Distinguished Achievement Award Winners

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Cecil Ryan ’47

Cecil Ryan ’47
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Year Awarded: 1963

College: Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Teaching

James C. Sacchettini

James C. Sacchettini
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Year Awarded: 2008

James C. Sacchettini joined Texas A&M University in 1996 and currently serves as a Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and holder of the Welch Chair of Science. Dr. Sacchettini is fundamentally involved in using structural biology in structure-based drug design. His research program focuses on eventually abating one of the worst diseases afflicting the third world, tuberculosis. An undisputed leader in the area of structural biology of tuberculosis, Dr. Sacchettini co-founded the TB Structural Genomics Consortium in 2002 and recently assumed leadership of this exciting international project. He was also elected to serve as one of the early chairs of the Gordon Conference on TB Drug Development, the biennial meeting that brings together all of the leading researchers in the fields.



Dr. Sacchettini has co-authored approximately 87 publications over the past 5 years, and his research grant expenditures during last fiscal year alone totaled over $4.3M. His research efforts have clearly benefited many students directly including 36 graduate students who earned their Ph.D. degree under Dr. Sacchettini’s supervision during the 11 years he has been at Texas A&M. A similar number of postdoctoral fellows have trained in his laboratory as well as a large number of undergraduate students.

College: Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Research

William Sackett

William Sackett
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Year Awarded: 1976

College: Geosciences

Award Level: Research

Stephen Safe

Stephen Safe
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Year Awarded: 1988

College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science

Award Level: Research

Stephen H. Safe

Stephen H. Safe
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Year Awarded: 2005

College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science

Award Level: Research

William Sager

William Sager
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Year Awarded: 2009

College: College of Geosciences

Award Level: Research

Ghada Salama

Ghada Salama
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Year Awarded: 2014

Ghada Salama earned her Ph.D. from Cairo University and completed postdoctoral study at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati, Ohio. She joined the faculty of Texas A&M University at Qatar in 2006. She has taught several undergraduate courses and has consistently received good student evaluations. She received the Distinguished Faculty Appreciation Award from the class of 2012.



Dr. Salama established a student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) at the Qatar campus. The chapter has been very active since its inception and has gained international recognition in a short time. Each year, Dr. Salama secures travel funds for student officers to attend the AIChE Annual Meeting in the U.S., encouraging them to take part in the poster competition. The TAMUQ team has done well. For two consecutive years, they won second place, and, this past year, they took first! With her support, the chapter has built its first ChemEcar and successfully participated in the AIChE ChemEcar competition. In support of women engineering students, Dr. Salama also serves as the advisor for the Society of Women Engineers, for which she received the advisor of the year award for 2013. But that’s not all. Dr. Salama also serves as advisor to the Engineers Without Borders student organization and works with the Student Affairs Department on outreach to high school students.



Her nominator writes, “As the only woman on the chemical engineering faculty, Dr. Salama occupies an especially important position in our program. She serves as an outstanding role model for our students, especially young women. Because of her Middle Eastern background, our students view Ghada as an Arab woman, much like themselves, who has achieved success in the international engineering community. Ghada provides a fine example which young women in our program can emulate as they build their own careers.”

College: Texas A&M Qatar

Award Level: Individual Student Relationships

James Sanders ’68

James Sanders ’68
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Year Awarded: 1991

College: Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Teaching

Peter H. Santschi

Peter H. Santschi
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Year Awarded: 2004

College: Geosciences

Award Level: Research

Peter H. Santschi

Peter H. Santschi
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Year Awarded: 2013

Peter Santschi earned his Ph.D. from the University of Berne, Switzerland. He joined the Texas A&M faculty with a joint appointment in the Department of Marine Sciences and the Department of Oceanography in 1988. His pioneering work and theories on the source and fate of radionuclides and colloids in the environment have become a research standard in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Santschi has received numerous awards and recognitions, including The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Research. During his career, he has advised 23 graduate students and 16 post-doctoral fellows. Many of his graduates now hold senior level positions in academia, government and the private sectors in different countries.



His nominator says that although Dr. Santschi’s achievements in research are extraordinary, his “highest achievement is the guidance he has provided to generations of students while at Texas A&M University.” He goes on to say that Dr. Santschi is true mentor in all respects of the word. And his commitment to the betterment of others is not limited to the workplace or to graduate students alone. A former student comments that Dr. Santschi challenged him intellectually to raise his understanding of the concepts taught in class. He describes Dr. Santschi as “a great mentor and role model in the classroom and in the laboratory” who has an open door policy and is always available to discuss ideas, or plan the direction of experiments and who knows the delicate balance between providing direction and allowing a student to discover. Another former student writes, “Peter instilled in me a need to give back as much as I can to colleagues, fellow students, and the public. I have mentored approximately 30 graduate students since I graduated from Texas A&M . . . . I am constantly grateful for the opportunities afforded me . . . .”

College: Texas A&M University at Galveston

Award Level: Graduate Mentoring

Igor Sarkissian

Igor Sarkissian
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Year Awarded: 1970

College: Science

Award Level: Research

Wayne Saslow

Wayne Saslow
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Year Awarded: 1995

College: Science

Award Level: Teaching

Ronald Sasse

Ronald Sasse
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Year Awarded: 1990

College: Student Affairs

Award Level: Student Relations

Polli Satterwhite

Polli Satterwhite
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Year Awarded: 2005

College: Administration

Award Level: Staff

Ashley Saunders '98

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

Jeffrey Savell ’75

Jeffrey Savell ’75
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Year Awarded: 1988

College: Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Teaching

Nancy Sawtelle ’82

Nancy Sawtelle ’82
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Year Awarded: 1997

College: Graduate Studies

Award Level: Staff

Richard Schapery

Richard Schapery
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Year Awarded: 1978

College: Engineering

Award Level: Research

David Schink

David Schink
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Year Awarded: 1981

College: Geosciences

Award Level: Research

Thomas Schlumprecht

Thomas Schlumprecht
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Year Awarded: 2000

College: Science

Award Level: Research

Ivan Schmedemann ’66

Ivan Schmedemann ’66
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Year Awarded: 1984

College: Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Teaching

David Schob

David Schob
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Year Awarded: 1991

College: Liberal Arts

Award Level: Teaching

Herman Scholthof

Herman Scholthof
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Year Awarded: 2009

College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Research

Karen-Beth Scholthof

Karen-Beth Scholthof
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Year Awarded: 2009

College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Teaching

Ralph Schoolcraft

Ralph Schoolcraft
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Year Awarded: 2007

Ralph Schoolcraft earned his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in French. He taught at the University of Oklahoma, where he was awarded the Cecil Woods Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was then named Visiting Professor of French for one year at the Université Blaise Pascal in France. At Texas A&M, Schoolcraft created the first university-wide reciprocal exchange in France, at the Université de Caen in Normandy.



Dr. Schoolcraft has been an exemplary classroom teacher since his arrival at Texas A&M. Outside the classroom, he has devoted himself tirelessly to mentoring students, offering them invaluable advice and support in pursuing study abroad opportunities, graduate school options and career choices. He is truly both a mentor and friend to Texas A&M students, both inside and outside the College of Liberal Arts.



In addition to his work with students, Dr. Schoolcraft has written a biography, Romain Gary: The Man Who Sold His Shadow (2002), and translated a book by Henry Rousso, The Haunting Past: History, Memory and Justice in Contemporary France (UPenn, 2002). His articles have appeared in venues such as PMLA, SubStance, MLN, Cahiers de l’Herne, and South Central Review, as well as in numerous French scholarly journals. He is currently working on three books simultaneously.

College: Liberal Arts

Award Level: Teaching

Friedhelm Schroeder

Friedhelm Schroeder
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Year Awarded: 2001

College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science

Award Level: Research

Roger Schultz

Roger Schultz
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Year Awarded: 2001

College: Liberal Arts

Award Level: Teaching

Courtney Schumacher

Courtney Schumacher
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Year Awarded: 2011

Dr. Courtney Schumacher came to Texas A&M in 2003 after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Dr. Schumacher studies tropical and radar meteorology with the overall goal of understanding how storm systems interact with the large-scale atmospheric circulation and climate. She is the recipient of the NSF CAREER award and NASA's New Investigator Program award. Both of these awards require demonstrated dedication to the pursuit of being an exemplary teacher-scholar. She also actively works on projects funded by the Department of Energy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Dr. Schumacher has been a strong advocate of students and has been recognized for these efforts through the College of Geosciences Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award and Robert C. Runnels Excellence in Advising Award. Her university-wide recognition includes being a Fish Camp Namesake and special recognition by the Women Former Students' Network. Dr. Schumacher has served on numerous national committees dealing with student awards and fellowships, is active in minority recruitment in the STEM fields, and was chosen as a science hero by the MY HERO project.



One former student wrote, “…her enthusiasm, energy, and passion for teaching and research are infectious and inspiring. She has the ability to get students excited about class material, challenge them to go beyond the classroom, and even inspire them to pursue research, which are qualities that only great professors possess.”



Another former student wrote, “Dr. Schumacher has demonstrated to me that she is an extraordinary communicator and an advocate for undergraduate research and training opportunities. On top of this, she is an amazing mentor and dedicated role model who is always just an email, phone call, or office visit away.”



Another student commented, “Her priority is clearly her students, and it is evident through the time and effort she devotes in making sure they succeed. She appeals to all learning styles through the use of her clear and concise notes, explanation of concepts, and visual aids such as radar images. Her lab assignments push students to think beyond the classroom and "think outside the box" by applying techniques and ideas learned in lecture to actual real time data.”

College: Geosciences

Award Level: Teaching

John Schwarz

John Schwarz
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Year Awarded: 2012

John Schwarz is professor and head of the Department of Marine Biology and director of the Seafood Safety Laboratory at Texas A&M University at Galveston. He earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1972 after which he studied deep-sea bacteria as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Maryland. He joined the faculty of Texas A&M University at Galveston in January 1976. He has taught both microbiology and genetics each semester for 30 of his 36 years with TAMUG, and continues to teach microbiology each long term.



Dr. Schwarz is known as tireless and gifted teacher who has a true passion for teaching and a contagious, positive energy that makes students eager to learn. At an island university, where the beach is always calling, his passion for his subject and his enthusiasm for teaching motivate students to come to class even when the beach is calling most loudly. To illustrate his passion and enthusiasm, two students fondly recall a specific class when he gave an animated portrayal of a centrifuge.



His nominator says that Dr. Schwarz genuinely cares for the wellbeing of his students and has an uncanny ability to notice even the most subtle indications that something is amiss. He always goes out of his way to ask how students are doing and then takes the time to advise them on academic issues or point them to resources to help them with personal issues.



A colleague writes, John Schwarz’s “reputation is often expressed in two words: hard and fair. For many years, his rigorous teaching has made TAMUG a better place for students.” In sum, “He is a distinguished teacher in the best tradition of Texas A&M University.”

College: Texas A&M University at Galveston

Award Level: Teaching

Charles Scifres

Charles Scifres
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Year Awarded: 1980

College: Agriculture and Life Sciences

Award Level: Research

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