TAMIU Annual Report 2021

NIH $929,500 GRANT FUNDS RESEARCH ON HISPANIC BODY COMPOSITION TAMIU research on Hispanic Body Composition has set an historic funding and research precedent at the University. A new $929,500 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds the University’s first four-year NIH research project. “While the University has received NIH funding in the past, this is our first NIH research grant. It’s a true distinction and sets a precedent as we move forward with other research proposals that could attract additional NIH research funding. This measurably elevates the research profile of the University and our faculty, and has the potential to have profound implications on research in this area,” said President, Dr. Arenaz. Project director and principal investigator for the grant is Dr. Brett Stephen Nickerson, assistant professor, College of Nursing and Health Sciences. He said he believes this research will help advance needed research in body composition for Hispanics. “This research will allow us to determine if outlined assumptions employed in current body composition methods are violated when testing a Hispanic population. It may have implications on future research by identifying whether new equations are needed when assessing body composition of Hispanic adults,” Dr. Nickerson explained. Nickerson holds a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Alabama, and was selected TAMIU’s 2020 University Scholar of the Year. He has developed two algorithms used for accessing body composition of Hispanic adults and has 55 peer-reviewed publications -- 29 as first author, primarily in body composition, his area of expertise. DR. THOMPSON EARNS DISTINGUISHED WRITING AWARD This year, TAMIU Regents and Piper Professor of History Dr. Jerry Thompson was named the recipient of the 2020 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award. Thompson was honored under the Book Awards – Biography category for his recent work, “Courage Above All Things: General John Ellis Wool and the U.S. Military, 1812 – 1863,” which was co- authored alongside Professor of History at the University of Arizona Dr. Harwood P. Hinton. The biography meticulously details the extraordinary life of General John Ellis Wool. Half a century was devoted to the creation, research, and publication of this formative biographical work. The deeply researched work couples Hinton’s vast knowledge of western history and was edited and completed by Thompson. This seminal work is the first full biography of Wool, an eminent figure known for his role as an officer in the United States Army during the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. This was Thompson’s 30th published book as author or editor. Awarded through the Army Historical Foundation, the non-profit organization focuses on preserving the history and heritage of the American soldier. Thompson, who has been part of the TAMIU faculty since 1987, is widely considered as one of the country’s leading Civil War historians, especially regarding the Southwest Campaign. He is one of only a handful of writers to receive the Texas Institute of Letters Best Non- Fiction Award three times. He is also the only three-time recipient of the Clotilde P. García Tejano Book Prize. FACULTY 16