The Best of the Best: Parents Association Award Winners

Written by Cory Chandler

The Parents Association has announced its faculty and student award recipients for 2009-2010.

The association will hold a special reception and awards presentation April 10 in the United Spirit Arena’s City Bank Room on the campus.

The annual awards spotlight faculty and student creativity, excellence and dedication. The association calls for nominations from all Texas Tech academic colleges, and its board of directors selects winners from each category.

“The student and faculty honorees have a tremendous amount of talent and investment in Texas Tech and their community” said Ken Gassiot, associate director of Parent and Family Relations. “These individuals are first-class and well-deserving of not only being nominated, but also selected as recipients.”

Each spring, the Texas Tech Parents Association meets to celebrate the achievements of Texas Tech faculty and students. Four faculty awards are given: The Distinguished Leadership Award, the Spencer A. Wells Award for Creativity in Teaching, the Hemphill-Wells New Faculty Award, and the Barnie E. Rushing Distinguished Research Award. All faculty award winners receive a plaque and a $500 stipend. In addition, the Barnie E. Rushing Distinguished Research Award winner receives a $3,000 honorarium.

One student from each of the colleges and the Schools of Law, Nursing, and Allied Health is awarded the Student Academic Citizenship Award. These students receive a plaque and a $150 stipend as part of the award. During this breakfast, the Texas Tech Parents Association also honors its current scholarship recipients. Following the breakfast, Tech Parents members meet to select the next year’s scholarship recipients.

2009-2010 Faculty Award Winners

• Julian Spallholz; Nutrition, Hospitality, and Retailing; the Barnie E Rushing Jr. Faculty Distinguished Research Award
• Deborah Fowler; Nutrition, Hospitality, and Retailing; the Spencer A. Wells Faculty Award for Creativity in Teaching
• Wendell Aycock, Graduate School, the Faculty Distinguished Leadership Award
• Michelle Kwon, School of Law, Hemphill-Wells New Professor Excellence in Teaching

2009-2010 Student Academic Citizenship Award Winners

• Agricultural Sciences – Kaleigh Janota
• Allied Health – Jonathan Matthews
• Architecture – Robert Diaz
• Arts and Sciences – Stephen Torrence
• Business Administration – Jaime Resendiz
• Engineering – Jared Casey
• Honors College – Eileen Mary Dee
• Human Sciences – Lauren Foster
• Law – Donmale Gbaanador
• Mass Communications – Suzanne Williams
• Nursing – Jeff Watson
• University College – Jayden Spencer
• Visual and Performing Arts – Travis Treadwell