Betty
Unterberger
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Year Awarded: 1975
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
John
Valasek
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Year Awarded: 2008
John Valasek has been with Texas A&M University since 1997, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Director, Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory. He is a Member of the Honors Faculty, and a Montague--Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar who has taught a total of nine different undergraduate and graduate courses in his department, four of which he created. One of his students has said of him, “It was evident both inside and outside the classroom that he cared deeply that we understood the material and that we learned, not just the theory and the details, but more importantly the responsibility inherent with being called an engineer.”
Dr. Valasek conveys to his students that the only thing they can really control is their attitude, and he challenges them to improve and get the very best out of themselves. A former student, who is now leading a product development team in industry, notes that “Dr. Valasek is very perceptive when it comes to his students, and works in subtle ways to nudge each of us into the position where we shine best. Being a shy person I rarely found myself in a leadership position, but with his encouragement and direction by the end of his courses I discovered that I had become one of the leaders in my class.”
"I am a teacher... and I thank God for it every day." – John Valasek
College: Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Lynne
Vallone
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Year Awarded: 2006
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Research
Cornelius
van Bavel
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Year Awarded: 1986
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Research
Marguerite
Van Dyke
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Year Awarded: 2008
Ambassador, cheer leader, graduate recruiter, confidant – all are qualities which describe Marguerite Van Dyke in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences. As the department’s “unofficial goodwill ambassador,” Ms. Van Dyke’s role as Clerk III extends far beyond a support staff function. Acknowledged as one of the top programs in its field, the department’s success in graduate recruiting is attributed to Ms. Van Dyke’s contributions in recruiting excellent cadres of graduate students. MVD, as she is known by faculty and friends, handles almost all contacts with prospective graduate students from the initial contact through their acceptance and arrival on campus. In fact, numerous graduate students have cited Marguerite’s “sincere concern for their well-being, her warmth and her friendship” as key factors in their electing to come to Texas A&M. In recognition of her selfless service and dedication, two departmental graduate student and international student alumni groups have each established $25,000 named endowments in her honor.
Celebrating her 30th anniversary with the department this year, Marguerite is revered by all. One former student sums it up as follows, “Marguerite embodies everything held near and dear to Aggies. Simply put, she represents a tradition of above average performance for nothing in return beyond intrinsic rewards.”
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Staff
Carl
Vanderzant
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Year Awarded: 1969
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Poondi
Varadarajan
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Year Awarded: 1994
College: Business
Award Level: Research
Jim
Varni
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Year Awarded: 2011
Dr. Jim Varni has been a Professor at Texas A&M University since January 2003. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society of Pediatric Psychology, and has published over 250 peer-reviewed research journal articles and numerous book chapters in pediatric behavioral medicine, and four books on children and families. He is a recipient of the Significant Research Contributions Award from the American Psychological Association. His areas of expertise are measurement instrument development, conceptual models and cognitive-behavior therapy interventions in pediatric chronic health conditions. During the past 30 years he has developed and field-tested the items comprising the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), which is being utilized internationally in research and clinical trials to measure health-related quality of life of children. The PedsQL has been translated into over 75 international languages worldwide, and there are over 550 peer-reviewed research journal publications on the PedsQL on approximately 120,000 children worldwide in the past decade. The PedsQL is the only empirically derived health-related quality of life instrument that has demonstrated databased evidence that children as young as 5 years of age, when given an age appropriate measure, can self-report their health-related quality of life. He is also conducting research and evaluation projects into the healing environment of children's hospitals, focusing on the effect of the built and natural environment on child, parent, and staff outcomes as a basis for evidence-based architectural design for pediatric healthcare facilities, including pediatric healing gardens.
Members from the College of Architecture Leadership team wrote “Dr. Varni has been instrumental in ‘hearing the voices of children’ in matters of their health and well-being. Using a sophisticated combination of state-of-the-art measurement science and clinical expertise (he practiced clinically as a pediatric psychologist for 20 years), Dr. Varni has opened up the opportunity for children with cerebral palsy and brain tumors to self-report on their health-related quality of life. Before Dr. Varni's clinical research, no quality of life measures existed that demonstrated that these children with severe chronic conditions could voice their perspectives on their health and well-being to their parents or healthcare professions.
College: Architecture
Award Level: Research
Walter
Varvel
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Year Awarded: 1970
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
David
Vaught
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Year Awarded: 2006
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
S. Bradleigh
Vinson
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Year Awarded: 1977
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Research
Richard
Wainerdi
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Year Awarded: 1962
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
Michael
Walters
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Year Awarded: 2012
Michael Waters earned his doctoral degree in geosciences from the University of Arizona in 1983 and was hired by Texas A&M’s Department of Anthropology (College of Liberal Arts) and Department of Geography (College of Geosciences) in 1986. He holds the Endowed Professorship in First American Studies and is the associate director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans and the executive director of Texas A&M’s North Star Archaeological Research Program.
He is known for his expertise in First American Studies and geoarchaeology, and has worked on more than 60 archaeological projects in the United States, Mexico, Russia, Jamaica, and Yemen. His current research projects include sites in Tennessee and Mexico, as well as several sites in Texas. He has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters and is the author of Principles of Geoarchaeology: A North American Perspective. This book, now a standard archaeological reference, is used in classrooms across the nation and was recently translated into Japanese. Dr. Waters has published seven articles in the journals Science and Nature. His two 2011 Science articles provided unequivocal evidence of human occupation of the Americas before 13,000 years ago, overturning a long-held paradigm of Paleoindian scholars and setting a new direction in American archaeology.
Also in 2011, Dr. Waters and his colleagues published Clovis Lithic Technology: Investigation of a Stratified Workshop at the Gault Site, Texas. This book is the first comprehensive study of a 13,000-year-old, stone-tool workshop. He has received the 2003 Kirk Bryan Award and the 2004 Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award from the Geological Society of America. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society and Smithsonian Magazine named his work on Pre-Clovis tools as one of the Top Ten Hominid Discoveries of 2011.
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Research
Jay R.
Walton
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Year Awarded: 2014
In addition to being a Professor of Mathematics, Jay R. Walton is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and deputy director of the Institute for Applied Mathematics and Computational Science. He has been a faculty member in the College of Science for 40 years. He earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University.
His nominators say that Dr. Walton has had a transformative effect on the pedagogical mission of the Math department ever since he directed its graduate program from 1994 to 2000. Subsequent to that, he founded the department’s Research Experience for Undergraduates, serving for ten years as principal investigator on the supporting grant from the NSF and as a teacher and mentor each summer for five to ten students in mathematical ecology and physiology. In a second NSF-supported initiative, he collaborated with colleagues in biology and ecology to develop an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in mathematical biology. Dr. Walton has supervised many student research projects through that program. A former student, now in medical school, commented that Dr. Walton was “an absolutely indispensable part of my education at Texas A&M.” Another former student said, “It was impossible not to learn something new every week, and in my four years I don’t think he ever repeated a topic.” Dr. Walton also has helped develop courses on mathematical biology at all levels.
In the words of still another former student, who is currently a doctoral student at the University of Chicago, “Dr. Walton’s unique ability to maintain a clear and natural flow of ideas inside and outside of the classroom is an ability I can only hope to attain. To say that Dr. Walton has left an impression on me is an understatement. Not only did I learn new mathematics, but I learned timeless traits of a first class educator and scholar.”
College: College of Science
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
Lihong
Wang
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Year Awarded: 2005
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
Judith
Warren
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Year Awarded: 1996
College: Agriculture Extension Service
Award Level: Continuing Education/Professional Development
Tina
Watkins
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Year Awarded: 1986
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Student Relations
Karan
Watson
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Year Awarded: 1991
College: Engineering
Award Level: Student Relations
Karan
Watson
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Year Awarded: 2010
College: Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics
Award Level: Administration
Connie D.
Weaver
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Year Awarded: 2017
Connie Weaver, KPMG Professor of Accounting, joined the faculty of the Mays Business School in 2006. She earned her Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Her research investigates the effects of income taxes on financing, investing and financial reporting decisions. Dr. Weaver initially taught the basic tax course required for all Professional Program (PPA) and BBA accounting majors. While the technical course content is very challenging, she also focused on developing her student’s critical thinking and communication skills. Next, she developed and taught a master’s level tax course for PPA students that provides a comprehensive study of financial accounting for income taxes. For both, she consistently receives very high ratings on student evaluations, especially in the area of being an effective teacher. Moreover, she receives very positive feedback from students who say she consistently demonstrates that she cares about student learning. This is noteworthy because many of her students do not plan to focus on tax in their careers. Her students clearly appreciate the impact of her teaching on their knowledge of the challenging subject matter and their comments reflect her enthusiasm and obvious interest in ensuring that they learn. One student wrote, “Your love of teaching & of the material truly shines—even at 8 a.m.! You make corporate tax fun even for a non-tax person!” Another student wrote, “Honestly, at the beginning I thought this was going to be my least liked class, but it ended up my favorite.” Still another student wrote, “For someone who doesn’t like tax, I actually enjoyed this class! Arguably the best/most caring teacher I’ve had in my college experience.” To conclude, another student wrote, “You rock!! Definitely challenging to keep the class awake/motivated at 8 a.m. yet you did it every week.”
College: Department of Accounting
Award Level: Teaching
Earl
Webb
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Year Awarded: 1970
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Bradley
Weeks
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Year Awarded: 2000
College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science
Award Level: Teaching
Finis
Welch
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Year Awarded: 1998
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Research
Jennifer
Welch
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Year Awarded: 2009
College: Dwight Look College of Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Loris
Welhausen
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Year Awarded: 1965
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Extension/ Continuing Education
C. Jane
Welsh
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Year Awarded: 2012
Jane Welsh received her Ph.D. from London University in the United Kingdom and completed postdoctoral research at King’s College Hospital and Cambridge University. She joined the faculty of Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 1990. In addition to her faculty appointments, she serves the College as assistant dean for graduate studies. She is known as an outstanding scientist and teacher who fosters the love of science in her graduate students and strengthens their commitment to scientific discovery. She and her students have made substantial contributions to neuroimmunology and understanding of diseases in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, notably multiple sclerosis.
She is an exceptionally gifted mentor, who is currently serving as the major professor for one Ph.D. student, and has served as the major professor or co-chair for 13 master’s or Ph.D. students. She has also served on 58 graduate advisory committees in 10 departments in both Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M Health Science Center. In addition, she has served on 15 graduate advisory committees for the Master of Biotechnology and 20 non-thesis master’s degree committees. She serves on this remarkable number of committees because both students and their advisors know that she will provide students with practical and timely advice on their research problems, faithfully attend graduate committee meetings, and provide critical input on the content of students’ theses or dissertations.
Although Dr. Welsh is kind and generous with her time, she holds high expectations for her students to perform to the highest levels. Most students need much molding to reach their potential, but those who wrote in support for Dr. Welsh describe their experiences with delight and gratitude. Former graduate students who are now mentors and colleagues cite her as a role model for their own mentoring.
College: Veterinary Medicine
Award Level: Graduate Mentoring