The Fourth Decade

E2 | Sunday, December 15, 2019 | lmtonline.com | Laredo Morning Times 50 Anniversary Editor’s note: This is Part 4 of 12 in Laredo Morn- ing Times’ special look at Texas A&M Internation- al as it celebrates its upcoming 50th anniversary in 2020. LMT will be counting down to that momen- tous occasion with a monthly look at the univer- sity’s past, present and future. By Lisa Dreher Laredo Morning Times I t’s a new millennium, and Texas A&M International University now has a ro- bust campus, student housing and a mas- cot. It has fortified its status as a success- ful four-year university after the Texas Legislature granted expanding its classes to lower levels. The following decade to the present marked many more accomplishments for the university, accompanied with some goodbyes and fresh faces. In a major break in public relations, TAMIU launched its “Prism” University magazine in May 2000 to provide information on the univer- sity’s achievements, upcoming projects and im- pact on the area. For its first edition, it released an “Annual Report” rounding up its accomplish- ments in 1999. In 2006, TAMIU joins the digital age and launches its own website to aggregate all its information and resources with the help of the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Infor- mation Services and the Office of Information Technology. TAMIU gains its fifth president After serving five years as TAMIU’s fourth university president, Dr. J. Charles Jennett an- nounced inAugust 2001 his farewell to retire and become an engineer. “I hope it gets better and even more in- ternational,” Jennett said in 2019 about the university. “I think TAMIU is in an excit- ing position to grow and make a place in the international (scope).” Under his leadership, TAMIU became a four-year university, added 17 new de- gree programs and saw enrollment in- crease around 13%. Dr. Ray Keck III, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, became the university’s fifth president on Sept. 1, 2001. Before working at TAMIU, Keck earned a doctorate in romance lan- guages and literature from Princeton University. He also taught and held administrative positions with a few secondary schools. Keck worked at TAMIU when it was just Laredo State University in 1979 and until 1983 as an assistant professor of Spanish and assistant to the president. He re- turned in 1994 as associate professor of Span- ish and later served as chair of the Department of Language, Literature and Art. He became a Spanish professor before being appointed as pro- vost and vice president. “Dr. Keck was highly recommended by the presidential search committee,” Texas A&M System Chancellor Howard Graves had said on his appointment. “He is well qualified to lead this institution, and I believe he will make an excellent president.” Building up In 1999, TAMIU held its groundbreaking ceremony for Phase III called “Making Our TAMIU’s 50th anniversary The Fourth Decade TAMIU’s fourth President Dr. J. Charles Jennett departs the school in Aug. 2001. TAMIU’s fifth President Dr. Ray Keck