Here is this year's Alumni Appreciation Day honorees. The event is scheduled for next Friday, April 28th. The Dean's Reception is at 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the EESAT atrium and lunch will be at 12:20 in the Silver Eagle Suite of the Union.
Dr. Zafar Nawaz
Houston, TX - PhD 1992
Dr.Nawaz is Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. He has achieved a distinguished record of scientific achievement. He has authored over 40 scientific publications including 5 published papers in the highly prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He has accumulated 809 citations of his papers (career total is 1119 citations of his work in other scientific papers). His research on hormone receptors and their role in cancer is currently funded by grants totaling $1.3 million. His research has also resulted in two patents on discoveries in his lab and three more patent applications have been submitted for other discoveries. He is frequently invited to review research papers submitted for publication in six journals: Gene, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Endocrinology, Biochemistry, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. He was also recognized by a prestigious travel award from the Endocrine Society in 1999. Dr. Nawaz's record of achievements in the short period since he has received his PhD is truly outstanding, and he represents a product of UNT who is at the forefront of science.
Dr. David
H. Sewell
Kingsport, TN - BA 1960
David Sewell is a cardiac and thoracic surgeon. He is responsible for the development of a highly respected tertiary care facility in Tennessee. It has become one of the most successful in the state of Tennessee with surgical outcomes surpassing those of most major cardiac centers in the country. He took his medical training at Tulane University College of Medicine. His continued studies took him to the Medical College of Virginia where he did his specialty work in general surgery as well as thoracic and cardiac surgery. In addition, he served in teaching positions at Tufts University School of Medicine and East Tennessee State University School of Medicine.
Dr. Sewell is a member of The Boston Surgical Society, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the Southern Thoracic Surgery Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons as well as being named a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr. Frank Cole Spencer
Mamaroneck, NY - MD, BS, 1944
Spencer is head of the new Clinical Facility initiative - George David Stewart Professor of Surgery. Medical Education Vanderbilt, School of Medicine; Residency Training: University of California, Los Angeles Hospital (Surgery) 1949-1951; Johns Hopkins Hospital (Surgery) 1954-55; Clinical Fellowships: Johns Hopkins Hospital (Surgery) 1948-1949; Board Certifications: General Surgery; Cardiothoracic Surgery; Medical Specialty: Cardiothoracic Surgery.
Dr. Spencer's medical interests include: general cardiothoracic surgery (including reoperative surgery); thoracic aneurysm; valvular heart surgery; repair and replacement including homografts and allografts; surgery for congenital heart disease: children and adults.
Finley Stewart
Denton, TX - BS 1990, MS 1990
Full-time professional storyteller, a career he started while attending a storytelling course in the speech department some sixteen years ago. He took that training and began the Texas Storytelling Festival, now the largest of it's kind in the southwest. He educates and performs throughout the United States at venues as large as the National Parks Service, as diverse as the Smithsonian Institute, and as small as the local public library. He served as Chair of the National Storytelling Association from 1992-1994 and is the recipient of the 1991 John Henry Faulk Award. Currently he is working on his third book for publication, but continues to speak nationwide.
Matthew Earnest
New York, NY - BA 1991
Matthew is the co-founder and director of the deep ellum ensemble. He has directed and written original text for the company-created blood pudding, as well as his own translation of Bertolt Brecht's Puntila and his servant, Matti; The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (his own adaptation from Katherine Anne Porter); The Purification and The Two-Character Play, both by Tennessee Williams; his own translation of Leonce and Lena by George Buchner; Wolf at the Door by Erik Ehn and Troilus & Cressida by William Shakespeare. At New York's Obie-winning NADA, Inc., Matthew directed Faustbuch, an anonymous text adapted by T. Ryder Smith, and at Arlington Opera Association in Texas, he staged Strauss's Die Fledermaus and Menthe's Amahl and the Night Visitors. Matthew is the recipient of a 1995 Residency Grant from The Drama League of New York. He won The Dallas Theatre Critics' Forum Award for Outstanding Direction in 1994 for his production of Eric Overmyer's On the Verge … or The Geography of Yearning, and The Dallas Observer's Best of Dallas Award in 1993 for Fen by Caryl Churchill. For three seasons Matthew was Associate Artistic Director of Moonstruck Theatre Company in Dallas.
Kay-Lynn
Young Lyon Ms. Lyon started Kay-Lynn's Dancers of the Metrocrest, during her senior
year at UNT. The studio has flourished for 23 years. In addition to her busy studio work, Kay-Lynn teaches at local private
and public schools, and conducts annual dance camps. She has taught
continuing education classes for North Lake College and Brookhaven College.
She also hosted the cable television show "Kay-Lynn's Aerobics and Dance
Exercise." She is highly active in supporting her community by volunteering her
dance skills and knowledge. For the past seven years, Kay-Lynn has choreographed
and danced in the Iwo Jima Survivor's Reunion USO show. Other non-dance
and dance related volunteer activities have included her participation
on the UNT Dance and Theatre Arts Department Advisory Board, Dallas
Dance Council Board of Directors, National Tap Dance Day Committee,
Civic League Board of Directors (2000 Fundraising Chairwoman), American
Association of University Women (served as Vice President), and National
Association of Dance & Affiliated Artists (Secretary/Treasurer).
Dallas,
TX - BS 1977, MS 1981
Kari
L. Battaglia
Denton, TX - MA 1986
Kari has earned the reputation of being the consummate educator. She became a full-time Lecturer with the UNT Department of Economics in 1992. An honored member of Who's Who Among America's Teachers, Mrs. Battaglia is often described by her students as an instructor with unparalleled ability. She is regularly honored by the UNT Mortar Board Honor Society for her outstanding teaching in Economics of Consumption, Current Economic Issues, Comparative Economic Systems, Public Finance, Economics of Social Welfare, and Money and Financial Institutions. Since 1992, she has served as Coordinator of the Departmentalized Principles of Economics Program. In this role, she designs curriculum, monitors the activity of teaching fellows and supervises the Teacher Training Program with the department Chairman. In February 2000, she was recognized by the Honor Society for her work as an outstanding Coordinator of the Principles Program. Kari is a member of the UNT Honors Program faculty. She has been honored as an Outstanding Professor for her teaching of Honors Macroeconomics and The American Political and Economic Experience. She is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, National Economics Honor Society and is Associate Director of the UNT Center for Economics Education. She has written and co-written several books and articles relating to the principles of economics.
Charles Cotton (nuclear)
Cleburne, TX - BS 1997
After six years in the US Navy aboard a nuclear powered submarine, Charles obtained a position as equipment operator at Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station for TXU Electric. After earning a Senior Reactor Operator license, he was promoted to Unit Supervisor in 1986. While attending UNT he was inducted into the Alpha Chi National Honor Society and also became a charter member of the Tau Alpha Pi National Honor Society for Engineering Technology. He was promoted to Shift Manager of approximately 20 operators in 1996 and is currently Day Shift Manager for the Operations Department.
Claudia
Heinrich-Barna (electronics)
Dallas, TX - BS 1992
After graduating from UNT, Claudia obtained a masters degree
in Electrical Engineering from UTD in 1995. She has been employed by Texas
Instruments for the past five years. Beginning with Amazon Micro-processor
Design, Claudia has moved on to Digital Compression Products and is currently
with TI Wireless where she is working on Flash memory wrapper design,
memory VHDL and wrapper synthesis and validation.
Michael
Toby Malone (mechanical)
Van
Alstyne, TX - BS 1997
Michael Malone is Design Engineer with Peterbilt Motors Company,
Denton working in engineering design, development and production support.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Malone worked in the Research and Development
Lab. Before coming to Peterbilt, Michael worked for the Tunamatic Machine
Shop in Richardson and the Texas Department of Transportation in McKinney.
Dr.
Merrill D. Williamson Professor Emeritus from UNT. Dr. Williamson was also head of the Industrial
Education Department at Abilene Christian University from 1962 to 1986,
Industrial Education Coordinator at Southwest Mississippi Junior College
and Visiting Professor at Iowa State University, Texas A&M University
and the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Williamson has received the Distinguished Service Award and Distinguished
Leadership Award from the Texas Industrial Arts Association, the Teacher
Educator of the Year Award from the Texas Council on Industrial Arts
Teacher Education and was inducted into the Hall of Honor for the Association
for Texas Technology Education.
Argyle,
TX - BS 1947; MS 1952
Ramona Rollins
Denton, TX - BA 1995
During Ms. Rollins' undergraduate studies at UNT in German and history, her excellence was reflected in numerous ways: a member of Phi Eta Sigma (the Freshman Honor Society); nominated to the Dean's list of outstanding students; a member of Delta Phi Alpha (the National German Honor Society); called to serve in the Order of Omega (a Greek Honor Society); and she was the recipient of the "Outstanding German Student Award" from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in 1995.
Ramona has been instrumental in making the arrangements that allowed the exchange visits of students from Germany to three Texas high schools (one of these being her own school); taught in the International Baccalaureate Curriculum program, a very advanced curriculum followed only at very select high schools which prepare students for an internationally recognized high school diploma. She was invited to present an International Baccalaureate (IB) workshop to IB teachers from all over Texas; currently serves on the North Texas AATG Chapter's Scholarship Committee (AATG= national progressional organization for teachers of German). She has begun to mentor recent UNT graduates who have chosen the teaching of German as a career. Ramona received an invitation to be a participating instructor at the International Summer School, a school that will be held in conjunction with the World Expo in Hannover, Germany. Ms. Rollins was chosen to be the sole US representative on a team of instructors from all over the world.
Oscar
Salas
Gainesville, TX - BA 1999
Mr. Salas originally moved to the United States as a foreign exchange student from Peru in 1976. In 1977, he moved to Texas where he obtained an Associate of Science Degree from Cooke County College. After several years in the retail industry, he decided to change careers and become a teacher; consequently, he came to UNT and obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from UNT in 1999. Currently, he is a teacher at Gainesville High School, teaching Spanish and carrying out the duties of Head Soccer Coach. A part of his endeavors have included founding the Spanish Club at Gainesville and coordinating the soccer games (as one of only two 2A schools in Texas with a soccer team, he has had to arrange meets with schools in 4A).
In recognition of his hard work with the students at Gainesville High, Mr. Salas has been selected to be a part of "Beyond Teaching 2000." This is a program in which teachers develop lesson plans relevant to today's society, thereby showing the students what they learn in high school can be applied in real-life situations.
Geography
Michelle Miller
Dallas, TX - BA 1996
Miss Miller is a Project Manager with the Real Estate Strategy
Development and Research Division of J.C. Penney Co. She began her career
as a GIS analyst with The Buxton Company of Fort Worth, Texas in 1996.
In 1997, she moved to Amresco Research where she was responsible for field
market research relating to commercial real estate management and acquisitions.
In her current position with J.C.Penney Co., she is responsible for site
strategy analysis for the West Region including trade area, competition
analysis and market logistics research.
Kent Saunders
Dallas,
TX - BS 1997
Mr. Saunders is Director of Research and Information Services
for United Commercial Realty of Dallas, Texas. He began his career as
a GIS analyst with the Buxton Company, Fort Worth, Texas, where he was
responsible for trade area analysis, demographic profiling, and graphic
intensive cartographic design. In 1997 he accepted an account executive
position with the Buxton Company. In May of 1999 he joined United Commercial
Realty where he is responsible for developing and maintaining information
resources to support strategic planning and corporate real estate acquisitions.
Dr. Robert Calvert
College Station, TX - BA 1957, MA 1960
Currently Professor of History at Texas A&M University. Dr. Calvert has served as Vice-President and President of the Texas State Historical Association and has long been recognized as a gifted classroom teacher who has won many teaching awards during his career.
Dr. Calvert has published the following books: Cartooning Texas: One Hundred Years of Cartoon Art in the Lone Star State, with Maury B. Foreman (Texas A&M Press, 1993); The History of Texas, with Arnolodo De Leon (Harlan Davidson, 1990, 2nd edition 1996); Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times, edited with Alwyn Barr (Texas State Historical Association 1981); Chicano: The Evolution of a People, edited with G.L. Seligmann and Renato Rosaldo (Winston Press 1973, 2nd Edition Robert Krieger Press 1983); and The Dallas Cowboys and the NFL, with Randolph Campbell and Donald Chipman (University of Oklahoma Press 1970).
Journalism
Trent Walters
Dallas, TX - BA 1997
In his senior year three years ago, Trent Walters was honored
nationally by the American Advertising Federation as one of the Top 25
Most Promising Minority Students in America and named the Outstanding
Advertising Student at UNT. As an Account Executive at The Richards Group
advertising agency in Dallas his continuing achievements include a Super
Bowl television ad his first year, and record sales worldwide for his
client, Nokia. "We are not surprised at his accomplishments because he
is one of the best students to study in our nationally-accredited journalism
program in my 32 years on the faculty," said Dr. Roy Busby.
Dr. Robert L. Hood
Nashville, TN - BA 1990, MA 1993
Dr. Hood earned his doctorate from Bowling Green State University in 1998. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He is also the associate editor of the journal Philosophy and Geography and the director and co-founder of the International Society for Environmental Ethics Syllabus Project, a website that is the most comprehensive source of information concerning course offerings in environmental ethics, covering the syllabi of over one hundred teachers around the world.
Dr. Andrew Wallace
San Angelo, TX - PhD 1989
Dr. Wallace is Chairman of the Department of Physics at Angelo State University. He is an active researcher in Theoretical Quantum Mechanics and an innovator in undergraduate research.
Political
Science Mr. Cannon is an outstanding attorney and former Texas Legislator.
He served 3 terms on various legislative committees including Rules,
Motor Traffic, Judiciary, Criminal Jurisprudence, and State Affairs.
He Chaired the State Hospital and Special School Committee. As a member of the Texas Bar Association he served on the Board of
Directors for 4 years. He has devoted countless hours of public service
to his community and profession. He was recently elected to the Pro
Bono College of the State Bar of Texas for giving more than 75 hours
of free legal service to Central Texas low income families. Joe is an Eagle Scout and currently serves on the North Texas Exes
Board of Directors.
Joe Cannon
Mexia, TX - BA 1956
Dr. Vicki Soukup
Bayou Vista, TX - PhD 1992
After she received her Ph.D. in 1992, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and for the past seven years, has held an appointment as Assistant Professor and Director of Neuropsychology Services for the Department of Neurology at the medical school. Vicki provides neuropsychological consultation for Neurology, Neurosurgery, Geriatric Medicine, and Rehab Units. She serves as a member of the Cardiac Transplant Evaluation team, and lectures to medical students, neurology residents and Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate students. Aside from her clinical and teaching duties, she has participated in clinical research projects to evaluate the cognitive effects of pallidotomy in patients with Parkinson's disease and the efficacy of dorsal column myelotomy for visceral cancer pain. Most recently, she is participating in a NIH-funded multi-center prospective study of end-stage HIV-infected patients and is involved in the development of a National AIDS brain bank.
Radio,
TV & Film
Scott Murphy
West Hollywood, CA - BA 1990, MS 1993
Mr. Murphy is currently a screenwriter in Los Angeles, CA. After his Master's degree in Radio, Television and Film, he received an MFA in screenwriting from the University of Southern California. He has served as a staff writer on a situation comedy for Disney. In 1997, Mr. Murphy received a highly competitive Disney screenwriting fellowship. He has also received recognition for a script he entered for the UFVA Nate Monaster Writing Award.
Todd
L. Watson
New York, NY - BA 1991, MA 1994
Mr. Watson is Digital Brand Manager for IBM Corporate Marketing. He started working for IBM and the New York Times Publishing Corporation in 1991 and joined IBM in New York in 1995. His documentary The Road Not Taken aired on several PBS affiliates. While at UNT, he received numerous academic scholarships such as the Arthur Sampley Memorial Scholarship and the Phyllis George-Brown Graduate Scholarship. He is currently working on issues such as Internet privacy, interactive advertising, and technological convergence/wireless.
Speech
& Hearing Sciences
Julia Hobbs
Los Angeles, CA - BA 1968, MA 1970
Mrs. Hobbs is in private practice specializing in pediatric
speech pathology in the areas of autism, pervasive developmental disorders
as well as cleft and craniofacial anomalies and voice disorders. She is
a member of the Cleft Palate Teams at St. Johns Hospital, Santa Monica,
and the University of California, Los Angeles. She has served on the faculty
of the UCLA School of Dentistry since 1979, lecturing to orthodontic and
pediatric dentistry residents as well as the UCLA School of Medicine,
Department of Pediatrics since 1985. For ten years she was part of an
interdisciplinary cleft team through UC San Diego providing care to a
sister team in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. This team traveled twice
yearly developing a model for providing speech therapy services in a third
world setting that had no trained speech pathologists. Mrs. Hobbs has
numerous publications and has presented in state, national, and international
forums.