Robert S.
Chapkin
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2017
Robert Chapkin is also a Regents Professor and University Faculty Fellow in the Program in Integrative Nutrition and Complex Diseases of the Department of Nutrition & Food Science. He joined the faculty of the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1988. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, where he also completed postdoctoral work. Dr. Chapkin is an expert in dietary chemoprevention of colon cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases. He has made highly significant contributions to cancer chemoprevention and membrane biology with specific emphasis in intestinal stem cells and their modulation by environmental/botanical agents, and the development of novel noninvasive Systems Biology-based methodologies to assess crosstalk between the gut microbiome and host and its application to translational research. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles in nutrition, immunology, membrane biology, cancer biology, and predictive biomarkers. His numerous awards include the R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, the Osborne and Mendel Award from the American Society for Nutrition, and The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award—Research. His nominators say that excellence for teaching and research faculty can be measured in a variety of ways, including peer-reviewed publications and scholarly contributions. But for Dr. Chapkin, excellence extends beyond those standard metrics to include the large number of students, post-docs and young faculty protégés he has mentored. They wrote, “He not only trained these individuals in the knowledge necessary, but also served as an excellent example of the type of motivation, acumen, and enthusiasm necessary to be successful and reach their professional goals.”
College: Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences
Award Level: Graduate Mentoring
Robert
Chapkin
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2011
Dr. Robert Chapkin’s outstanding research program has been recognized repeatedly with an impressive list of awards which places him in the highest echelons of his profession including: NIH "First Award", July 1989 June 1994; PEW National Nutrition Program Faculty Scholar, 1991-1992; American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) Bio Serv Award in Experimental Animal Nutrition, 1996; Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Faculty Fellow Award (TAES), 2000; Texas A&M University Faculty Fellow Award, 2001-2005; Sigma Xi Distinguished Scientist Award, Texas A&M University Chapter, 2006; Senior Faculty Fellow Award, TAES, 2007; Vegetable & Fruit Improvement Center, Texas AgriLife Research Director’s Award, 2009; and the Texas A&M University System Regents Fellow, 2010.
His expertise spans the fields of integrative nutrition, cancer biology, and immunology. He has published 167 peer reviewed manuscripts, including 12 invited reviews, written 21 book chapters, and published 216 abstracts. The fact that his papers have been cited over 4,500 times and have an h-index of 37 clearly demonstrates that he has had a significant impact and has achieved the highest level of scholarship and academic leadership. Dr. Chapkin has also served on the editorial boards of five scientific journals, i.e., Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids (1989-Present), Journal of Nutrition (2002-2004), Chemistry and Physics of Lipids (2005- present), Cell Communication Insights (2008-present), and the British Journal of Nutrition (2010-present). He has given 85 invited talks at academic institutions, as well as national and international meetings. His research program is one of the most well-funded, innovative and productive programs in the College. He has received $10.5 million as PI ($32+ million as PI, co-PI and collaborator combined) in funding from the NIH, USDA and other agencies. Over the past five years, Dr. Chapkin has received funds that amount to over $6 million as PI and $22 million overall.
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Research
Haipeng "Allan"
Chen
direct link to this listing
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
Jianer
Chen
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2007
Jianer Chen received a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (New York University) in 1987, and a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics from Columbia University in 1990. At that time he joined the Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M University where he is currently a Professor and the Head of Graduate Admissions. Dr. Chen assisted Department Head, Dr. Valerie Taylor, in initiating a Graduate Student Annual Review program and an Invited Graduate Admission program for the department. He has developed a teaching technique MIIP (Motivation-Intuition-Interaction-Application) that successfully motivates students’ desire to learn.
Dr. Chen’s research interests include theoretical computer science, computer graphics, computer networks, and bioinformatics. He has published over 150 research papers in these areas, including over 60 journal papers and over 80 referenced conference papers. His research has been continuously supported by the National Science Foundation. He has received numerous research and teaching awards, including being a four-time recipient of the Graduate Teaching Excellence Award, which is voted on by graduate students in the department.
College: Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Dara
Childs
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1993
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
Bhanu
Chowdhary
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2006
College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science
Award Level: Research
David E.
Claridge
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2003
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
Donald Raye
Clark
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1972
College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science
Award Level: Teaching
Robert
Clark
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2000
College: Science
Award Level: Extension/ Continuing Education
William
Clark
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1990
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
Abraham
Clearfield
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1985
College: Science
Award Level: Research
A. Benton
Cocanougher
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2001
College: Business
Award Level: Administration
Barbara Jean
Coe
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1971
College: Business
Award Level: Teaching
Noah
Cohen
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2013
Noah Cohen has been a member of the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences since 1989. He earned his A.B. and V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.P.H. and Ph.D. from John Hopkins University. Among his most prestigious awards are the World Equine Veterinary Association/Schering-Plough Applied Equine Research Award and Honorary Diplomate status in the American Veterinary Epidemiologic Society.
Though Dr. Cohen directs the Equine Infectious Disease Laboratory, studying cellular mechanisms of immunity to infectious disease in horses, his greatest contributions have come from patient-based studies of important health problems involving animals with spontaneous disease. He pioneered farm-based and private practice-based epidemiologic studies in horses, which led to faster and more effective solutions, and reduced the need to use healthy horses in research. Two key studies of this type uncovered risk factors that make racehorses more prone to injuries and feeding practices that caused equine colic, a major killer of horses. His theories on Rhodococcus equi pneumonia of foals have led to practices that save hundreds of equine lives annually.
Dr. Cohen’s two most exciting current collaborative projects involve using electron-beam technology to produce vaccines for important diseases of horses and using next-generation sequencing and genome-wide approaches to studying infectious disease of horses. His greatest contributions have been his theories and his thinking, which have revolutionized the way infectious diseases are approached in veterinary medicine. His nominator concludes that Dr. Cohen has improved the welfare and well-being of animals both here and abroad, touching the lives of so many people and animals by answering important research questions and delivering useful solutions that make a difference immediately.
College: Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Award Level: Research
Noah D.
Cohen
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2018
Noah Cohen earned his bachelor’s degree and his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s of public health and doctorate in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University. He completed a residency in large animal internal medicine at Texas A&M University. He joined the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 1991 and has been employed by Texas A&M University for 29 years. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – Large Animal and of the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society. Dr. Cohen is known as a leading expert in the epidemiology of equine infectious disease, in particular the intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi. He has made significant contributions to strategies for prevention and management of Rhodococcus equi and has co-developed a vaccine that has been effective in initial challenge studies. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and was among the first to influence our knowledge of the epidemiology of many equine diseases. Dr. Cohen has been the principal investigator or significant co-investigator for nearly $2.5 million of funding from extramural granting agencies for research to impact animal disease. This is unprecedented given that these agencies have far fewer dollars available than their counterparts working to solve problems in human diseases.
College: Department of Large Animal Clinical Services
Award Level: Graduate Mentoring
Patricia D.
Collins
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2008
Patti Collins is a shining star in the Texas A&M University community and specifically the Texas A&M University at Qatar community. She holds degrees from Western Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati. Patti is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Supervisor in the state of Texas and a nationally certified counselor. Patti started her career as a school psychologist and then began serving college students in university counseling centers in 1994. She has held counseling center positions at Western Kentucky University and Texas A&M University and most recently has served as the Coordinator of Counseling and Wellness at Texas A&M University at Qatar for the past three years.
Over the past eight years, Patti has been helping Aggies to grow and develop and has helped many to reach their potential through their connection and interactions with Patti through the services she provides. She also has developed an area of expertise in biofeedback training to better serve the students in Qatar. One colleague wrote, “She has incredible empathy with students; she can so easily imagine what it is like for the student, and communicate that understanding.” Patti’s dedication and determination to always do what is best for the students shows in her every day interactions with students from various cultures. One student wrote, “she made me realize how important I am to myself and others, in short she enhances one’s self-esteem.”
Patti lives and works in Doha, Qatar with her husband Michael and ten year old daughter, Madeline. Patti enjoys running in her free time and most recently ran her fifth marathon in Venice, Italy. When not serving students, Patti is spending time with her family and four pets who were adopted in Qatar. She has been on the forefront of developing Aggies in Qatar and strives to connect them to the university while at the same time providing the gift of herself to TAMUQ Aggies, creating the space for safe, holistic self exploration and growth.
College: Texas A&M University at Qatar
Award Level: Student Relations
Jeffrey
Conant
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1993
College: Business
Award Level: Teaching
Charles
Conrad
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1997
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
Dwight C.
Conway
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2003
College: Science
Award Level: Teaching
 Photo.jpg?width=200)
Audrey K.
Cook
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2017
Audrey Cook, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Small Animal Clinical Sciences, joined the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 2007. She graduated from the Royal School of Veterinary Studies at Edinburgh University and earned a Post Graduate Certificate in Veterinary Education from the Royal Veterinary College, London. Dr. Cook is nationally recognized in the field of veterinary internal medicine with a focus on endocrinology and gastroenterology. Further, her colleagues and students recognize her as an outstanding teacher and mentor who excels in the classroom, enthusiastically teaching in all four years of the professional DVM program and mentoring post-DVM interns and residents. She also works directly with fourth-year veterinary students during their small animal internal medicine clinical rotations. Her dean wrote, “Through her clinical rotations, Dr. Cook provides hands-on, high-impact, experiential learning opportunities for our students and resident trainees.” Her teaching program “blends a clinical service with practical, real world concepts, creating unique educational prospects for our DVM students…and provides them with cutting edge opportunities that foster a deeper learning and understanding of course materials not available to all veterinary schools.” In addition, her students consistently give her stellar reviews. One former student wrote, “Dr. Cook's rounds are absolutely WONDERFUL and I learned so much ? she is truly a wealth of knowledge. I probably learned more from our 10-15 hours-worth of rounds than I did in most of our third year medicine courses.” A colleague concludes “Her passion and genuine belief in the power of quality education is what truly drives her to be a spectacular educator. She is a visionary and the CVM is incredibly fortunate to have her as part of our educational programs.
College: Department of Veterinary Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
John T.
Cooper Jr. '92
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2017
John Cooper, associate professor of practice and planner-in-residence, also serves as director of the Texas Target Communities Program (TTCP), interim director of the Center for Housing & Urban Development, associate director of outreach for the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center, and director of engagement for the Institute for the Environment. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University and earned his Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hell. Soon thereafter, he launched his community development career at MDC, a nationally respected community development nonprofit, where he helped lead a four-year project developing solutions to help 22 communities across the Carolinas increase local employment, income and wealth, and build the leadership assets and structures necessary for long-term economic renewal. He also managed a project focused on increasing disaster awareness and preparedness in disadvantaged rural communities and another aimed at teaching policy framing and advocacy skills to non-profits working to build public support for policies that benefit rural children and families. With these experiences, Dr. Cooper returned to Texas A&M in 2012 to lead the TTCP, a high-impact service learning and community outreach program within the College of Architecture and supported in part by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The goal of the TTCP is to provide tailored support, grounded in local context and informed by interdisciplinary teams skilled at solving complex problems. Under Dr. Cooper’s leadership, TTCP has assisted more than 20 underserved communities across Texas, invested up to 12,000 hours of student and faculty expertise for each community, and connected communities to resources across the Texas A&M System for assessing and leveraging community assets.
College: Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning
Award Level: Extension, Outreach, Continuing Education and PD
Michael O.
Cornelius
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2003
College: Food Services
Award Level: Staff
Dean
Corrigan
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1989
College: Education and Human Development
Award Level: Staff
Richard
Costa
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1976
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
Richard
Costa
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 1984
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
Gerard
Cote
direct link to this listing
Year Awarded: 2011
Dr. Gerard L. Coté has been with the university for 20 years. He is recognized as a world-wide expert in optical sensing for diagnostic and biomedical sensing applications. His most notable research accomplishment is in the area of optical glucose monitoring for determining blood sugar levels in diabetes. He has been asked to give several technical talks within the US and abroad, has consulted with companies providing his expertise in this technology area, and received attention from the popular press including segments on Fox News and in Readers Digest. More specifically, beyond his publication record in these areas, he is the co-inventor, with four patents issued and one pending, of two potentially revolutionizing glucose sensing methods. In addition to glucose sensing, he has developed optical technology for the diagnostics area. Specifically, he has co-authored several research papers in top journals describing his collaborative innovative approaches toward optically monitoring perfusion and oxygenation for tissue liver transplant patients and for the development of point-of-care nanosystems based on surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy for detection of blood biomarkers. He has a patent pending on the point-of-care technology that has been licensed by a small medical device company that he co-founded, MedAutomate Diagnostics, Inc. He has also spun off two other companies (BioTex, Inc. and Visualase, Inc.) that develop optical medical technologies. The bulk of the research that Dr. Coté has performed is described in over 240 publications; including refereed journal papers, proceedings, presentations, patents, and book chapters. To perform this work, he has received funding from NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, private foundations and industry. He currently has over $6M in NIH research funding. He has also established collaborations world-wide including faculty from Strathclyde University in Scotland, the University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland and Oak Ridge National Lab.
College: College of Engineering
Award Level: Research