NSM Pride: Awards and Honors
Share News of Your Achievements
NSM is proud of the achievements of our outstanding alumni, students, staff and faculty. Submit news of your awards, new jobs and honors to breakthrough@nsm.uh.edu or contact Kathy Major at ksmajor@uh.edu or 713-743-4023.
Alumni
Cheryl Burns (’84, Biology) was unanimously appointed as Superintendent of the Smithville (Texas) Independent School District; she is the first woman to hold the top administrator post. She has been in public education for 33 years.
Priscilla James (’09, Biology & Spanish) received the Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholarship as an MBA student at Baylor University. The scholarship, awarded to 35 business students across the state, gifts $15,000 toward their degrees. These students are recognized as “the best of the best” at Texas’ leading institutions of higher learning.
Troy P. LeBlanc (M.S. ’99, Ph.D. ’09, Computer Science) was selected as E.D. White Catholic High’s (Thibodaux, LA) Alumnus of the Year. LeBlanc is the Mission Systems Architect for the Missions Operations Directorate at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston where he is responsible for all aspects of the systems and software engineering for the Mission Control Center.
Kyle Reuber (Ph.D. ’17, Geology) was a recipient of the 2018 Jules Braunstein Memorial Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). The award, given for a poster presentation at the 100th Anniversary AAPG 2017 Annual Convention and Exhibition in Houston, went to Reuber and five co-authors. He also received a Top Ten Oral Presentation Award.
Jeff Tanner (M.S. ’87, Geology) was named Chief Operating Officer of Jones Energy. He has approximately 30 years of diverse technical and managerial experience in the oil and gas industry.
Jarle Lillemoen (’93, Biochemistry) has opened Wild Bunch Brewing Company in Red Rock, Texas. He is the owner and brewmaster.
Maw-Kuen Wu (Ph.D. ’ 82, Physics) has been appointed Taiwan’s Minister of Education. He has served as head of Taiwan’s National Science Council, at the Institute of Physics at the Academia Sinica, and at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan’s Hualien County.
Farnoush Safavi, M.D. (’97, Biology) was appointed Director of Clinical Development for Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for potentially superior myeloablation and conditioning of the bone marrow prior to a bone marrow transplant and for the targeting and killing of cancer cells.
Students
Claudia Bernier (M.S. Student, Atmospheric Sciences) is one of 10 students selected nationally for the 2018 National Centers for Environmental Prediction Student Internship Program. Her internship will be at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in College Park, Maryland.
Savannah Finger (Environmental Sciences Major) was selected for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Mickey Leland Environmental Internship Program. Her internship will be at the TCEQ’s main office in Austin.
Breyinn Loftin (Ph.D. Student, Chemistry) is the recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Widely considered to be one of the top honors a graduate student can receive, this fellowship is highly selective, with over 12,000 applicants this year for 2,000 awards. (See Loftin in Scenes Around NSM)
Marvin Lopez Jr. (Geology Major) was selected for a summer internship through the Latino Heritage Internship Program of the Environment for the Americas and the U.S. National Park Service. He will work as an Intern/Geological Science Technician at Big Bend National Park and the adjoining Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River.
Hanah Na (Ph.D. Student, Chemistry) won the International Precious Metals Institute’s Sabin Metal Ron Bleggi Award, receiving $5,000. Her research focuses on synthetic strategies to optimize photophysical properties of luminescent cyclometalated iridium complexes.
Seven undergraduate students majoring in Geology or Environmental Sciences (Stanley Njoku, Jacob Furrh, Laura Taylor, Logan French, Ornella Rose, Sarah Meyer, and Colton Fowler) launched a student-run journal – Acta Mineralogica Houstonica – in May. The journal focuses on minerals that are obscure and rare. The idea grew from required papers for UH’s sophomore minerology class. The students, who serve as Senior Editors, do all the work to prepare the journal, including the organization of peer review. Professor Jonathan Snow is Editor-in-Chief.
Victoria Rivera (Computer Science Major) received a prestigious Critical Language Scholarship. Through this scholarship, she will spend 10-12 weeks studying overseas in an intensive language and cultural immersion program. The scholarship supports the study of one of 14 “critical languages” considered to be in high demand for language professionals. Rivera will be studying in Korea with the hopes of becoming a computational linguist.
Daniela Rodriguez (Ph.D. Student, Chemistry) received the University of Houston’s Teaching Excellence Award – Graduate Teaching Assistant. This award is given to graduate students in recognition of outstanding teaching.
Faculty/Staff
Eric Bittner (Moores Professor, Chemistry) received an award from the Leverhulme Trust for a visiting professorship. The award, valued at $77,600, will enable a seven-month research collaboration at Durham University in the United Kingdom.
Sunčica Čanić (Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Chair, Mathematics) is the 2018 recipient of the Esther Farfel Award, the highest honor accorded to a University faculty member. The award is given in recognition of excellent teaching, research, scholarship and service. She is one of the world’s leading researchers in the area of mathematical modeling and scientific computing related to cardiovascular science, establishing numerous collaborations with physicians and researchers in the Texas Medical Center.
Margaret Cheung (Professor, Physics) was named a Moores Professor at the 2018 UH Faculty Excellence Awards Dinner. The Moores Professorship is a five-year renewable award given to faculty who are outstanding in teaching, research and service. Recipients receive a $10,000 annual stipend.
NSM’s Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Research: Loi Do (Assistant Professor, Chemistry) is the 2018 recipient of this award recognizing assistant professors who have demonstrated great potential in research and in scholarship by virtue of the exceptional quality of their contributions.
The UH Faculty team of Paige Evans (teachHOUSTON) and Donna Stokes, Reggie Bain and Rebecca Forrest (Physics) were selected for the inaugural group of Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) Fellows. The first group of PhysTEC Fellows includes 15 faculty members from five universities across the country. The Fellows will work with their institutional teams and their Fellows cohort to develop and implement changes to their institution’s physics teacher preparation program.
Shiv Halasyamani (Professor, Chemistry) received recognition from Advanced Optical Materials when his paper, “The Next Generation of Nonlinear Optical Material: Rb3Ba3Li2Al4B6O20F - Synthesis, Characterization, and Crystal Growth” was selected for inclusion in the virtual Best of Advanced Optical Materials 2017 issue.
Eva Harth (Professor and Director of Welch Center for Excellence in Polymer Chemistry) received the Gutenberg Chair Award, which runs for two years and is accompanied by an endowment of $74,000. Harth, who develops new polymerization methods for use as biomaterials, will collaborate with Professor Pierre Schaaf, a faculty member at the University of Strasbourg and director of the INSERM Unit Biomaterials and Bioengineering.
Paul Mann (Robert E. Sheriff Endowed Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) received the 2018 Robert H. Dott, Sr. Memorial Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) for a volume he co-edited with Dr. Claudio Bartolini, senior exploration advisor for New Ventures Latin America at Repsol, U.S.A. The title of the volume is “Petroleum Geology and Potential of the Colombian Caribbean Margin.” The award is given annually by AAPG to honor and reward the authors or editors of the best special publication dealing with petroleum geology.
Ognjen Miljanić (Associate Professor, Chemistry) received the Max Kade Foundation Fellowship. The $15,000 fellowship will allow him to spend two months this summer in Heidelberg, working with Professor Michael Mastalerz on the preparation of new porous molecular crystals.
Janis Parsley, Jonas Chin, and Hillary Norwood (NSM’s Office of Development Team) were recognized for outstanding work in 2017 by the Council of Advancement and Support of Education District IV – Southwest. The team received a Gold Award in Stewardship/Donor Relations for the Legacy Award and Ceremony for Carolyn Farb at NSM’s 40th Anniversary IMPACT Gala. The team also received a Silver Award for the College’s successful Faculty/Staff Campaign. NSM finished first in the university-wide campaign with an overall participation rate of 43 percent.
Virginia “Jinny” Sisson (Visiting Associate Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) has been elected as a fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America. She is one of 11 fellows elected in late 2017. The fellowship honors members who have contributed significantly to the advancement of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry and petrology.
Arthur Weglein (Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Chair, Physics) has been named co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Seismic Exploration.
NSM’s John C. Butler Excellence in Teaching Award: Rebecca Zufall (Associate Professor, Biology & Biochemistry) is the 2018 recipient. Established in memory of former NSM Dean John Butler, the award recognizes faculty members who best engage and challenge their students and who share their enthusiasm for the subject matter they teach.
UH Faculty Excellence Awards: NSM faculty members brought home honors for excellence in the areas of teaching, mentoring, research and scholarship. The awards, given each year at the UH Faculty Excellence Awards Dinner, are among the highest honors bestowed by the University. NSM award recipients include:
Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity – Professor
UH presents two awards at the Professor rank to individuals who have a substantial continuing record of outstanding research, scholarship or creative activities.
- Zhifeng Ren, Physics
Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity – Assistant Professor
UH presents two awards at the Assistant Professor rank to individuals who have demonstrated great potential in research, scholarship or creative endeavors by virtue of the exceptional quality of their early contributions.
- Mini Das, Physics
Teaching Excellence Award – Provost’s Core
This award is given to faculty in recognition of outstanding teaching in the core curriculum.
- Rebecca George, Mathematics
Teaching Excellence Award – Instructor/Clinical
This award is given in recognition of outstanding teaching by faculty instructors, clinical faculty, research faculty, artist affiliates, and lecturers.
- Ann Cheek, Biology & Biochemistry
Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award
This award recognizes the mentorship efforts of UH faculty at all stages of their careers. The award acknowledges faculty who are making a significant impact in their field by supporting and mentoring undergraduate students in research and scholarship endeavors and who have demonstrated at least five years of mentorship involvement.
- Shuhab Khan, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
