The awards ceremony also will recognize faculty excellence.
Texas Tech University's College of Arts & Sciences today (April 22) announced the official recipients of its 2020 and 2021 Distinguished Alumni awards. Together, the two classes comprise five alumni who have been nominated and
selected by the College of Arts & Sciences for their outstanding contributions and
significant achievements in their professional fields.
The ceremony is scheduled to be digitally released at 6 p.m. CDT April 29 on the college's website and its official YouTube channel. The production also will honor recent award-winning faculty members.
“The College of Arts & Sciences prides itself on educating a diverse, creative and
solution-seeking student body,” said Michael San Francisco, interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “This cohort of outstanding alumni
and faculty are being recognized for their tremendous achievements in a vast array
of fields and disciplines. They not only are making the world a better place, but
they are inspiring the next generation of students to do the same. We are proud they
call the College of Arts & Sciences at Texas Tech home and look forward to the contributions
they continue to make.”
The Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni Ceremony annually recognizes alumni who embody
the innovative spirit and creative ambition of the college, and whose careers have
honored the standard of excellence of Texas Tech. A total of 19 distinguished alumni
have been recognized by the College of Arts & Sciences since 2016.
As part of the digital ceremony, distinguished faculty members also will be recognized,
including:
Yanlin Wang, assistant professor of practice, Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures,
2021 Teaching Innovation Award
Natasja van Gestel, assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences – 2021 Excellence in Teaching
Award
2020 & 2021 Texas Tech College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni
Monica Marquez (1997, 2001)Monica Marquez Monica Marquez earned her bachelor's degree in biology in 1997. She went on to earn
a master's degree in higher education from Texas Tech in 2001. Today, she is the co-founder and chief innovation officer
for Beyond Barriers, a global digital platform that accelerates success for women
with executive coaching, high-performance training and peer-advisory cohorts. Prior
to founding Beyond Barriers, she worked in management and executive roles at some
of the world's largest organizations, including Goldman Sachs, Ernst & Young, Google
and Bank of America.
During her eight years at Goldman Sachs, Marquez was central in creating, developing
and implementing the New Directions and Returnship programs, which focus on the firm's
initiatives for individuals re-entering the workforce. Today, she is active in a variety
of diversity-focused nonprofit organizations and currently serves on the Corporate
Advisory Board for Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Texas Tech's University Career Center Advisory Board and the NAFOA (formerly the Native American Finance Officers Association)
Education Advisory Board.
Lindy Cook Severns (1972)Lindy Cook Severns Lindy Cook Severns earned a dual degree in English and biology in 1972. Today, she is a preeminent Southwest landscape painter, who
has showcased work across the globe. Severns is the artist-in-residence at the Old
Spanish Gallery and Museum, an upscale space on a heritage Davis Mountains ranch near
Fort Davis, where she and her husband, Jim, reside. Her unique painting style captures
an affinity for the dramatic skies and infinite horizons of the high desert of Far
West Texas and Big Bend country.
Severns' creative spirit is born out of a lifetime spent across the diverse Texas
landscape and her own heritage as a seventh-generation Texan. Throughout her career,
Severns' work has been published and showcased across myriad prominent locations and
galleries. In 2016, she was the featured artist on “Western Perspective,” a national
PBS documentary featuring creatives. Her work also was published in “Texas Traditions,
Contemporary Artists of the Lone Star State,” a definitive collection of 35 artists.
James Bull (1970)James Bull James Bull is a 1970 graduate with a bachelor's degree in zoology. He went on to earn his doctorate from the University of Utah and completed post-doctoral
work at the University of Wisconsin and University of Sussex. Today, he is a renowned
evolutionary biologist and professor of biology at the University of Idaho. Additionally,
he has served as the Johann Friedrich Miescher Regents Professor in Molecular Biology
at the University of Texas at Austin.
Bull is widely recognized for his work on evolution of sex determination and viral
evolution. In 2016, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the country's
most prestigious scientific organization and one of the highest honors that can be
accorded to a scientist or engineer in the U.S. During his career, Bull has served
on the Science board of reviewing editors for 13 years, chaired the National Institutes
of Health's Genetic Variation and Evolution Study Section for two years and is a member
of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He has authored more than 180 journal
articles, one book and has more than 25,000 citations.
Dr. Bob Salem (1950) A native of Sudan, Texas, Dr. Bob Salem completed his bachelor's degree in chemistry
in 1950, before graduating from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
He was drafted during the Korean conflict and commissioned as a first lieutenant in
the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps assigned to Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver. There,
he was part of the medical team that attended to then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Dr. Bob Salem
Dr. Salem went on to complete his residency in cardiovascular surgery at the Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston, under the tutelage of pioneering surgeon Dr. Michael
DeBakey. He returned to West Texas where he opened a general and vascular surgery
practice in Lubbock and became a pioneer in the region. Dr. Salem and his practice
performed the first open-heart surgery in West Texas in 1970 and have performed more
than 30,000 total surgeries in Lubbock.
He was vital in establishing the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), when it was purely a School of Medicine, and was the first professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Salem currently serves as Chief Medical Officer Emeritus of Covenant Health
System in Lubbock and clinical professor of surgery at TTUHSC.
Rick Merrill (1992) Rick Merrill
Rick Merrill is a 1992 graduate, earning his bachelor's degree in biology. He went
on to complete a Master of Science degree in health care administration from Trinity
University in San Antonio.
Today, Merrill is the president and CEO of Cook Children's Health Care System in Dallas/Fort
Worth – a role he has held since accepting the appointment in 2007. Under his watch,
Cook Children's Medical Center has nearly doubled the size of its campus to meet evolving
needs for its cutting-edge services. He also has ushered in a new era of health care
by streamlining the organization's mission and vision into a “promise to improve the
health of every child in the region through the prevention and treatment of illness,
disease and injury.” This promise has bolstered Cook Children's reputation as a national
health care leader and one of the top companies to work for.
His nearly 30-year career has spanned leadership roles in academic and university-based
health care systems across the state of Texas. He is actively serving on numerous
national, state and community advisory boards including Children's Hospital Association,
Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and, most recently, as chair of the Children's
Hospital Association of Texas.
A new era of excellence is dawning at Texas Tech University as it stands on the cusp
of being one of the nation's premier research institutions.
Research and enrollment numbers are at record levels, which cement Texas Tech's commitment
to attracting and retaining quality students. In fall 2020, the university achieved
a goal more than a decade in the making, reaching a total student population of more
than 40,000. In 2018, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
again placed Texas Tech among its top doctoral universities in the nation in the “Very High Research Activity” category. Texas Tech is one of
94 public institutions nationally and 131 overall to achieve this prestigious recognition.
Quality students need top-notch faculty. Texas Tech is home to a diverse, highly revered
pool of educators who excel in teaching, research and service. The university strives
to foster an environment that celebrates student accomplishment above all else. Texas Tech is large enough to provide the best in facilities and academics but prides
itself on being able to focus on each student individually.
The momentum for excellence at Texas Tech has never been greater.
The Texas Tech University College of Arts & Sciences was founded in 1925 as one of the university's four original colleges.
Comprised of 16 departments and more than 400 tenured faculty members, the College
offers a wide variety of courses and programs in the humanities, social and behavioral
sciences, mathematics and natural sciences. Students can choose from 41 bachelor's
degree programs, 34 master's degrees and 14 doctoral programs.
With just under 11,000 students enrolled, the College of Arts & Sciences is the largest
college on the Texas Tech University campus.
