OUTSTANDING TEACHING, RESEARCH AWARDS ANNOUNCED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: December 10, 2004
CONTACT: Sally Logue Post, sally.post@ttu.edu

LUBBOCK – Four faculty members from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and from Texas Tech University have been named recipients of the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching and Research Awards.

“These awards underscore the high quality of our faculty as both teachers and researchers,” said David R. Smith, M.D., chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. “Both of our institutions have a commitment to quality and the job these four professors do in educating our students and furthering our research mission is an example of that commitment.”

From Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Seah Lim, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chief of the division of Hematology and Oncology, is the recipient of the research award. Reza Mehvar, Pharm.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences, is the recipient of the teaching award. Both Lim and Mehvar are based in Amarillo.

At Texas Tech University, Guigen Li, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry is the recipient of the research award. John Krahmer, J.D., LL.M., professor in the School of Law, is the recipient of the teaching award.

This is fourth year for the Chancellor’s Council to present the awards. The winners receive a plaque and a $10,000 cash award. The Chancellor’s Council raises funds to support student scholarships, faculty recruitment and support and other programs.

The Texas Tech University winner of the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award is Guigen Li, Ph.D. He is a specialist in organic chemistry whose research focuses on devising new methods for the preparation of organic compounds of chemical, biological and pharmaceutical importance. Li received his bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in the People’s Republic of China. His doctorate is from the University of Arizona. He twice received the First Awards for teaching and research from the Department of Chemistry at Nanjing University and has been the recipient of the Xianhuo Excellent Product Prize from the National Committee of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China. Li is a widely published author, a reviewer for several journals and professional publications and has been a speaker at numerous universities and at the American Chemical Society national meeting and National Science Foundation workshops.

The Texas Tech University winner of the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award is John Krahmer, J.D., LL.M. He has been a member of the Texas Tech University School of Law faculty since 1971. Krahmer is a nationally recognized expert in contract law, commercial and banking law and consumer law. He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Iowa, and his master of laws’ degree from Harvard University Law School. He has been selected five times as Outstanding Law Professor by the students of the Texas Tech School of Law and also has won the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence at Texas Tech, and the University Research Award for Computerized Text Analysis Research. Krahmer is a widely published author and has been an invited speaker at many professional and continuing legal education programs.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center winner of the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award is Seah Lim, M.D., chief of the division of hematology and oncology in the School of Medicine in Amarillo. Lim also is director of the biotherapy and stem cell transportation program at the Harrington Cancer Center in Amarillo. He is nationally known for developing innovative immunologic approaches to the treatment of cancer. Specifically, he has identified a specific antigen that is a suitable target for the use of immunotherapy to treat multiple myeloma and ovarian cancer. Lim is a widely published author and has made presentations at professional meetings around the world. He was educated at the Medical School, Aberdeen University in Scotland and the University of Wales.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences center winner of the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching award is Reza Mehvar, Pharm.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the School of Pharmacy in Amarillo. Mehvar’s teaching excellence is widely recognized. He has been selected by the second year pharmacy students as Teacher of the Year for the last five years by the Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy and recently received the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Mehvar also was named teacher of the year at the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University and has received three Innovation in Teaching Awards from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy for his use of computer-based technology in his interactive, problem-based course in pharmacokinetics. Mehvar received his doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and his doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

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