18 TAMIU Professors Named Recipients of Student Recognition Awards by TAMUS

The Texas A&M University System has awarded $697,500 to outstanding faculty throughout the System for the fall 2010 presentation of the Student Recognition Award for Teaching Excellence, formerly known as the Teaching Excellence Awards.

The faculty winners represent the top 25 percent of those who participated and receive checks for $2,500 each. More than 1,000 faculty members from around the A&M System participated in the program and over 250 awards were given. At Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), 18 faculty members were named award recipients.

Dr. Pablo Arenaz, TAMIU provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, lauded TAMIU’s recipients.

“We are most proud of these 18 faculty members who set an enviable standard of instruction here.  Our students are the primary beneficiaries of this expertise and their selection of these professors as award recipients is inspiring for us all,” Dr. Arenaz said.

TAMIU award recipients were:  Jose Martínez-Samos, Belva González, Jennifer Coronado, Bernice Sánchez, Mayra Peña, Rafael Romo, Lola Norris, Irma Cantú, Claudia San Miguel, Michael Kidd, Jyotsna Mukherji, Sandra Cavazos, Jerry Thompson, Sergio Garza, Cecilia Gutíerrez, Alfred Addo-Mensah, John Dean, and Gilberto Martínez.

“Teaching is very important to us,” said Michael D. McKinney, chancellor of the A&M System, “And when the students being taught give special recognition to the teachers who are making an impact on them, it says a lot about the quality faculty we have throughout the System.”

McKinney initiated the Teaching Excellence Awards in 2008 to honor and reward the System’s top teachers as selected by students. Faculty members who teach courses of three hours or more and have a minimum of 16 students are eligible.

The A&M System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $3.3 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, seven state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the A&M System educates more than 120,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. Externally funded research expenditures exceed $772 million and help drive the state’s economy.

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