Faculty-Excellence Awards

Dr. Susan de Ghizé (2022-2023)

• Dr. de Ghizé strives to inspire her students every day. She supports students by offering review sessions for state exams and customized lessons based on current class progress.
• Dr. de Ghizé developed her own Open Educational Resource (OER), Steps to Music Theory, which includes both text and accompanying videos. This resource has resulted in significant improvement in her students’ comprehension.
• Accessibility for all students is of utmost importance to Dr. de Ghizé. Her materials are dyslexic friendly, and she works closely with Disability Services to ensure every student can succeed.

Dr. Sandrine Sanos (2021-2022)

• Dr. Sanos has taught 15 different graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Humanities and has served as Graduate Chair and Thesis Director for 5 students since 2011.
• She has worked to create engaging learning spaces beyond the classroom, including roundtables, workshops, and the CLA Student Symposium, and she has a deep commitment to inclusive mentoring.
• Her teaching philosophy is founded on the model of being a “critical intellectual,” which involves questioning the familiar, engaging with challenging topics, and understanding that the ways we tell past stories changes how they affect the present.

Dr. Michelle Hunnicutt Hollenbaugh (2020-2021)

• Dr. Hollenbaugh has taught 15 different courses in the Counseling and Educational Psychology program.
• Students in her Leadership in Counselor Education course led a virtual conference that was open to the community on supporting marginalized populations and outreach to the African American community in Corpus Christi.
• In teaching advanced statistics in the doctoral program, she infuses a humanistic approach by engaging students’ mindfulness exercises and using a YouTube channel with SPSS walkthroughs.

Dr. Ping Tintera (2019-2020)

Dr. Xavier Gonzales (2018-2019)

Dr. Xavier Gonzales teaches primarily majors biomedical science and biology courses at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Dr. Gonzales’s research interest lies in the effects of stress and psychological disorders on health, disease development, and the human microbiome.

He is currently working with a team on three areas of study within this topic. These topics are the role of endocrine factors released during stress on regulating the host microbial environment to promote disease progression, how the psychosocial environment affects the health of an individual along with the impact stressors play on the immune system, and the impact of anthropogenic stress on the immune system of marine animals and how it affects resistance to microbial infection.

In this work, he and his team utilize in vitro models that include a variety of human and rodent cell types and in vivo models that include rodents and freshwater/marine species. They are interested in students that have a strong desire to discover relationships between stress and disease.

Dr. Michelle Maresch-Fuehrer (2017-2018)

An Associate Professor and Internship Coordinator in the Department of Communication and Media at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Dr. Michelle Maresch-Fuehrer received her PhD in Communication Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2009. Her areas of specialization lies in Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Social Media, and Mixed Methods Research.

At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, she teaches courses in Introduction to Public Relations, Public Relations Campaigns, Crisis Communication, Communication Internship/Media Arts Internship, Public Relations Theory, Advanced Crisis Communications, and Internship.

She has authored a variety of publications related to crisis communication and public relations including three textbooks: "Communicating at Work: Strategies for Success in Business and the Professions - 12th ed." (with Ronald Adler, Jeanne Elmhorst, and Kristen Lucas), "Public Relations Principles: Strategies for Professional Success" (with Shawn T. Wahl), and "Creating Organizational Crisis Plans;" five book chapters in "Translating Values into Conduct: Cases in Public Relations Ethics," "Casing Crisis and Risk Communication," "Persuasion in Your Life," and "The Handbook

of Crisis Communication;" and journal articles in "Communication Teacher," "Computers in Human Behavior," and "American Communication Journal."

She is certified in Community Emergency Response by FEMA/U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and enjoys working as a public relations/crisis communication consultant for a variety of organizations. In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Maresh-Fuehrer enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering her time to various service projects with the Southside Corpus Christi Rotary Club.

Dr. Cherie McCollough (2016)

Dr. Cherie McCollough is a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, and has taught at the institution for 13 years. She is a very passionate educator who teaches all of TAMU-CC’s future teachers what they need to know about science, about science teaching and how to teach science with passion in a way that addresses the very diverse classrooms in the public-school system. In addition, she also teaches large lecture introductory biology courses. Dr. McCollough believes that science is a subject that is filled with ways to teach creatively and with relevance and engagement and conveys this to her future Early Childhood teachers as well as future elementary and middle school and high school teachers.

Dr. McCollough also conducts a great deal of professional development in Kindergarten-12th grade schools in and around the Coastal Bend and throughout South Texas. In addition, Dr. McCollough teaches TAMU-CC’s College of Science and Engineering faculty how to use student- centered instruction in their classrooms, using the principles of How People Learn and bringing these principles of instruction to each and every lesson. In addition to receiving the Excellence in Teaching Award, she has received several other awards in teaching excellence.

Most importantly, she has helped many students find an interest and passion in science, finding the relevance of science so many of their personal lived experiences.

Dr. David Miller (2015)

Dr. David A. Miller was an Associate Professor of the College of Nursing and Health Science. Dr. Miller was board certified in Internal and Pulmonary Medicine and a Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians. He had taught at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi since 1989.

Dr. Miller was one of the first doctors in South Texas to work with AIDS patients. His first AIDS patient referral came from Dr. Hector P. Garcia Jr. He taught HIV/AIDS care and prevention in the Coastal Bend community and was asked to present at countless national and international medical conferences, including the International AIDS Conference.

In 1993, he received the Corpus Christi Diocesan Medal of Honor award, presented to him by Bishop Rene Gracida for pro bono health services he provided to the community. Recognized by his peers. In 2005, the Dr. David A. Miller Scholarship was established in his honor by the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. This scholarship provides educational funding to students in the nursing program.

Dr. Miller passed away on May 21, 2015 after a courageous 12-year battle with cancer. Dr. Miller will be remembered for his devotion, the belief that humor is its own medicine, and love of his family. He is survived by children and grandchildren, and his wife of 39 years, Mary Ellen Miller, who is also an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Dr. Miller’s contributions to the Island University will always be remembered and his friendship will be missed.

Dr. Ping-Jung Tintera (2014)

Dr. Ping-Jung Tintera has been serving the university in the Department of Science and Engineering since 1994, having first served as an Adjunct Professor from 1994-2002. In 2002, she became an Instructor at the university and served in that role from 2002-2012 until becoming a Professional Assistant Professor in the Department of Science and Engineering, Mathematics & Statistics in 2012. She has taught courses in Algebra, Trigonometry, Business Mathematics, Mathematics, Calculus, Business Calculus, Statistics, and an introductory course to Modeling. For

She received her EdD from the university in 2003. She received her MS from Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1993, her BBA in Soochow University in 1990, and her BS from Yung-Ta College of Technology and Commerce in 1984. She obtained an Actuary License-level 100 from the American Academy of Actuaries, Canadian Institute of Actuaries, Society of Actuaries, Casualty Actuarial Society, and Conference of Consulting Actuaries.

For her commitment to teaching, she has received multiple teaching awards in addition to the Excellence in Teaching Award. She received the Teaching Excellence Award from Texas A&M in 2012 and the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award (awarded multiple times).

She has served the university in other roles, serving as the Faculty Advisor for the Chess Club and as a Committee Chair on the Technology Committee. Previously she served as a Faculty Advisor for the Math Club, Chinese Student Association, and Delta-Alpha-Beta from 2011-2015, and for Island Day in 2015.

Dr. Karen Paciotti (2013)

An Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education, Dr. Karen Paciotti has taught at the Island University since Fall 2007. In addition, she also prepares pre-service teachers for today’s challenges of state accountability measures which include passing required certifications and exams. Dr. Paciotti researched the characteristics of what teachers and students each consider to be “caring teacher behaviors.” That’s why it has become increasingly important for Paciotti to spread the vital message of caring to new educators through modeling preferred practices and instructional strategies that will help make a positive impact on student learning and success.

She received her BS in Education in 1977 as part of the first graduating class of Corpus Christi State University. She also holds a Master’s degree from Lamar University and her PhD from Stephen F. Austin State University. Dr. Paciotti has also been certified by the State of Texas as a K-8 Classroom teacher, Master Reading teacher, English as a Second Language teacher, Special Education teacher and Principal

Prior to teaching at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, she held adjunct faculty positions at Lamar University in Beaumont and at the University of Houston. The two-time recipient of The Texas A&M University System’s Teaching Excellence Award, she has also taught Music, Elementary School, Middle School English and has experience as a Special Education Inclusion Teacher and Chair of a Special Education Department.

Through her research Dr. Paciotti has found that struggling students and those with disciplinary issues respond best to teachers that care about them as a person, maintain a strict but respectable classroom environment and search for new methods and hands-on activities to stimulate their learning interests.

Dr. Paciotti has previously represented the College of Education on the Honors Council of the University’s Honors Program, the Center for Faculty Excellence, and is a past member of the Faculty Senate.

Professors Catherine Harrel & Sandra Stokes (2022-2023)

• Professors Harrel and Stokes use cutting-edge technology in both classroom and simulation environments. Their mixed-reality scenarios have helped nursing students make sense of the birthing process and learn experientially how to handle different emergencies.
• Professors Harrel and Stokes have also revised simulation curriculum to give students hands-on practice in recognizing post-partum hemorrhage and performing appropriate interventions, including blood transfusions.
• Their work in creating and implementing mixed-reality scenarios epitomizes best practices and provides Islander nursing students a leading 21st-century education.

Dr. Heather DeGrande (2021-2022)

• Dr. DeGrande strongly believes that innovation does not have to be scary. Risk can be celebrated, and innovation involves not just developing new ideas, but re-conceptualizing existing ideas.
• In the Summer of 2020, she helped her Wellness and Health Promotion students pivot from an in-person Health Fair to a Virtual Health Fair she created herself. Her students used the Padlet platform and QR technology to conduct the online event that summer, and later used their materials to create on-demand content for the community.
• Her other teaching innovations include providing students with asynchronous screen-recorded video feedback, assigning students to create medication commercials as a means of integrating their knowledge in a real-world application, and developing fun and engaging mini-lectures and asynchronous instructions using Apple Memoji.

Dr. Mikaela Boham (2020-2021)

• Dr. Boham has implemented different and new strategies to engage students in critical thinking and active learning with her hands on teaching style and innovative leadership.
• She redesigned a course in the Administration and Professional Development course in Athletic Training by creating a systematic and scaffolded learning experience to improve student learning.
• With a focus on helping students apply theory to real-life, she has students complete a series of ungraded, comprehensive assignments and create a business prospectus.

Dr. Cherie McCollough (2019-2020)

Ms. Jennifer Bray, Dr. Adam Costanzo, Ms. Amanda Marquez, and Dr. Eliza Martin (2018-2019)

This team won a national grant in order to implement a pedagogical strategy called “Reacting to the Past” in two First Year Learning Community courses. “Reacting” consists of elaborate, immersive games, set in the past, based on texts from the period under study. Students are assigned characters, some who are actual historical figures and some who are representative of people of the time, to embody. Students must use historical texts and their own research to speak, write, problem solve, and work as a team from the point of view of their character, while endeavoring to win the game for their side. This process introduces students to critical thinking, primary source analysis, teamwork and crafting both written and spoken arguments.

This pedagogy is exciting because it works to create a student-centered leaning environment, one where students take the lead and are actively engaged in their own education. While instructors evaluate students’ written work and speeches, and act as advisors to keep the game on track, it is the students themselves who run class sessions and take charge of their own learning, and others.

Dr. Christina Murphy (2016)

An Islander Alumni herself, Dr. Christina Murphy joined Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s College of Nursing and Health Science in 2015 as an Associate Professor & Chair: Women, Children & Family Health Science Department. She received her BSN from the Island University in 1997, and went on to obtain her MSN in Nursing Administration and Healthcare Systems and her PhD of Philosophy in Nursing Science from the University of Texas in 2004 and 2010. In addition, she obtained a Minor in Molecular Genetics in Research, Health, and Society from Georgetown University in 2008. She received her RN license in 1997 and her RNC-OB license in 1999.

Prior to joining TAMU-CC in 2015, Dr. Murphy worked for the University of Texas as a Medication Assistant 2001-2002, as an Assistant Instructor from 2005-2010, as a Project Coordinator/Senior Research Associate from 2012-2013, and finally as the Director of the Graduate Maternity Program from 2013-2015. At UT-Austin, she taught undergraduate and graduate classes related to maternity nursing and genetics in healthcare.

While at UT-Austin she received many awards for her work, receiving The University of Texas School of Nursing Dean’s Excellence Award for Publications in 2011 and 2014 and the Texas Nurses Association (TNA) District 5 Fabulous Five Award in 2013.

She has served as a chair/committee member for multiple organizations including the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (SSTI) since 2003, the International Society of Nurses in Genetics (ISONG) since 2008, the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1997, the Texas Nurses Association since 1997, and has served on the Board of Directors for the Texas Oral Health Coalition (TXOHC) since 2006.

Ms. Susan Greathouse (2015)

A Clinical Professor for the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Ms. Greathouse came to Corpus Christi in 2008 from Vancouver, where she had worked within the Nurse Faculty at Douglas College from 1985-2008. She received her BN in 1982 from the University of Calgary and her MSN from the University of British Colombia.

At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Ms. Greathouse teaches courses in Care of Adults, the Fundamentals of Nursing, Professional Transitions, Health Assessments, and the Nursing Care of Children. Greathouse has been hard at work with the nursing program here at the Island University, using her creativity to develop and refine health care simulations to further advance graduating nursing students as they transition into practice.

In addition to nursing, Ms. Greathouse also excels as a porcelain painter. Ms. Greathouse began porcelain painting in the late 1970s, and has used her free time to travel the globe and study under the best porcelain artists in the world. This dedication to her craft has paid off as Greathouse’s art has been displayed in Corpus Christi art spaces as well as throughout the United States and Canada.

Ms. Greathouse’s merging of the arts and sciences highlights the importance of utilizing different types of knowledge to achieve health care outcomes. This is in keeping with the CONHS Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) integrated curriculum under development for summer 2019. The goal of the STEAM program is to integrate concepts related to the arts to aid in the development of communication, creative, and critical thinking skills in nursing students.

Dr. Wei Xu (2022-2023)

• Dr. Xu is an accomplished researcher who has secured funding from the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust, the Bureau of Environmental Enforcement, and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
• Dr. Xu has published in highly respected and impactful journals, and he works with graduate and undergraduate students as a dedicated mentor.
• His research contributes to improved cancer diagnosis, more sustainable seafood production, and a better understanding of biofilms in water and threats to human skin health.

Dr. Katherine Taken Smith (2021-2022)

• Dr. Smith has given over 40 professional meeting presentations and published over 70 journal articles, been cited over 3,000 time on Google Scholar, received over 45,000 reads on Research Gate, and is in the top 1% of authors for total downloads on Social Science Research Network.
• She is a 4-time recipient of the American Accounting Association’s KPMG Outstanding Published Manuscript Award, in 2006, 2012, 2017, and 2021.
• She has been recognized for her research, writing, and teaching by an array of organizations, including our own Mary and Jeff Bell Library, the Bauernfeind College of Business at Murray State University, the Society of Marketing Advances, the International Conference of the Allied Academies, and the Academy of Educational Leadership.

Dr. Riccardo Mozzachiodi (2020-2021)

• Dr. Mozzachiodi has published 44 meeting abstracts and 18 peer-reviewed publications.
• He was invited to become a member of the Editorial Board of PLoS One and has served as a peer reviewer for 18 different journals.
• He has a consistent and extensive record of securing both external and internal grant awards. Of note are two NIH awards.

Dr. Yndalecio Isaac Hinojosa (2019-2020)

Dr. Toshiaki Shinoda (2018-2019)

Having been a professor at TAMUCC since August 2013, Dr. Shinoda brought with him 19 years worth of research experience, having served as a Research Scientist at the University of Colorado from 1995 to 2007, and as an Oceanographer at the Naval Research Laboratory from 2007 to 2013. He received his PhD at the University of Hawaii in 1993, where he served as a Research Associate from 1994-1995.

 Over the past 5 ½ years, Dr. Shinoda has had 19 papers published in peer-reviewed journals, with 46 publications in total. His papers have been published in highly regarded journals such as the Journal of Climate, Scientific Reports, Geophysical Research Letters, and Climate Dynamics.

In addition to serving as a professor, Dr. Shinoda has served as a Program Coordinator for the Atmospheric Science program since September 2017, and has been serving as a committee chair on the Search Committee of Atmospheric Science Faculty. He has also served on the NASA Proposal Review panel.

Dr. Wendi Pollock (2017-2018)

Wendi Pollock is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice. She received her B.S. and M.S. in criminal justice from Sul Ross State University, and her Ph.D. in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University. She currently works with police departments and research partners to study issues in police/public contact, public perceptions of police, false accusations of crime, and erroneous or false arrest.

Dr. Lee Smee (2016)

Dr. Lee Smee has successfully led masters, doctoral, and countless undergraduate students through the swamp lands of biology, and into blossoming careers. Smee’s main concern is to assist students in the expansion of their minds by means of critical thinking and becoming more knowledgeable about the world we live in.

Smee has built a successful research program that has trained two doctoral, seven masters, and many undergraduate students. Smee’s research team, known as the Marine Ecology Lab, has produced 22-peer reviewed publications that have been featured in several notable science journals including Oecologia, and Ecology. The group has also given more than 75 presentations at national scientific meetings. Smee’s progressive studies have produced more than $1 million of University funding to continue their forward-moving research.

One of Smee’s most recent studies focused on the decline in oyster reefs due to overharvesting and poor water quality. The three-year study concluded that maintaining a higher level of oyster reef diversity could make oyster reefs healthier, and possibly help worldwide oyster populations that have declined by more than 85 percent.

Dr. Joshua Ozymy (2015)

Dr. Joshua Ozymy is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the University Honors Program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Dr. Ozymy’s research agenda focuses on the question of why environmental policies fail to protect the public from harm in the United States and the health and policy consequences of those failures. His work is featured in such journals as: Environmental Politics, Global Environmental Politics, Political Behavior, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, American Politics Research, and Review of Policy Research.

Dr. Paul Zimba (2014)

Dr. Paul Zimba received his PhD in Biological Sciences from Mississippi State University in 1990, and joined Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as an Associate Professor in 2009. Since then, he has become the Director for the Center for Coastal Studies at the university.

Prior to joining the Center of Coastal Studies, Dr. Zimba worked at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) where he served as a Research Microbiologist in Stoneville, Mississippi. Dr. Zimba’s work at the USDA assisted in the analysis of off-flavor metabolites being produced by algae in aquaculture systems, remote sensing of harmful algae, and algal toxin identification and assessment.

Dr. Zimba’s research interests include Algal toxins, aquatic ecosystem ecology, harmful algae, wetlands, aquaculture, microalgal taxonomy and physiology, remote sensing, carbon fixation assessment, aquatic ecosystem stressors, cyanobacteria secondary metabolites.

Dr. Magesh Thiyagarajan (2013)

Dr. Magesh Thiyagarajan moved to the Island University in summer 2009 as the Director of the Plasma Engineering Research Lab (PERL) and Assistant Professor of Engineering. He was a lead engineer for the General Electric Company stationed in Albany, N.Y. He is a University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate. Since his arrival he has focused on developing a state-of-the-art research program on campus in the field of plasma science and engineering.

In fall 2010, Thiyagarajan was awarded a $700,000 research grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for pursuing research and develop novel portable atmospheric cold plasma technologies that can potentially be used in bio-medical applications including skin cancer treatment. This cold plasma technology research can open multiple avenues for a wide range of other potential civilian and combat care bio-medical applications such as hemorrhage control, wounds healing, infection treatment, dermatology, surgical sterilization, drug delivery and food processing.

Thiyagarajan is collaborating with regional industries on research projects through the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center. His goal is to “Imagine, Innovate and Inspire” students to pursue science and engineering fields as a faculty mentor for McNair Scholars program and the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program.

Dr. Diana Sipes (2022-2023)

• Dr. Sipes is an accomplished musician who regularly plays the flute in ensembles and solo performances. She has repeatedly been recognized at the national level, and she was selected 3 times as the principal alto flute for the National Flute Association Convention’s Professional Flute Choir.
• Dr. Sipes has performed with Bayview Winds in Texas, Arizona and Arkansas. As a soloist, her performances include Fantasia, the Brandenburg Concertos, and Mozart’s Concerto in C Major.
• Dr. Sipes reliably performs with excellence and the utmost professionalism.

No Awardee (2021-2022)

Mr. Tom Murphy (2020-2021)

• Mr. Murphy was awarded the Langdon Review 2020 Writer-in-Residence from Tarleton State and he will be the 2021 Langdon Review Writer-in-Residence.
• He was chosen as the 2021-2022 Corpus Christi Poet Laureate.
• He is currently working on three manuscripts, two of poetry: The Avebury Bridge Cycle and an unnamed as yet volume, plus he is working to complete the first draft of a novel titled Bicentennial Eagle.

Don Luna (2019-2020)

Dr. Carrie Pierce (2018-2019)

Equally at home in chamber, orchestral, and solo settings, Dr. Carrie Pierce brings her innate musicianship to every genre with a warm, resonant, all-encompassing sound. With an engaging musical personality, Carrie enjoys connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

 Dr. Pierce is the principal cellist of the Victoria Symphony in Victoria, Texas, and assistant principal of the Corpus Christi Symphony. She is also a founding member of Drumpetello, an innovative chamber ensemble composed of cello, percussion, and trumpet. Drumpetello has received over $50,000 in grant funds and has commissioned many new works by composers around the country.

As a soloist, her playing has been described as "hauntingly beautiful with excellent technique." Carrie has performed all over the world, including Austria, Italy, India, South Korea, and Scotland. Dr. Pierce strives to provide outreach and educational concerts whenever possible, including three recent trips to India and Nepal to perform with the Kolkata Classics Series, a concert series that raises money and provides health care for women and children living in intolerable conditions.

 As a teacher, Dr. Pierce is adept at teaching levels of cellists. Her students have received numerous accolades and awards, including winning spots in the prestigious NYO2 festival, first chairs in the UIL All-State orchestra (Texas), and first place in the San Antonio Youth Concerto competition, which included a concerto performance with the San Antonio Symphony. She is a Suzuki certified teacher and plans on pursuing her teacher trainer certificate with future plans of opening a Suzuki center at TAMUCC. When she is not teaching or playing she is spending time with her wonderful husband Jeff and newly added member of the family, her puppy Luka.

Dr. Chuleeporn Changhit (2017-2018)

Dr. Changchit is a Professor of Management Information Systems. Prior to joining the faculty at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, she was an assistant professor at the University of Iowa. Drawing from experiences working in industry as a senior consultant, she provides her students with practical and comprehensive instructions, shares ideas and techniques enthusiastically, and enjoys substantial successes as an educator. Dr. Changchit has won several awards such as Texas A&M University System’s Student Recognition Award for Teaching Excellence (2010 and 2011), Outstanding Online Educator (2015), University’s Teaching Excellence (2017), University Excellence Award in Creative Activity (2018), and College of Business’s Professor of the Year (2018).

Dr. Changchit is actively engaged in the scholarly activities. She has authored or co-authored 40 journal articles, 53 conference proceedings, and 5 book chapters. Her articles appear in high ranking journals such as Decision Support Systems, Information Systems Journal, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, Journal of Global Information Management, Expert Systems with Applications, and International Journal of Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management. To her professions, Dr. Changchit serves as an Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Information Privacy and Security. She also serves as an Associate Editor and serve on Editorial Review Board for several journals such as the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, the Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, and the Journal of Global Information Technology Management. She also severs as the Vice President for the Association of Thai Professionals in America and Canada.

Dr. Mary Thornton (2016-2017)

The never subtle trumpet was a perfect match for Dr. Mary Thornton from the start. The assistant professor of music was introduced to the instrument just prior to sixth grade by her grandmother, who played the trumpet for her high school marching band in the 1930s.

After earning degrees at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Thornton has performed as an orchestral musician and an educator. The Wisconsin native has shown her talent at the Aspen Music Festival; the AIMS Festival in Graz, Austria; and in Toluca, Mexico, with the Orchestra of the State of Mexico. Thornton will world premiere "The Trumpeter Dreams of Music" written by Neil Flory at the 2010 International Trumpet Guild Convention in Sydney, Australia.

In addition, she'll serve on an "Industry Perspectives Panel" about women in the trumpet world. Before Thornton arrived at the Island University, she taught at Del Mar College and St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. Thornton, who directs Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Trumpet Ensemble and co-founded the Corpus Christi Brass Quintet, is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, the Texas Music Educator's Association and the American Federation of Musicians.

She has worked with musical artists including The Four Tops, the Moody Blues and The Temptations; has performed for local productions of Broadway shows; and presented many lectures and recital performances across the nation. Thornton will appear on upcoming music CDs by Robert Bradshaw and the Corpus Christi Cathedral's "A Cathedral Christmas."

Dr. Elizabeth Sefcik (2015-2016)

Having served as a professor at TAMU-CC for almost two decades, Dr. Liz Sefcik received her PhD in Nursing from Texas Women’s University in 1992, and her MSN in Community Health Nursing from the University of Colorado-Denver in 1976.

Dr. Liz Sefcik worked as a Practitioner at Post Medical Center from 2008-2016, and since joining TAMU-CC as a professor has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in nursing, including Nursing Care of Community Health, in which she designed a virtual community health clinical. In addition to her work as a professor, Dr. Liz Sefcik has been a Virginia Henderson Fellow of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society since 1999, and was nominated for the Regents Professor Award in 2018.

In addition, Dr. Liz Sefcik has provided her services to the community through serving on the board of several organizations, including chairing the Community Advisory Health Board for the Public Health Department.

Mr. Gregory Reuter (2014-2015)

Greg Reuter earned his BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts, was awarded an MFA in sculpture and ceramics from the University of Hawaii, and in 1978 joined the faculty of Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi teaching ceramics and sculpture. He has shown nationally and internationally, his work is represented in numerous private and public art collections, and he has lectured in Mexico, Germany, Japan, and the United States.

In 1988, Greg’s sculpture was featured in the gallery scene of the Hollywood movie D.O.A., and he enjoyed his role as an extra in the movie. In 1993, Greg’s work was included in the exhibition Texas Between Two Worlds, which opened at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and traveled to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Art Museum of South Texas. In 2015 Greg traveled to Tokyo and showed his work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. During three stints at the Atelier Haus Hilmsen, Greg created sculptures which were exhibited in the Monchskirche Museum in Salzwedel, Germany in August 2017.

 For the last fifteen years, much of Greg’s sculpture making has been inspired by the beach at Padre Island National Seashore. He has used the textures and trace fossils found at the beach to create a variety of forms in bronze. Recently he has worked on a series of iron sculptures cast in Houston at the Keen Foundry. During his years living in South Texas, Greg has created and collaborated on a number of public art pieces including five for the city of Corpus Christi and two for Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.

Dr. Bethanie Pletcher (2022-2023)

• Dr. Pletcher has served the Island University through her dedicated leadership in the Faculty Senate, as well as in numerous other campus organizations and task forces that support student success and faculty development.
• She also serves the Coastal Bend community by supporting young readers through the Islanders Helping the Early Acceleration of Readers Together – or IHEART – program and working as a literacy consultant.
• Dr. Pletcher actively supports the teaching profession through her service in professional organizations and as a reviewer of manuscripts and conference proposals

No Awardee (2021-2022)

Sean Britt (2020-2021)

• Sean Britt serves as a faculty advisor to the Islanders Rugby Club and the E-Sports Club.
• In the past two years, they served as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and oversaw the University Curriculum Committee proceedings to review hundreds of proposals for course and program additions and updates to catalog.
• They serve as panel chair at the annual First-Year Islander Conference.

Dr. Frank Spaniol (2019-2020)

Dr. Corinne Valadez (2018-2019)

Corinne Valadez, Ph.D, is associate professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Prior to coming to TAMUCC in 2004, she worked in public schools for nine years teaching first through fourth grade. Her doctoral degree is from Texas A&M University at College Station, and her master's and bachelor's degrees are from TAMUCC.

Her scholarship focuses on teachers' sense of efficacy for literacy instruction, Hispanic children's literature, and multicultural literacy. At TAMUCC she teaches graduate & undergraduate courses in children's literature, multicultural literacy, and fundamentals of reading instruction for both elementary and secondary levels.

Dr. Abu Waheeduzzaman (2017-2018)

Dr. Abu Waheeduzzaman is a professor of Management and Marketing in the College of Business at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. An academic who enjoys reading, teaching, conducting research, consulting, writing and publishing, Dr. Waheeduzzaman received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Kent State University, Ohio, his MBA in International Business from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and his MBA in Marketing from Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University, Bangladesh. Research interests include international competitiveness, emerging markets, convergence and globalization.

Dr. Marilyn Spencer (2015)

Dr. Marilyn Spencer is the Chair of Decision Sciences and Economics and Professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. After joining the university in 1993, she was charged with developing and administering its first core curriculum, lower-division student advising and student tutoring programs, to prepare for the very first incoming classes of freshmen and sophomores in fall 1994. Spencer successfully led that Core Curriculum Program through 2000. She also served as the founding Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence from 1995 through 2003.

In 2016 Dr. Marilyn Spencer was named a 2015-2016 Regents Professor by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

Ms. Nancy Goodman (2014)

A Clinical Associate Professor at TAMU-CC, Nancy Goodman joined the Island University in 1995. She received her MSN from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and her BSN from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Dr. Charles Etheridge (2013)

An Outstanding Islander and recipient of the Coastal Bend Food Bank’s Bill Cook Award for his work in writing over $270,000 in grants on their behalf, Dr. Charles Etheridge has been active in serving the Corpus Christi and Coastal Bend community since joining Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He received his PhD from TCU, and teaches classes in Technical and Professional Writing, English Education, American Literature.