C. Richard
Shumway
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Year Awarded: 1989
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Research
Robert
Shutes
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Year Awarded: 1975
College: Education and Human Development
Award Level: Student Relations
Fred
Sicilio
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Year Awarded: 1985
College: Science
Award Level: Student Relations
John
Siebert
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Year Awarded: 2010
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Nova
Silvy
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Year Awarded: 1998
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Student Relations
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
Jeffry A.
Simpson
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Year Awarded: 2003
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Research
Chanan
Singh
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Year Awarded: 1997
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
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
Daniel A.
Singleton
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Year Awarded: 2018
Daniel A. Singleton earned a bachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve University, a doctorate from the University of Minnesota, and was then an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Singleton joined the faculty of the College of Science in 1987 and is a Davidson Professor of Science. He received the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, and he has received a series of four teaching and mentorship awards at Texas A&M, including The Association of Former Students University-Level Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching and the Wells Fargo Honors Faculty Mentor of the Year. Dr. Singleton is a recognized international leader in two research areas. The first of these is the field of kinetic isotope effects on chemical reactions. In 1995, Dr. Singleton’s group developed methodology for the combinatorial simultaneous measurement of all of the kinetic isotope effects for a reaction at natural abundance. Dr. Singleton then advanced the interpretation of kinetic isotope effects by finding that they could be predicted accurately if the reaction mechanism, transition state geometry, and reaction physics were each accurate. In this way, the combination of experiment and theory provides one of modern chemistry’s most powerful tools for the identification of reaction mechanisms. Dr. Singleton’s second area of leadership is in the area of “dynamic effects” on reactions. Dynamic effects are experimental observations that cannot be explained within the standard statistical paradigms of chemistry. Dr. Singleton’s group has provided the bulk of the experimental evidence for dynamics effects on reactions, and it has been a leader in the development of a theoretical understanding of these phenomena.
College: Department of Chemistry
Award Level: Research
Daniel A.
Singleton
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Year Awarded: 2008
Daniel Singleton joined the faculty of Texas A&M in 1987 and currently holds the rank of Professor of Chemistry and Davidson Professor of Science. He received The Association of Former Students College-Level Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching in 1995, was a University Faculty Fellow (2001-2006), has served as associate editor of the Journal of Organic Chemistry since 2005, and in 2008 was named an Arthur C. Cope Scholar by the American Chemical Society for excellence in organic chemistry. He is the quintessential teacher-scholar, a truly outstanding chemical educator who also has a worldwide reputation in research.
His nominator and supporting letter writers all praise the excellence of his teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, his innovative development of inquiry/discovery methods with an emphasis on green chemistry for the sophomore organic laboratory, his creation of a new graduate course on computational chemistry, and his exceptional involvement in student mentoring activities. One current undergraduate researcher sums it up with a Chinese proverb, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand,” in describing how “Doc” has helped her to understand - not just remember – the important things she needs to know to become the organic chemist she intends to be one day.
College: Science
Award Level: Teaching
Jairo
Sinova
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Year Awarded: 2011
Following his Ph.D. in condensed matter physics at Indiana University (1999) and two postdoctoral appointments in condensed matter physics at the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Jairo Sinova joined the physics faculty at Texas A&M University in 2003. His research interests lie primarily in the fields of spintronics, magnetism, spin transport, ferromagnetic semiconductors, and spin thermoelectric effects. Dr. Sinova is one of the leading researchers in spintronics, a field of physics with strong potential for future technologies. He and coworkers proposed the notion of intrinsic spin Hall effect and formed part of one of the teams that discovered the Spin Hall Effect. He has published in the top journals in science and is among the most prolific scientists in his field with over 60 publications in the past five years and close to 50 invited talks in international meetings around the world. He has mentored several students and postdoctoral fellows, most of who have gone on to academic careers and positions. He was recently elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in recognition for his ground breaking studies in spintronics. He has also received The Association of Former Students’ College-level Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, the NSF CAREER Award, the Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar, and the Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation.
College: Science
Award Level: Research
Chris
Skaggs
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Year Awarded: 1998
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Doug
Slack
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Year Awarded: 2010
College: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
James
Smathers
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Year Awarded: 1976
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
Gary
Smith
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Year Awarded: 1983
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Henry
Smith
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Year Awarded: 1964
College: Engineering
Award Level: Extension/ Continuing Education
Henry
Smith
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Year Awarded: 1982
College: Engineering
Award Level: Extension/ Continuing Education
Ralph
Smith
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Year Awarded: 1999
College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science
Award Level: Student Relations
Patricia
Smith
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Year Awarded: 2013
Patricia Smith is a Cintron University Professor for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence and the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAEN). Earning her B.S and M.S. from Oklahoma State University and her Ph.D. in biological and agricultural engineering from North Carolina State University, she came to Texas A&M more than 12 years ago.
Dr. Smith’s contributions extend across the broad spectrum of the undergraduate and graduate programs in BAEN and she has been recognized for her teaching accomplishments at the departmental, college and university levels. In addition to an active research program, she serves on committees across campus and contributed to both the ABET accreditation process and the reaffirmation of accreditation for Texas A&M University. Her teaching evaluations indicate very high satisfaction with her overall teaching program, especially in important categories, such as responsiveness to students, fairness in grading, teaching environment, academic concern and availability to students.
Her passion for teaching, mentoring and service to students, department and profession are summed up in the following statements from students and colleagues. “Dr. Smith has guided me through my four years at Texas A&M and continues to challenge me to be the best I can be.” “ . . .. no one has exemplified [the] core values greater than Dr. Smith.” “She is . . . ‘THE BEST’ professor I have ever come across.” “She respects and cares for every one of her students.” “She demonstrates selfless service to her department, college, university, and broader academic profession.” “Dr. Smith has made a significant difference in my life.” Her nominator concludes saying that “Students know that she will help them overcome their academic difficulties through her unique learner-centered teaching style and by motivating them to excel.”
College: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
James
Smith '70
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Year Awarded: 2012
James Smith has enjoyed a richly diverse set of careers since graduating from The John Hopkins University in 1961. Following graduation, he served on active duty in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later worked as a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, advising on military construction. In 1985, he moved to the construction industry and worked with both design and construction firms with worldwide responsibilities. Along the way, he earned both master’s and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from Texas A&M. He joined the faculty of Texas A&M’s College of Architecture in 1996.
Dr. Smith is known for leveraging his broad experience to develop assignments that are realistic and that partner students with industry professionals to bring real-world projects into the classroom. This strategy enhances the learning experience for the students and provides them an opportunity to “shine” for potential employers. Dr. Smith demonstrates his commitment to teaching excellence through the substantial investment of time and energy it takes to identify projects that are current, relevant, and on a scale the students can digest, as well as finding industry volunteers to participate.
His assignments require students to work together in teams. He teaches them to recognize everyone’s individual talents and gives them strategies on how to work toward a common goal. These skills pay dividends in the professional world but also in working on group projects during their academic careers.
In addition, Dr. Smith is notorious among his students for the “red pen” on writing assignments. He believes that excellent written and oral communications are essential to success in the construction industry.
His nominators conclude that Dr. Smith is completely dedicated to his students, putting in the preparation and planning needed to integrate multiple disciplines in a single class. “He is a truly special teacher.”
College: Architecture
Award Level: Teaching
Gail
Snook
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Year Awarded: 2009
College: College of Veterinary Medicine
Award Level: Staff
Karen
Snowden
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Year Awarded: 2013
Karen Snowden joined the faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 1993. She earned her D.V.M. from Auburn University and her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. She has received the Texas Veterinary Medical Association’s Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching, and both a Montague Scholar Award and a College-Level Teaching Award from Texas A&M.
Her research interests are in emerging protozoan parasitic infections that are important in both human and animal disease progression. She takes her research from the laboratory to her students through the variety of courses she teaches in veterinary, molecular and immunologic parasitology and the microbiologic parasitology course she teaches at the Health Science Center College of Medicine. She is also the primary faculty member who initiated and teaches “Shelter Veterinary Medicine,” an elective course for senior veterinary students who wish to provide veterinary care for locally run animal shelters.
Praise for Dr. Snowden’s effectiveness come from all levels. Undergraduate, professional, and graduate students, residents, interns, and postdoctoral fellows all have been inspired to reach higher levels in their academic careers after experiencing her motivational influence. Her students appreciate her careful presentation style and use of interesting case studies. Here are a few student comments. “I loved how she introduced the clinical aspects of the class.” “Great instructor, good pace in lectures and very clinically relevant information discussed. Very helpful in bringing it all together.” “Very passionate about the subject matter and willing to work with the students.” “In a nutshell, Dr. Snowden is the most caring and dedicated supervisor a student could have. Having been a student at four different universities and having heard some of the experiences of other graduate and undergraduate students, this makes all the difference in the world!”
College: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
Award Level: Teaching
Anton
Sorensen, Jr.
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Year Awarded: 1968
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Alina
Sorescu
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Year Awarded: 2011
Dr. Alina Sorescu holds a B.S. in Mathematics from University of Bucharest, a Master of Statistics from University of Florida and Ph.D. in Business Administration from University of Houston. Dr. Sorescu's research focuses on radical innovations, product portfolio decisions, branding, acquisitions and alliances, business models and measuring the financial value of marketing actions. Her research appears in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Advertising and the Journal of Advertising Research. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Marketing. She is the recipient of research and teaching awards such as the Academy of Marketing Science Mary Kay Dissertation Award, the American Marketing Association John A. Howard Dissertation Award, the Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar Award and The Association of Former Students’ College Level Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Sorescu teaches an undergraduate marketing research class, a research for marketing decision Master-level class and a doctoral seminar in econometric methods and multivariate techniques. In her nine years at Texas A&M she has chaired or co-chaired three doctoral dissertations, has been a member on four doctoral dissertation committees and has conducted research with many other doctoral students. She was invited by the Doctoral Student in Marketing SIG to serve as a mentor at the AMA Winter Educator's Conference. She also enjoys keeping up with her former undergraduate and MS students and occasionally assisting them with the marketing research projects that they are involved in after graduation.
A former student wrote, “She was approachable and made you feel very welcome, which is a rarity to find among college professors. When I would go to see her during office hours, 1 felt like I was chatting with a friend…. This provided my group with such a feeling of encouragement and a drive to learn!”
Another former student commented, “There is tremendous benefit to the rigors of her classroom because she is teaching her students how to methodically approach problems and think for themselves; the end result is a thorough understanding of her material and, more importantly, legitimate preparation for the business world.”
College: Mays Business School
Award Level: Teaching
Terry
Spencer
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Year Awarded: 1977
College: Geosciences
Award Level: Teaching
Arun
Srinivasa
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Year Awarded: 2013
Arun Srinivasa earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined the faculty of the Dwight Look College of Engineering in 1997.
Dr. Srinivasa is an inspiring and innovative teacher who takes an active role in student engagement and classroom education. He implements his teaching philosophy through a combination of technology, active learning techniques and problem-based peer learning methods. He has applied these approaches to a wide range of courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as to the freshman engineering classes. In fact, one of his most significant contributions has been redesigning the freshman engineering classes to incorporate a project component that requires students to integrate physics and math to solve engineering tasks.
Dr. Srinivasa puts students at the center of the learning experience in class. Through interactive teaching methods, he gets the students to analyze their thought processes through a sequence of questions and answers. A colleague comments that he has an “uncanny ability to come up with examples and counter examples on the spot that enhance the critical thinking ability of students and helps them understand deep engineering concepts.” The end result is a highly effective learning environment where students are actively engaged. He adds that Dr. Srinivasa fully understands and appreciates diversity in the way students think and strives to bring out the best in each student. A student sums it up best. Dr. Srinivasa “always welcomed questions during class, after class, in office hours, or by email. He kept us up-to-date on upcoming topics and ensured we understood previous topics. . . . his lectures were always informing as well as entertaining and a pleasure to attend. Dr. Srinivasa’s best teaching quality is his welcoming demeanor; the epitome of a true Aggie.”
College: Department of Mechanical Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Alan
Stacell
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Year Awarded: 1992
College: Architecture
Award Level: Teaching
Robert
Stanton, Jr.
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Year Awarded: 1985
College: Geosciences
Award Level: Research