016
Jeffrey Musser, clinical professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, earned his D.V.M. from Virginia Tech and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from North Carolina State. He joined the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2000. Dr. Musser teaches in the undergraduate, graduate, and professional curriculums and has been training the next generation of professionals and scientists for more than 15 years. The emphasis of his teaching and research is the development of the clinician scientist, which is undergraduate and professional students continuing on to graduate programs and research experiences. Dr. Musser teaches both here and abroad and was instrumental in the development of the Texas A&M University Costa Rica Biomedical Science Semester Abroad Program and the BIMS Germany Summer Abroad Program. He has developed many new undergraduate and professional/graduate courses, mentored more than 30 Texas A&M students in independent research projects, mentored international faculty in curriculum development and teaching skills, and been invited to serve as an external evaluator, examiner, and thesis reviewer at many international universities. Among his awards and honors, Dr. Musser has been a recipient of The Association of Former Students College-Level Teaching Award, the Montague-CTE Scholar Award, and the Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award. His nominator describes his teaching style as passionate, compassionate, personal, creative, animated and indefatigable. A former student describes him as an extraordinary professor who “ignites a passion for learning in his students that they were unaware they possessed.” Another former student describes him as a superior teacher who “instills in his students the knowledge and desire necessary to thrive in both the classroom and life.”
College: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
David
Peterson
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Year Awarded: 2016
Dave Peterson, professor of biochemistry and biophysics, earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University. He joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1981 after completing postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. In addition to teaching and maintaining a successful research program, Dr. Peterson serves as the associate department head for undergraduate programs. In this role, he led efforts to revise the Biochemistry and Genetics curricula and obtain accreditation for the B.S. in biochemistry from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Texas A&M is now one of only 38 universities to receive this recognition of the quality and rigor of its undergraduate program. His nominator says that as a teacher and mentor, Dr. Peterson is phenomenally successful. He has received numerous teaching and mentoring awards at Texas A&M, including the Wells Fargo Honors Student Faculty Mentor Award (twice) and The Association of Former Students College-Level Teaching Award (twice). This year, he won national recognition by receiving the Excellence in Advising Award from the National Academic Advising Association. A former student now in medical school described Dr. Peterson as “an outstanding educator and a long-term mentor.” Another student wrote, “One of the first people I encountered at Texas A&M University was Dr. David Peterson.… My first impression of this obviously brilliant scientist was how kind and helpful he was to all the nervous and confused freshman.… He said the same thing on that first day as he has said in every class I have had with him: if one person has a question, others do as well, so do not be afraid to ask.… He also adds some fun to the lecture; in the biochemistry class, he told us his favorite movie is Love Potion #9 because the biochemist gets the girl.”
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
David
Reed
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Year Awarded: 2016
After earning his Ph.D. from the Cornell University, Dave Reed joined the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1978. He serves the college as professor of horticulture and as the associate dean for graduate programs and faculty development. His research primarily focuses on nutrition, especially iron nutrition, and the effects of water quality and salinity on greenhouse crops. However, his “first love” is teaching, and he teaches to a packed house of several hundred students each semester in his General Horticulture course. His nominators wrote that Dr. Reed stands out as a memorable professor who makes his courses appealing to all students, regardless of their major. When looking at numerous student evaluations over the past few years, they noted that frequent comments include “very enthusiastic,” “entertaining,” and “easy to understand.” One student summed up Dr. Reed’s passion and enthusiasm best in writing that he was a “wonderful, amazing professor who keeps you wanting to learn more.” Dr. Reed’s teaching methods have most definitely been noted by his peers and colleagues. He has been invited to give presentations to large audiences across the state and nation and he has won numerous awards, including The Association of Former Students College-Level and University-Level Awards for Teaching, the Southern Region of the American Society of Horticultural Sciences L.D. Ware Distinguished Teaching Award, and the National Outstanding Undergraduate Educator award from the American Society for Horticultural Sciences. His popularity with students is evident in that he has been a Fish Camp and T-Camp Namesake four times. His nominators concluded that students leave his HORT 201 class with a fundamental knowledge of horticulture that they will carry with them throughout their lives and probably smile when they reflect on the stories that he shared related to plants and to life.
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Ashley
Saunders '98
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Year Awarded: 2016
Ashley B. Saunders, associate professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, received her D.V.M. from Texas A&M University. After completing a one-year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Tennessee and a three-year residency in veterinary cardiology at Texas A&M, she joined the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2002. She teaches physiology, pharmacology, and small animal cardiology to first, second, and third-year veterinary students. She also teaches principles and techniques of cardiology to fourth-year veterinary students on their clinical rotations. Dr. Saunders has been recognized with the College’s Richard H. Davis Teaching Award and Bridges Teaching and Service Award, as well as The Association of Former Students College-Level Teaching Award and a Montague-CTE Scholar Award. Her research interests are cardiovascular imaging, interventional techniques, and novel teaching methods. Her enthusiasm and energy for teaching veterinary cardiology is focused around building the confidence of her students. She is relentlessly positive, supportive, and “can do” in her approach. When students work with Dr. Saunders they can feel her excitement and understand her commitment to them, which her nominator says communicates the powerful message that they can be successful. Here are two examples of comments from student evaluations. “The only negative thing I have to say about Dr. Saunders is that she does not fit in my pocket. She is a wonderful instructor.” And, “Dr. Saunders is one of the best teachers I have ever had! She explains things in a way that makes so much sense and she respects the students and their questions.” A colleague concluded her endorsement stating, “I am fortunate to have her as a colleague and collaborator, and our students benefit immensely from her teaching.”
College: College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Award Level: Teaching