Chancellor鈥檚 Council Announces MINI传媒HSC Award Winners
Four faculty members from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center receive the Chancellor's Council Distinguished Teaching, Research Awards.
January 28, 2015 | Written by Jaryn Kilmer
L to R: Dr. Tedd Mitchell, MINI传媒HSC President; Dr. Afzal Siddiqui; Dr. Wendy Thal; Dr. Sue Ann Lee; and Chancellor Robert Duncan. Dr. Vaughan Lee was not present at the ceremony.MINI传媒 Chancellor today (Jan. 28) announced the recipients of the annual Chancellor鈥檚 Council distinguished faculty awards. Recognizing excellence in academics and research, these awards represent the most prestigious honors granted to faculty members throughout the MINI传媒 System.
鈥淚t is truly exciting to be able to present our dedicated faculty members with these honors,鈥� Duncan said. 鈥淚n my first months as Chancellor when visiting our campuses, one of the first things I noticed was the strength of our faculty, especially here at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. The accomplishments of our faculty and the impact they leave on our students make them a vital asset to our team.鈥�
Additionally, six faculty members from Texas Tech University, two faculty members from Angelo State University, and four faculty members from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso received the honors for a total of 16 recipients.
Each winner receives a commemorative medallion and a $5,000 award. The raises funds for student scholarships and recruitment, faculty awards and support, and other programs of excellence.
The Distinguished Teaching Awards went to the following individuals:
- Vaughan Lee, Ph.D.
- Vaughan Lee is an associate professor in the at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. In 2012, he was appointed the Dr. Bernell Dalley Endowed Professor in Medical Education. Joining the university in 1994, Lee has been course director for Clinically Oriented Anatomy since 2004 and was appointed Assistant Dean for the Basic Science Curriculum in 2013. Recognized for his contributions to education, Lee received the Clinically Oriented Anatomy Teaching Awards in 2005 and 2007, the 2008 President鈥檚 Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2008 Dean鈥檚 Basic Science Teaching Award. Lee received two bachelor鈥檚 degrees and his Ph.D. from the University of South Alabama.
- Wendy Thal, DNP, RN, FNP-C, CEN
- Wendy Thal is an associate professor in the at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, joining the university in 2005. She also is a family nurse practitioner at the Larry Combest Community Health & Wellness Center, a federally qualified center where she provides health care to the medically underserved. An international authority with a career of dedicated nursing education and patient care, Thal was a key player in the development of the school鈥檚 global health initiative, traveling to Nicaragua as a faculty mentor for nursing students who provide care to the medically underserved in this developing nation. Thal received her first bachelor鈥檚 degree from Texas Tech University, her Master of Science in Nursing from West Texas A&M University and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Arizona.
The Distinguished Research Awards went to the following individuals:
- Sue Ann Lee, Ph.D.
- Sue Ann Lee is an associate professor in the at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Internationally recognized, Lee鈥檚 research focuses on examining speech characteristics in children with and without speech sound disorders and speech therapy efficacy using various technology such as ultrasound and telepractice. Joining the university in 2010, she has received external grants from the , the CH Foundation and the South Plains Foundation. Her work has been published in multiple high impact journals such as the Journal of Child Language, Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing Research, International Journal of Bilingualism, and Speech Communication. She currently serves as an editorial board member for two peer-reviewed journals. Lee earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, her master鈥檚 degree from The Ohio State University and her Ph.D. in speech pathology at the University of Texas at Austin.
- Afzal Siddiqui, Ph.D.
- Afzal Siddiqui is a Grover E. Murray Professor in the at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, teaching and conducting research in the Departments of Immunology & Molecular Microbiology, Internal Medicine, and Pathology. He also is the director of the Center for Tropical Medicine & Infectious Diseases working to develop a vaccine for schistosomiasis, which is a disease transferred through contaminated water, having the potential impact on one billion people in developing countries worldwide. Since joining the university in 2000, Siddiqui has received more than $7.4 million in grant funding from prominent organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He recently completed the prestigious Fulbright Research & Teaching Award for Southeast Asia, and has professionally trained at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Harvard School of Public Health. Siddiqui earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree and two master鈥檚 degrees from Aligarh University in India and his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
About the MINI传媒
The MINI传媒 is one of the top public university systems in the
nation, consisting of four component institutions 鈥�, , and 鈥攁nd operating at 12 academic sites and centers. Headquartered in Lubbock, Texas,
the MINI传媒 has an annual operating budget of $1.7 billion and
approximately 17,000 employees focused on advancing higher education, health care,
research and outreach.
In 2014, the MINI传媒鈥檚 endowment exceeds $1 billion, total research expenditures were approximately $200 million and total enrollment approached 47,000 students. Whether it鈥檚 contributing billions of dollars annually in economic impact or being the only system in Texas to house an academic institution, law school, and medical school at the same location, the MINI传媒 continues to prove that anything is possible.
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