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Remembering Dr. Mary Lewis, A True Champion for Children

Posted on: June 23rd, 2015

Dr. Mary Ruth Lewis

By Sarah F. Hill

Being of service to others was of the utmost importance to Dr. Mary Ruth Lewis, Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW) professor emerita and champion for social work, children and families. Since 1980, when she was hired away from the University of Alabama to develop the Children and Family concentration in the GCSW’s Master of Social Work (MSW) curriculum, Dr. Lewis accomplished much in the way of providing legal rights for children.

Oftentimes working within complex political processes, she championed social policy changes that addressed the involvement of youth directly in political mechanisms, recognizing children as citizens of the state, not just recipients of services. In her own words “The concept of family policy that propelled European countries into offering a wide array of benefits and services that support parents in their parenting roles was not taken up in the U.S.” This frustrated Dr. Lewis, but spurred her on to action—writing many articles that appeared in peer-reviewed, international journals. She single-handedly developed curriculum for the GCSW’s Children and Family concentration. She also organized the first ever trip abroad for the GCSW students, which is today a unique feature of the opportunities afforded MSW students. “Mary recognized the importance of global understanding having studied in the United Kingdom,” remembers former Dean Ira Colby. “Through her passion for this form of international engagement, Mary lead the College’s first international study abroad course and, because of her vision and commitment to global studies, today the GCSW is recognized as one of the leading international social work education programs.”

An undergraduate history major, Lewis received her M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Alabama, in 1952 and went on to receive her M.S.W. in Social Work from the University of Denver in 1961. In 1973, she graduated with her Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research from Bryn Mawr College. She worked at many different universities before putting down roots at the University of Houston in 1980. “Her voice was loud and clear on issues she felt strongly about,” remembers Interim Dean Dr. Paul Raffoul.

A 2009 Inductee to the University of Alabama’s School of Social Work Hall of Fame, Lewis intended to leave behind a legacy at the GCSW, where she pursued her career for over twenty years. She even notified the University of a proposed, planned gift in her estate. Her generous intention was to create the Mary R. Lewis College Professorship Endowment in Children and Youth in the Graduate College of Social Work, which would support either a full-time tenured faculty member or a visiting professor in the area to which she dedicated her scholarly and professional life.

Dr. Mary Lewis has contributed broadly to the success of the GCSW, and to its internal governance, as well. In 2002 and 2003, the GCSW created a Faculty Association with a faculty member elected to run the Association’s monthly meetings. “Mary was unanimously elected the Association’s first chair,” says Colby. The very first gavel for this Association was made and named after Mary. He remembers the woman as not just a colleague—but as a friend, as well. “Following her retirement Mary was a constant presence in the College returning for graduations and participating in special events such as holiday parties or scholarship galas. She always had a smile and a warm hug,” said Colby.
It is a sad day when one who gave so much of herself is lost, but her legacy at UH will live on through the many students who were influenced by her teaching, through her planned gift and through her many contributions to the field of Social Work. A fellow social worker at the University of Houston, Sandra Lopez, is amazed by the fact that Dr. Lewis worked in so many capacities for justice. When Dr. Lewis was honored with a National Association of Social Workers Lifetime Achievement award, Lopez said: “It is both remarkable and impressive to note that Dr. Lewis has played a multitude of social work roles such as practitioner, grant-writer, program developer, researcher, consultant, educator, author, advocate, collaborator and mentor.” She will be greatly remembered by the wide array of people she taught, helped and inspired.

Alumni Spotlight: Alan Davis

Posted on: June 23rd, 2015

alan davis

Alan Davis (MSACCY ’76), also known as Dad, Uncle Al or Grampa by his own admission, is involved in a lot of activities, which manifests in his motto: “Life is fun if you let it be!” His to-do list is a mile long. “I could clone myself three times and still not get everything I want done,” he jokes. “Maybe that’s an exaggeration. Maybe I could clone myself twice and not get everything I want done!”

by Sarah F. Hill

For one, he works in his impressive garden and waits for between 30,000 and 40,000 daffodils, jonquils and narcissus to bloom in his yard each year. He practices glass etching, and has been featured in an article in A&E magazine — the magazine for Awards and Engraving Professionals. He is inspired by nature; his featured and most often replicated etching is of a cluster of five maple leaves he picked in his yard. Then there’s the book the dean of the C.T. Bauer School of Business is encouraging him to write about pivot tables, a feature of Microsoft Excel. When they met for a dinner in Ohio recently, Dean Latha Ramchand was so impressed with his knowledge of the complicated feature, she suggested he write a book about his extensive and unique use of the element of such tables. He admits it is slow- going, but it has definitely piqued his interest.
He is involved with politics and monetary policy and anxiously awaits the President’s unveiling of the United States budget each year, surrounded by piles of papers and file cabinets full of data. He reflects on budget-related matters in his political blog. Add to that the fact he is not entirely retired from his job in operational accounting and that he has children and grandchildren to spend time with, and you can see how Davis keeps himself so busy.

Having just announced a planned gift to the University that has given him such a successful career, he relates, “My wife and I had a plan for what to do with our surplus: a percentage to our children, of course, and then to local charities. We both went to college and graduate school and we feel we owe something back to maintain the legacies of those institutions.” His future giving is secured and it allows him to live fully in the present, making the most of every opportunity for artistic and other pursuits that he finds lend flavor to his life.

Davis received his B.A. in anthropology and geography from the University of Kansas. His parents made sure he was serious about college by requiring him to pay for his freshman year by himself. (He wound up paying for all but one semester.) They also were great role models in other ways. His mother got her degree in home economics and in the 1970s received her master’s degree in education. “My mother was a dynamic woman,” he remembers.

After relocating to Houston, he realized that working in warehouses in the heat of summer was not for him and he remembered what his parents had stressed about the importance of a job with benefits. He liked numbers, word problems and doing statistics, so he took the graduate entrance exam and began UH’s Master of Science in Accountancy program, while continuing to work 50 hours a week.

When he graduated in 1976, he made his way to the “placement center,” now, Career Services, and noticed a job that required one year of accounting and one year of hospital experience. He didn’t think he’d qualify, so he applied for other openings instead. It was then that a UH alum called him up and asked him to interview for the job— the one he felt unqualified for. The interview went amazingly well and he was soon the assistant controller in healthcare finance at Doctors Hospital in Conroe.
He humbly acknowledges that without the help of another UH alumnus, he would not have the career he’s had. The leap of faith that man took when he hired Davis was largely based on the fact that an education from UH is well-regarded.

When he moved his family to Ohio, he didn’t realize he’d be starting a sibling rivalry. One of his daughters attended and graduated from UH, and his two sons graduated from the University of Cincinnati. So the Coogs versus the Cincinnati Bearcats is a real source of tension in his family. “Plus I’m a Kansas Jayhawk, too!” he laughs. “UH was important to me in my life and career, and now it’s important to my daughter,” he says, which is a good feeling.

His wife, Jennifer Allen, a pediatrician for 28 years, is also a heart-transplant survivor and together they sit on the board of Hope Clinic in Chillicothe. In addition to writing donor letters and performing quality control checks on all the charts, she succeeded in recruiting Davis, with his excessive knowledge of accounting, to be the CFO of the clinic. “It’s been an awesome experience, putting our faith into action,” he says of helping the less fortunate with medical treatment. Hope Clinic is just one more example of how Davis puts his accounting background and knowledge of financial workings to good use.

Supporting the C.T. Bauer College of Business regularly for more than 10 years came naturally to Davis, as did the addition of his planned gift. “It’s a great way to make an impact even if you’re not wealthy!” he says as he encourages others to give to their alma maters. And making an impact is what Davis does every day—just ask the people who will drive by his yard and witness the gorgeous display of brightly colored flowers this Spring.

Giving Locally, Thinking Globally

Posted on: May 14th, 2015

barrett-sides

By Joelle Jameson

Houston Public Media Foundation’s three main concentrations, or “pillars,” are arts and culture, education, and news and information. Talking to Barrett Sides about his priorities and activities, it’s easy to see why he’s a board member there: each of those areas play a huge part in his life and giving. Education, news and information, and arts and culture? “Those are headstone things,” he laughs.

“You can go through life paying as much attention as you want: that’s what we say about media these days,” he says from his home near Memorial Park in Houston. “You tend to choose what you want to hear and stick with it, because there’s so much out there, you can’t take it all in.” Sides’ choice is clear; he advocates for all three Houston Public Media (HPM) platforms — KUHT Channel 8, News 88.7 FM and Classical 91.7 FM — as often as possible. “The information is broad, credible, thorough and unbiased. It’s like a coffee table full of great magazines.”

Sides has been a consistent supporter throughout the years and a fan of weekend and evening radio and television programming, but increased his involvement after leaving his long finance career in international investments at Invesco in Houston. “My relationship with the news at that point was all about information, whether it was the market, geo-politics or economics,” he explains. “It was very academic. But the natural curiosity of wanting to learn persisted, and HPM filled that void.” The platform nearest and dearest to his heart is News 88.7. “When I started to take in more of the daytime news radio and realized what was there, I saw how much it enriched my life,” he says. “During one of the station’s pledge campaigns, I realized that I was the person they were talking to. Giving to HPM, for me, is almost a matter of fairness.”

Born in New Orleans, Sides lived in Chicago before moving to Houston during his high school years. He attended college at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, but soon made his way back to Houston to begin his career at Invesco, and also earned his M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas. His philanthropic focus is on the city and its residents, whether it’s cleaning up litter in Memorial Park, supporting Houston’s artistic institutions or helping to found an innovative new middle school. He has also created a scholarship at Bucknell University, and served on their alumni board. His first experience with philanthropy goes back to childhood: “My weekly allowance was 50 cents; in the interest of instilling good values, my parents encouraged us to save ten cents, and give another ten cents to a charity or church,” he recalls. “Both saving and giving were imprinted on me at an early age.”

Currently, Sides also serves on the board of Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston. “It’s a nice bookend, in a sense, to HPM involvement,” he says. The organization operates a series of clinics, mostly in downtown Houston, serving homeless men, women and children with basic and advanced healthcare, including mental health and dental. “It serves many purposes, not least that it is a more personal and patient-centric environment than the emergency room, and it also unburdens that system,” he explains. Sides is excited about their current expansion to a new building, which they just purchased and will now begin to renovate. “It’s a different way of giving back to the Houston community to contribute to the quality of life here.”

Caring for residents most in need is only one measure of quality of life in a city, in Sides’ view. Besides green public spaces, libraries, parks and other standards, “I think that one of the measures of quality of life in a city is often what kind of public radio and television they offer. HPM is a jewel for Houston.” He also names the University of Houston — which is the license holder and home to Houston Public Media — as a point of pride. “The University of Houston is ascendant,” he says. “It’s a short list of cities that have great city universities, and Houston is on it.” Although he earned his degrees elsewhere, Sides has appeared in Dr. Charles Guez’s classroom at the C.T. Bauer College of Business to lecture on international finance in evening classes, and also mentored one of their undergraduate business students.

He tries whenever possible to take an active approach to philanthropy and community involvement, and that activeness is reflected in his love of travel. With family in Colorado, California and Costa Rica, great destinations are never too far away, but Sides also recently fulfilled a childhood dream of traveling to Antarctica. “My fascination as a kid reached a point that I wanted to be a scientist, because back then they were the only people who got to go!” he laughs. Their modest boat held about 100 passengers and included scientists and experts who explained the various aspects of the ecosystem, wildlife and history of Antarctica. “I call it my Antarctic Safari,” he says. “It was about the wildlife and adventure of it.” Adventure was certainly a promise, especially since, the year before, a similar ship had gotten packed into the ice while docking overnight. Thankfully, no such complications arose during Sides’ 25-day journey; just pristine wildness to be explored in hiking, penguin and albatross rookeries, and even a polar plunge when they reached the Antarctic Circle. “I purposefully didn’t try to imagine too much of what it would be like,” he recalls. “I wanted it to unfold as a surprise.”

That high level of involvement — and sense of adventure — is something he appreciates in his role as a board member at Houston Public Media Foundation. “We get to hear about some of the station’s plans as they’re being formed, strategies, and decisions as they’re being made,” he says. “It’s not a huge time commitment, but I consider it a privilege to be mixed into such an interesting group — not only the other board members, but the management and on-air staff.” Sides is especially passionate about Houston Public Media’s unique local programming, such as Houston Matters. “Life is local,” he says. “Life is global, but on a day to day basis, you have to be in touch with your community.” He may have literally traveled to the ends of the earth, but Barrett Sides’ reality is planted in Houston — and probably has 88.7 playing in the background.

Remembering A Renowned UH Benefactor

Posted on: March 19th, 2015

Robert E. Sheriff

Robert E. Sheriff, professor emeritus in the University of Houston’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and long-time departmental benefactor, left a tremendous legacy to the University of Houston. Through endowments and scholarships, he and his wife ushered in a new generation of geophysicists. He worked with pure passion in his field, of which he was considered by Hua-wei Zhou, chair of the UH Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, “a giant.”

Dr. Sheriff began working for Chevron in California in 1950. Throughout his career at Chevron he traveled the world supervising work in numerous locations and relocating his family to Trinidad and Australia. Dr. Sheriff came to Houston in 1970 and began serving as an adjunct professor of geophysics at UH. In 1980, he became a full tenured professor. Dr. Sheriff was a gifted teacher who cared deeply about his students, sharing his opinions without reluctance, pointing out weaknesses and telling students how to improve. His input and guidance helped his students learn to find issues and solve them later in their careers. He is perhaps best known for having written the “Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics” in 1973. “It is the exploration geophysicist’s bible; people refer to it all the time,” said Zhou.

Over the years, Robert and Margaret Sheriff established four endowments at the University of Houston, giving almost $2 million in support of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The endowments are the Margaret S. Sheriff College Professorships in Geophysics, the Robert E. Sheriff College Professorship in Sequence Stratigraphy, the Robert and Margaret Sheriff Faculty Chair in Applied Seismology and the Sheriff Endowment in Applied Geophysics.

The Sheriffs also set up a scholarship through the Society of Exploration Geophysicists for international graduate students coming to UH to study geophysics. More than 100 students have been funded through their generosity. “Bob Sheriff was so unselfish, helping people any way he could,” Zhou said.

In addition to the many scholarships and endowments, his legacy was continued following his recent death with the gift of his retirement plan assets to the Sheriff Endowment in Applied Geophysics. His family also encouraged contributions to a memorial fund in his name after he passed in 2014. Bob Sheriff is still giving back to the University and helping to inspire our students’ success.

The Williams Foundation Supports Future Teachers

Posted on: March 19th, 2015

Jack and Diana Miles

A Gentle Push

Jack Miles (’62) has a file drawer in which he keeps all of the letters he’s received over the years from grateful teachHOUSTON scholarship recipients. He is excited about their future plans, tenacity, and “gumption.” These students don’t necessarily have to have the highest grades or tread the traditional college path, according to Jack and his sister Diana Miles, trustees of the Elizabeth P. and Harold R. Williams Foundation, but they do have to have goals and the resolve to move into a challenging and vital career in education. When asked what makes a perfect teachHOUSTON scholar, Diana quickly answers, “Determination.”

The Williams Foundation’s teachHOUSTON endowment supports University of Houston undergraduate students who are studying to become high school math and science teachers. It places them in real-life classrooms during every undergraduate year, instead of just one year of student teaching, and helps them garner enthusiasm for the challenge of teaching high school math and science.

For Jack and Diana, acknowledging the value of a UH education has always been a family affair. In fact, at one time during the 1950s, five members of their family were attending the University of Houston at the same time! Their aunt and uncle, Harold and Elizabeth Williams, established the Williams Foundation, and Jack and Diana became Trustees when their aunt and uncle passed away. “Uncle Harold pushed us as far as education was concerned, and we want to be there to support the next generation,” says Jack. “Oftentimes, students today don’t have someone pushing them.” And a push in the right direction is sometimes all it takes.

Putting a UH Education to Work

As business majors at the University of Houston, both Jack and Diana learned many valuable lessons. Jack was a nontraditional student who took classes at night. This meant he was taught by many industry professionals whose classes were in the evenings.

After graduating from UH, Diana went on to teach high school business classes in Spring Branch ISD. Her 30-year tenure at the school district brought with it a changing demographic of student and interesting challenges, improving math and science scores being one of them. She also holds a position as a city councilwoman in Rosebud, Texas, a role she hadn’t anticipated playing, but which makes perfect sense after the long time she spent serving the community as a teacher.

Jack, on the other hand, was always aware of what he wanted to do, and that was run a company. However, he had not necessarily seen himself as what he also became — a rancher. Since around 2001, he has been the co-owner of the Brazos River Cattle Company, a working ranch between Temple and Waco. The only regret he has is that he didn’t take an agriculture class while at UH. Above and beyond their careers, both Diana and Jack’s passion is supporting education, and the University of Houston provided them the perfect outlet for the Williams Foundation’s philanthropy.

Keeping Kids On Track

Diana Miles says, “Math is a logical science and hard to teach. It’s not a soft science. The answers are the answers.” Jack Miles muses, “A lot of kids in our society are coddled. Can they balance a checkbook? You don’t have any real life skills if you can’t do math!” Quality math and science teachers are what teachHOUSTON is intent on providing to the community. Houston benefits greatly, as 75 percent of teachHOUSTON graduates go on to teach in high-need high schools in the Greater Houston Area.

Jack balks at the notion that teachers are the only ones responsible for encouraging and helping students succeed, though; he holds the parents responsible, as well. Most teachers are underpaid and this fact, coupled with the lack of engagement on some parents’ ends, results in a lot of students “falling through the cracks.” The Foundation’s endowment – a partnership between the College of Education and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics – is making sure students have the math and science skills they need to succeed by providing much needed support to the teachers of those subjects.

The Determination to Make a Difference

So, why the University of Houston? “This younger generation will make the decisions for us as we grow older,” Jack says. “I want them to have the best education possible!” They know, firsthand, that teachHouston students’ education will be stellar, and that these future professionals are already shaping Houston’s next generation of decision-makers and innovators. This family of alums is proud and eager to give back to the University that launched their careers and taught them a lot about life, as well. Whether considering teachHouston students, the teachers-in-training at UH or the Miles siblings’ own experiences, Jack perhaps sums it up best: “Life is continuing education.”

Lindsey Brier Named 2013-14 Goldwater Scholar

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

lindsey brier

Lindsey Brier, a junior mathematical biology major and chemistry minor, is one of 271 undergraduates nationwide named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.

The Goldwater Scholarship Program fosters and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Considered the premier undergraduate award for these fields, more than 1,100 students were nominated by their universities this year. Scholars receive up to $7,500.

Though Brier started out as a math major at the University of Houston, she soon found mathematical biology would give her a better background for a newfound interest – biology and chemistry research.

Ph.D. Pursuits

“I’m interested in drug design and how drugs interact with physiological pathways,” said Brier, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in either medicinal chemistry or pharmacology. “So, it was important to me to understand biological systems.”

Brier, who is also interested in clinical applications, says her main reason for doing research in this field is to improve available health care. “I’ve considered entering an M.D./Ph.D. program, but my biggest interest is in doing medical research.”

Undergraduate research has played a significant role in her education. Having worked on research projects at UH and University of California, San Francisco, Brier will travel to University of Pennsylvania this summer.

Research Experience

This semester, Brier is doing research in the lab of James Briggs, associate professor and interim chair of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry. She is focusing on the protein, cholera toxin. “We are writing programs that allow us to look at proteins and determine potential interaction points for drugs,” said Brier, who is participating through the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship program.

Her research experience at UCSF involved using a computer program to look at specific membrane transporters that are resistant to chemotherapy. “The transporters are pushing out the drugs that doctors are trying to get in,” she said. “We used the program to test and identify drugs that have more of an affinity for the transporter, and therefore, uncovered greater potential for future drug development.”

In Brier’s case, undergraduate research broadened her well-rounded science background by exposing her to computer science. It also gave her real-life applications of topics taught in class. “Research really makes you remember the information, learn it and know it because you have to be able to defend your work and choose future directions for the research. If you don’t understand the concept, you can’t possibly do any of that,” she said.

Group Facilitator

At UH, Brier facilitates a small, organic chemistry workshop for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics’ Scholar Enrichment Program. Students in the small classes do practice problems and review concepts; the setting encourages discussion and more interaction.

“Many students are afraid of organic chemistry. The workshops help reinforce the concepts covered in the lecture course,” said Brier, who has co-led a workshop for two semesters. “I’ve gotten a deeper understanding of organic chemistry by learning how to explain it to others.”

Brier is a native of Allen, Texas, and attended Allen High School. At UH, she is a Houston-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholar and a member of The Honors College.

http://nsm.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2013/0426_goldwaterScholar.php

Giving Back to Education

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

mike and elsa tansey

In the early 1960s, Mike Tansey was working full time and raising four children. Mike’s job at NASA involved biometric data related to the astronaut program, and he realized a math degree would be beneficial.

Night school at the University of Houston was his path to get that degree.

“I’ve always felt I owed something to UH for giving me an opportunity to complete a degree program,” said Tansey, a native Houstonian who received his B.S. in 1965. “Eventually, we started giving to the alumni association and buying season tickets to football.”

Mike’s math background led to seismic data processing and later to computer software package development for oil and gas companies, aerospace, trucking firms and investment companies. “My math degree was instrumental in every aspect of my career,” he said.

After many years of giving annual charitable donations to many organizations, the Tanseys reviewed their pattern of giving.

“We decided to prioritize and give to Mike’s favorite institution,” said Elsa, Mike’s wife.

That decision led them to establish the Tansey Family Scholarship Endowment for undergraduates in UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “We decided we could make a greater impact on students by concentrating most of our charitable giving in one area,” she said.

The Tanseys hope their endowment will help NSM attract and keep quality students at the undergraduate level and encourage them to stay at UH for their graduate education. Recently, they started supporting NSM’s Graduate Fellowship Program.

“We firmly believe that every graduate of this great university should open their checkbooks and give regularly to the school that provided them with the opportunity to be successful in their lives,” Mike said. “New graduates should make donating to UH an annual activity, even if the gift is not large.”

For the Tanseys, it’s about giving back to the school that gave Mike his chance at a degree and helping current and future students attain that same foundation in higher education.

http://nsm.uh.edu/features/nsm/giving/giving-back-to-education/index.php

Investing in Students

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

Scholarships helped May Nguyen graduate from University of Houston with a relatively small amount of debt. Now, she and her husband, Greg Bounds, want to give more students the chance to focus on careers rather than worry about the financial burdens of college. They are establishing the Greg Bounds and Bich-May Nguyen Undergraduate Biology Scholarship Endowment.

“Since I wasn’t hampered by debt, I was able to pursue more expensive graduate studies,” said Nguyen, who graduated in 2003 with a B.S. in biology. She went on to receive a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and an M.P.H. from Harvard School of Public Health.

“We are interested in education and in making college affordable,” Bounds said. “Through this investment in NSM, we can support the young talent who will contribute to scientific knowledge and innovation.”

For Nguyen, attending UH with its diverse student body helped her to be more comfortable around and to empathize with people from all walks of life. After graduating from medical school, she pursued a specialty in family medicine and chose to work with Houston’s underserved, urban population. “Every day I take care of socially disadvantaged people, the majority of whom do not speak English as their primary language,” she said.

The young couple recognizes that UH is full of hard-working students. “Many students are taking full- or part-time classes and working to support themselves or their families,” Nguyen said. “We want to ease the financial burden for some of them.”

Bounds recently decided to change careers and return to school. Where did he choose to go? University of Houston. “I was so impressed with the changes at UH in the past decade that I wanted to benefit from them,” he said. Bounds will graduate in 2014 with a B.S. in sociology.

Through their scholarship endowment, Bounds and Nguyen know they will impact future UH biology undergrads and give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

“We hope more people who have been as lucky as us will support the university in its academic mission and help its most valuable asset – the students,” they said.

http://nsm.uh.edu/features/nsm/giving/investing/index.php

Fall 2013 Semester an Exciting Start For Bauer Excellence Scholars

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

The first day of the fall semester on Aug. 26 will no doubt be filled with excitement for the thousands of new and returning students at the C. T. Bauer College of Business, including the 2013-2014 class of Bauer Excellence Scholars.

These students are recipients of scholarship awards from The Bauer Excellence Initiative, a recruiting scholarship campaign launched by Bauer College in 2012 that provides funding of up to $10,000 per academic year for highly qualified applicants.

The Bauer Excellence Initiative provides scholarships to both undergraduate and graduate students within the Bauer College. Bauer Excellence Scholars represent a diverse group, with a range of interests in studies, research and future career, but one thing unites them — a drive and passion for the pursuit of excellence.

Incoming freshmen Christian Madison and Sarah Nguyen are part of the 2013-2014 group of Bauer Excellence Scholars.

Christian-Madison

Christian Madison

Freshman
Hometown: Pearland, TX

Madison graduated from Glenda Dawson High School in Pearland, TX, with the school’s Distinguished Achievement designation and part of the top 15 percent of his class. He enters Bauer College with the hopes of obtaining a bachelor of business administration degree from the college’s nationally ranked Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship. He also participated in the 2012 Bauer Summer Business Institute as a rising senior and came back to campus this summer to serve as a student counselor for the 2013 installment of BSBI.

In addition to support from The Bauer Excellence Initiative, he has received the UH Academic Excellence Scholarship and is a student in the Bonner Leaders Program at the university.

“I wanted to attend Bauer College for several reasons,” Madison said. “The scholarship award and the prestige of the entrepreneurship program, along with the location and connection to the city of Houston, as well as the exciting construction on campus and the growth of UH beyond a ‘commuter campus’ into a Tier One university, all make Bauer the perfect fit for me.”

Along with his academic achievements, Madison is a successful young musician and actor. While attending Dawson, he was part of the school’s Ovation Theatre and won All-Star Cast Member at the state level for Texas University Interscholastic League State AAA theatre competition.

Sarah Nguyen

Sarah Nguyen

Freshman
Hometown: Houston, TX

Nguyen graduated from Bellaire High School as an AP Scholar with Honors and a National Merit Commendation. She earned a varsity letter in high school swimming and was chosen to serve as captain of the swim team in her senior year. She also was active on the Bellaire yearbook staff, serving as editor-in-chief as a senior.

As a graduate of Bellaire, a language magnet school, Nguyen says she is excited about the possibility of participating in a study abroad program during her time at Bauer College.

“We had students from countries all around the world wandering the halls,” she said. “The diverse environment influenced me to be a member, and later co-president, of the Bellaire International Student Association. Understanding different cultures and languages of the world has become a crucial component of how I want to grow and carry myself.”

The decision to attend Bauer was somewhat of a family affair for Nguyen, whose older sister Liz graduated from the college and shared her positive experience.

“After sending my two sisters through college, supporting one to continue to medical school, and still having my brother and myself to put through school, I can assure you, my parents and I are extremely grateful for receiving the scholarship from The Bauer Excellence Initiative,” she said.

“I will use this scholarship to make something of myself for my family, the college and the university,” Nguyen added.

http://bauerticker.uh.edu/recognition/fall-semester-an-exciting-start-for-bauer-excellence-scholars/

Nontraditional Student, Jami Summey-Rice,

Posted on: October 9th, 2014

Jami Summey-Rice says being an older, nontraditional student has both advantages and disadvantages. Due to her large amount of personal and familial responsibilities outside of school, “I have to learn and work faster than everyone else,” she says. “I study and do homework in a fraction of the amount of time that my classmates do it. I probably average 5-6 hours of sleep a night.” At the same time, she feels more confident in her skin. “I know what I want, how I think and what I want to accomplish. I also realize that second chances are very hard to come by — so getting it right the first time is a priority.”

Summey-Rice worked in sales and sales management for ten years after high school. “When the economy crashed,” she recalls, “we lost everything. And that’s when we decided it was time for me to go to college.”

Now, between her sophomore and junior years in the University of Houston’s Chemical Engineering major program, Summey-Rice is studying in the Energy & Sustainability minor program as well. Energy and Sustainability minor faculty Dr. Joseph Pratt and Dr. Ognjen Miljanic are part of the reason she loves the program so much.

“They teach the introductory class together. They open your eyes to the fact that there are two sides to this one very important coin. They don’t take political sides, they just give you the facts and encourage you to continue to think and develop your own opinion. I can’t imagine one without the other at this point!” she says. Summey-Rice is close to these two professors because she is the Teaching Assistant for ENRG 3310, an Introduction to Energy and Sustainability, which is one of the capstone requirements for the minor.

Two things drew Summey-Rice to study this unique minor under Pratt and Miljanic. The first is, no matter what lens you view the universe through, energy is the most important thing. And sustainability is just a way of understanding how we should obtain and use the energy that is available. Secondly, she believes that education has become too polarized. “As a student, you become entrenched in either hard science or liberal arts, with very little overlap.” It takes both kinds of people and both sides of our brains to solve problems, though. “The Energy and Sustainability minor is the first program I’ve seen anywhere that appears to be striving to close that gap,” she says.

She is concerned with the label “green” to equal environmentally sound. “Being green is great—but not if you become so ‘green’ that you put everyone out of work. No one cares about the environment if they are starving. But economic growth to the point of destroying the natural world will not allow our species to survive.” She goes on to ask, “Where is the balance? And how do you develop a smart, safe and lasting balance without the proper education?” According to Summey-Rice, having an opinion is good. Having a plan that you can back up with science and business is better.

After graduation, Summey-Rice plans to use her education to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry. But she doesn’t want to rule out using her Energy & Sustainability minor to find a role where she could influence policy in the future. She believes that we all have something to contribute. “We need others — others who are willing to look at all the information with an unbiased attitude and who will solve our global energy, environmental and economic problems,” says Summey-Rice. Bright minds like hers are a requirement for solving today’s most pressing issues. “So far, the minor in Energy & Sustainability has solidified what I already kind of thought on my own — there is so much to learn!” she says enthusiastically.