Outstanding WT Faculty, Staff Honored at Spring Meeting

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — Outstanding faculty and staff members of West Texas A&M University were recognized during a virtual year-end meeting April 29.

“The winners of the faculty and staff awards are truly the best of a remarkably strong cohort,” said Dr. Neil Terry, executive vice president and provost. “Selecting winners is challenging because so many of our colleagues bring distinction to West Texas A&M University.”

Honorees are selected for their impact on WT students and stakeholders through excellence in instructional responsibilities, intellectual contributions, professional service, and the advancement of graduate programs.

Each year faculty members also are recognized in the six academic colleges for accomplishments in the core areas of teaching, research and service. University-wide recognition demonstrates one of the highest levels of respect a faculty member can achieve based on the nomination and selection process, including input from peers, administrators, students and other campus stakeholders. 

University faculty award winners include:

• Instructional Responsibilities Excellence Award — Dr. Mary Liz Brooks, assistant professor of media communication. Brooks was cited for exceptionally high student evaluation scores and for demonstrating “an engaging and energetic teaching style”;
• Intellectual Contributions Excellence Award: Dr. Vinu Unnikrishnan, assistant professor of civil engineering. Unnikrishnan was recognized for receiving his third and fourth patents for biofidelic simulated tissue, which behaves biomechanically like human tissue but does not contain any biological material or attribute;
• Professional Service Excellence Award: Dr. Gene Farren, assistant professor of sport and exercise sciences. Farren is a key contributor on important departmental and University committees and contributed to his department through remote academic advising throughout the Covid-19 shutdown; and
• Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award: Dr. Leigh Green, associate professor of education. Green taught more than a full load of classes — even doubling that number in the spring semester. That means she taught the most total number of students of all of her colleagues in the Department of Education. She held more than 500 virtual conferences with students in the spring semester and frequently steps in to assume classes for colleagues when the need arises.

Additional college faculty award winners for instructional responsibilities include:

• Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Science: Dr. Ray Matlack
• Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business: Dr. Trevor Watkins
• College of Engineering: Preston Tirey
• College of Nursing and Health Sciences: Laura Reyher

Additional college faculty award winners for intellectual contributions include:

• Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Science: Dr. Keshav Shrestha
• Engler College of Business: Dr. Xiaolin Lin
• College of Education and Social Sciences: Dr. Adam Weiss
• Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities: Dr. Andrew Reynolds
• College of Nursing and Health Sciences: Zeth Collom

Additional college faculty award winners for professional service include:

• College of Agriculture and Natural Science: Dr. Nate Wolf
• Engler College of Business: Dr. Anne Macy
• College of Engineering: Dr. Vinitha Subburaj
• College of Education and Social Sciences: Dr. Kenneth Denton
• Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities: Steven Dolezal & Dr. Benjamin Brooks

Staff excellence award winners include:

• Rebekah Bachman, assistant dean of the Paul Engler College of Agriculture & Natural Sciences;
• Lisa Mitchell, senior coordinator for graduate business programs for the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business; and
• Alyson Ries, director of advising services.

Special Academic Affairs Appreciation Recognition was awarded to Dr. Jeffry Babb and Dr. Anne Medlock for leading the Faculty Senate through challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic; and Richard Smith, assistant vice president for risk management and director of academic and research environmental health and safety, for supporting University efforts related to Covid-19 testing, contact tracing and reporting.

Nurturing excellent faculty and staff is an important principle of the University’s long-term plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. With enrollment of more than 10,000, WT offers 60 undergraduate degree programs, 40 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 15 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WTAMU—