Rosenberg School of Optometry (RSO) Library Director Vasilios (Basil) Aivaliotis officially retired from the university on July 1, 2014. A retirement farewell was held in his honor. Aivalitos worked at UIW for 37 years and earned an MBA in 1999 and BBA in 1981 from the university.
Dr. David Campos, professor of teacher education, co-authored a book, “Tools for Teaching Writing: Strategies and Interventions for Diverse Learners in Grades 3–8,” published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Dr. Esmeralda de los Santos, professor of marketing, spoke on the ethnographic marketing research undertaken in Chihuahua, Mexico, at the Southwest Fulbright Symposium held at the University of Texas on July 25. Entitled “Defining Emerging Market Trade Practices for Mexican Ceramic Crafts: The Role of the Market Researcher,” the presentation explored how a small Mexican village annually exported over a $1 million of ceramics with little infrastructure and how the area has evolved into a regional center for ceramic craft production.
In June, Chancellor Dr. Denise Doyle joined a delegation of presidents and chancellors from top U.S. universities visiting Israel to explore opportunities for bilateral academic partnerships and collaboration through an educational seminar conducted by Project Interchange, an institute of the American Jewish Committee. The delegation met with their counterparts from Israeli universities, including Bar-Ilan, Haifa, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv University, among others, in areas relevant to their universities such as research, water and environmental sustainability, biotech, urbanization, and diversity. The delegation learned about state-of-the art research initiatives and groundbreaking innovation at Israeli universities, as well as unique academia-to-industry technology transfer that has contributed to Israel’s reputation as the “Start Up Nation.” The seminar offered broad exposure to the complex issues facing Israel and the region, with the delegation meeting with senior government, academic and civil society leaders across the Israeli social and political spectrum, and traveling to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leaders. The program marks Project Interchange’s 8th annual flagship seminar for university presidents.
UIW General Counsel Cynthia Escamilla was selected as a finalist for the Magna Stella® Awards for in-house excellence in leadership and management in the Solo General Counsel category by the General Counsel Forum. The finalists will be honored and the winners will be announced at the Stella Awards dinner on Nov. 20. The dinner will be held in conjunction with the Forum’s 16th Annual Conference of General Counsel at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. David S. Fike, associate research professor, will be honored, along with a team of faculty members representing three universities, by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy with the 2014 Rufus A. Lyman Award, which recognizes the best paper published in 2013 in the “American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.” The authors developed and validated SPICE, an instrument designed to measure pharmacy and medical student perceptions of interprofessional clinical education.
Dr. Flor Garcia-Wukovits, associate professor of mathematics, Dr. Craig McCarron, assistant professor of mathematics, and Dr. Joleen Beltrami, assistant professor of mathematics, presented at the Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teachers (CAMT) in Fort Worth, Texas, in July. This state-wide conference for math teachers is held annually. Beltrami and graduate student Mario Perez collaborated on a poster that was presented at the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) conference in Montana in June. NACTA is dedicated solely to teaching and learning, and focuses on areas of agricultural, environmental, natural and life sciences.
Dr. Helmut B. Gottlieb, associate professor of pharmacy instruction, was accepted for participation in the Early Career Reviewer (ECR) program at the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) in August. Gottlieb’s name and areas of expertise have been added to the list of eligible reviewers. As Scientific Reviewer Officers (SRO) assemble study sections, they can go to the ECR list to find reviewers with expertise in areas relevant to the applications they review. They also check for recent publications and grant submissions through NIH and institutional websites. The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) is the portal for NIH grant applications and their review for scientific merit. CSR receives all research grant applications sent to NIH and handles the review of more than 70 percent of those by organizing peer review groups (study sections) to evaluate research grant applications.
Dr. Valerie Kesner Greenberg, associate professor of communication arts, attended the Fulbright Southwest Symposium conference in July where she delivered her presentation entitled, “A Case Study on Social Media: Twitter’s Ripple Effect on the Arab Spring.” Her research examines the new role social media plays on the Arab nations.
Dr. Alexander Hutchinson, assistant professor of biology, co-authored “Black Currant Nectar Reduces Muscle Damage and Inflammation Following a Bout of High-Intensity Eccentric Contractions,” published in the “Journal of Dietary Supplements” in October and “HIV Replication in Conjunction with Granzyme B Production by CCR5+ Memory CD4 T Cells: Implications for Bystander Cell and Tissue Pathologies,” published in “Virology” in June.
Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness and Director of Assessment Dr. Glenn James and the Rosenberg School of Optometry and Eye Clinic were recognized by Northside Independent School District (NISD) at the 2014 Outstanding Partner of the Year Awards Reception. This NISD annual event recognizes NISD’s best business and community partners. James was recognized as the 2014 Outstanding Individual at the high school level. James has served on the John Jay High School Science and Engineering Academy’s Advisory Board for seven years and has promoted a positive image of the academy at UIW and throughout the community. The Rosenberg School of Optometry (UIWRSO) represented by Dr. James Chapman, assistant dean of clinical affairs, and the Essilor Vision Foundation represented by Patrick Esquerre were recognized as Outstanding Business and Community Organization Partners of the Year. In 2013, NISD’s Student, Family, and Community Services Department partnered with UIW and the Essilor Vision Foundation to provide more than 420 students in elementary and middle school with free eye exams and free glasses.
In June, Dr. Sarah Luna, assistant professor of physical therapy, became a board certified Geriatric Clinical Specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS). ABPTS has certified 14,392 individuals who have demonstrated advanced clinical knowledge and skills in physical therapy specialty areas. Currently, they offer board-certification in eight specialty areas of physical therapy: cardiovascular and pulmonary, clinical electrophysiology, geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics, pediatrics, sports, and women’s health.
Dr. David W. Moffett, Dreeben School of Education, presented his mentoring efforts resulting in the next leadership model at the 7th International Annual Mentoring Conference at the University of New Mexico Mentoring Institute in Albuquerque, N.M., Oct. 21-24, 2014. The new leadership model, known as Affect-Centered Transformational Leadership, resulted from Moffett’s teaching and mentoring of UIW Doctor of Philosophy program student and mentee Armando Tejeda during the INDR 8310 Concepts of Leadership course in Fall 2013. Additionally, Tejeda and Moffett have written and submitted an article regarding the new leadership model for publication, and the new model is currently being operationalized at a school in the South San Antonio Independent School District.
Dr. Mary Ruth Moore and Dr. Susan Hall, professors in the Dreeben School of Education, recently published an article in “Early Years: Journal of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.” The article, “The Ball: A Symbol of Play Past and Present,” traced the use of the ball as an educational tool from its roots in the practice of Friedrich Froebel, considered the father of kindergarten, to the recent work of Gloria Rodriquez, founder of Avance. The article was the featured article in the journal’s special edition on play and was published in both English and Spanish.
Dr. Carla Perez, associate professor of fashion management, had her fashion design submission “Silk Sonata” accepted to the runway exhibit at the International Textile and Apparel Association’s 2015 annual conference to be held in Charlotte, N.C. in November; the gown is designed to meet the needs of a female concert pianist. Perez has been appointed the Fashion, Style, Appearance and Identity Committee chair for the Southwest Popular Culture Association (SWPCA). She also co-authored a presentation, “Updating a Traditional Mexican Apparel Design,” with student Ashley Davis for the 2015 annual meeting of SWPCA in February in Albuquerque, N.M.
Dr. Alison Whittemore, chair and assistant professor of engineering, received a Faculty Endowment Fund Award to join the Women’s Global Immersion trip to Peru in July of this year. Whittemore’s focus was on solar energy and she gave a presentation to 140 engineering students at the Universidad National de Santos in Chimbote, Peru. She also performed a demonstration of how to build a solar stove out of cardboard and foil to residents of Costa Blanca, Peru, a rural community without roads, water or electricity.
Dr. Kevin Vichcales, dean of graduate studies and research, was appointed as associate provost in August.
