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
Eduardo
Espina
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Year Awarded: 2007
Considered by the critics as one of the most important and original writers of the Spanish language, Eduardo Espina (Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis) was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1954. He has published more than ten books of poetry and criticism. He won prestigious international literary awards, and doctoral theses have been written about his poetic works. His poetry is studied in universities in the United States, Europe, and Latin America, and his poems have been translated partially to English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German and Croatian. He is included in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
For 20 years he has taught a wide variety of courses, at the undergraduate and graduate levels, receiving consistently very high student evaluations. Professor Espina feels the reason of his success is very simple: “Teaching to me is a vocation, not just profession. It is a labor of love. I love to teach, and students can see this. I have even more energy and passion than 20 years ago, and more desire to keep growing both personally and intellectually.” Professor Espina strives to be an intellectual role model and inspiration for his students, making a positive difference in their lives. He says, “I seek to help individuals of every belief, race, gender, sexual preference, and color to develop critical thinking talents beyond imagined boundaries.”
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
Philip
Eubank
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Year Awarded: 1983
College: Engineering
Award Level: Research
Margaret
Ezell
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Year Awarded: 2000
College: Liberal Arts
Award Level: Teaching
John
Fackler
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Year Awarded: 2007
John Fackler joined the faculty of Texas A&M in 1983, serving as Dean of the College of Science until 1992. He currently holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Fackler has been a leading international figure in inorganic chemistry for over thirty years, and his work in gold chemistry is recognized among the leading two or three chemists worldwide in this field. His work on organometallic gold chemistry, in particular, evolved fundamental structural concepts that are now being used to understand the role of gold in catalysis, a vibrant area of chemistry. He has advised 33 doctoral students and over 40 postdoctoral researchers, and published over 345 research papers.
Among his major honors and awards are a Fulbright Award, J. S. Guggenheim Fellowship, and three major awards from the American Chemical Society: Morley (1987), Southwest Regional (1990) and Distinguished Service to Inorganic Chemistry (2001). He has served as member and chair of the Board of Trustees of the Gordon Research Conferences, a world-renowned series of scientific conferences. A colleague from Harvard says of him, “John Fackler is an outstanding scientist, science administrator, teacher, mentor, and university citizen. Few persons I have known have been as accomplished in combining these elements into a distinguished and altogether commendable career as has John Fackler.”
College: Science
Award Level: Research
Davis
Fahlquist
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Year Awarded: 1992
College: Geosciences
Award Level: Student Relations
Roger
Feldman
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Year Awarded: 1988
College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science
Award Level: Student Relations
Richard
Feldman
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Year Awarded: 1990
College: Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Fidel
Fernandez '02
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Year Awarded: 2012
Fidel Fernandez has been a senior academic advisor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Dwight Look College of Engineering for the past 13 years. He previously served as an academic advisor with General Academic Programs and in the Department of Student Affairs and in the Office of Graduate Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in educational administration from Texas A&M in 1987.
Students, colleagues, and parents have described Dr. Fernandez’s advising and individual student attention as caring, inspiring, compassionate, high quality, enthusiastic, dedicated, engaging, resourceful, resilient, and overall very helpful. He distinguishes himself through his leadership, personal interest, and demonstrated willingness to meet the needs of the students he advises. He works well with all stakeholders: students, parents, faculty, and administrators.
As senior academic advisor he works with more than 450 undergraduate students and assists with nearly 90 graduate students. He also plans undergraduate field trips and assists with data collection for program evaluation. He has even filled in as the receptionist when the department was short staffed. Outside the office, he advises A-Battery in the Corps of Cadets.
The accolades for Dr. Fernandez’ service to students is amazing! Here are a few examples. The students in the department have created a blog and named it “Fidel is the Man.” One student’s father claimed that his daughter chose A&M on the strength of hearing just one of Fidel’s presentations. The department receives several letters and emails each semester from parents expressing appreciation for the work and personal attention that Fidel has given their sons, daughters, and/or them. From all the evidence, Dr. Fernandez’ dedication, time, and effort toward student growth is clearly demonstrated and goes above and beyond the call of duty, regardless of the measure used.
College: Engineering
Award Level: Individual Student Relationships
L. Paige
Fields
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Year Awarded: 2000
College: Business
Award Level: Teaching
Richard
Finnell
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Year Awarded: 1997
College: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science
Award Level: Research
Robert
Fletcher
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Year Awarded: 1970
College: Engineering
Award Level: Student Relations
Ciprian
Foias
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Year Awarded: 2007
Ciprian Foias joined the Texas A&M faculty as Professor of Mathematics in 1999, and was promoted to Distinguished Professor in 2007. Professor Foias’ research has set the tone for much of the research in operator theory and fluid mechanics over the past forty years, with a level of productivity almost unheard of among the mathematical community. He is the author of 11 books and 401 journal articles, has directed over 20 Ph.D. student dissertations, and has had continuous funding of his research program from the National Science Foundation since 1988.
His major awards include the 1995 Norbert Wiener Prize in Applied Mathematics from the American Mathematical Society and the Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (AMS/SIAM), the 2000 Béla Szõkefalvi-Nagy Memorial Medal from the University of Szeged, Hungary, and honorary memberships in the Hungarian Academy of Science and the Romanian Academy. In 1995 while he was at Indiana University, the Ciprian Foias Prize (a scholarship for undergraduate mathematics majors) was established in his honor.
The department awards chair described Dr. Foias as a “creative genius who, in his world of mathematics, is as influential as the conductor Seiji Ozawa in the world of music...or the painter David Hockney in the world of modern art.”
College: Science
Award Level: Research
David M.
Ford
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Year Awarded: 2006
College: Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Constance "Connie"
Fournier
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Year Awarded: 2009
College: College of Education and Human Development
Award Level: Teaching
Paul J.
Fox
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Year Awarded: 2002
College: Geosciences
Award Level: Administration
Harold
Franke
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Year Awarded: 1971
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Student Relations
Donald
Fraser
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Year Awarded: 1980
College: Business
Award Level: Teaching
Donald
Fraser
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Year Awarded: 1986
College: Business
Award Level: Research
Donald
Fraser
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Year Awarded: 1997
College: Business
Award Level: Teaching
Melvin
Friedman
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Year Awarded: 1975
College: Geosciences
Award Level: Research
Raymond
Frisbie
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Year Awarded: 1979
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Extension/ Continuing Education
Edward
Fry
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Year Awarded: 2012
Ed Fry is the George P. Mitchell Professor of Physics and Associate Head for Development in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Science. He was Department Head for almost ten years. He has been employed in the department for 42.5 years. Dr. Fry is a recognized international leader in the foundations of quantum mechanics, in experimental laser physics, and in studies of light scattering phenomena. He is the author of more than 100 publications and has a long record of external funding. He is an excellent research mentor; 19 students have received the Ph.D. under his supervision. He is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America. He was awarded the EG&G medal of the Society for Optical and Quantum Electronics and received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Texas A&M chapter of the Society of Sigma Xi.
As Department Head, Dr. Fry led a major resurgence of the department—dramatic increases in the number of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and endowed chairs, as well as a new Physics building and the establishment of a new Astronomy program. His accomplishments are nothing short of exceptional. He played a major role in hiring two senior Nobel Prize winners and several leading faculty members in Astronomy. Overall, the department hired 25 tenured/tenure track faculty members during his term as Department Head. In addition, graduate enrollment increased by about 50 percent and external research funding increased by 81 percent. The number of endowed chairs increased from 2 to 12.
Ed Fry is recognized among administrators for his enthusiasm and tenacity, which have played a major role in his noteworthy successes. In short, he changed the culture in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in ways that simply do not appear in other departments.
College: Science
Award Level: Administration
Edward
Funkhouser
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Year Awarded: 1988
College: Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award Level: Teaching
Ahmed
Gadalla
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Year Awarded: 1992
College: Engineering
Award Level: Teaching
Carl
Gagliardi
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Year Awarded: 2001
College: Science
Award Level: Teaching
Harold
Gaines
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Year Awarded: 1974
College: Staff
Award Level: Student Relations