UT San Antonio announced this year’s University Excellence Awards recipients during a live event on Tuesday attended by staff semi-finalists, faculty nominees and their peers. This annual program celebrates the achievements of academic campus faculty and staff, ranging from exceptional teaching and innovative research to exemplary team spirit and impactful community engagement.
Judges selected this year’s winners from a large group of outstanding individual and team nominees, all of whom are advancing the university and making UT San Antonio a great place to learn, work and grow.
Faculty award recipients
Advancing Globalization Award
- Raymond Choo, PhD (College of AI, Cyber and Computing)
Community Engagement Award
- Juan Manuel Niño, PhD (College of Education and Human Development) – Tenured/Tenure Track category
- Purnima Chawla, PhD (College of Business) – Fixed-Term Track category
Core Curriculum Teaching Award
- Robert J. Hard, PhD (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) – Tenured/Tenure Track category
- Reza Aghayan, PhD (College of Sciences) – Fixed-Term Track category
Faculty Mentoring Award
- Nicole Cherry, DMA (College of Liberal & Fine Arts) – Tenured/Tenure Track category
- Katheryne Harrell (University College) – Fixed-Term Track category
Innovation & Impact Award (I2) Award
Team: Innovation in Emergency Airway Management
- Connor J. Evans, PhD (Long School of Medicine)
- Rakib Hasan (College of Engineering and Integrated Design)
- Lyle Hood, PhD (College of Engineering and Integrated Design)
- Robert De Lorenzo, MD, MSCI, MSM, FACEP (Long School of Medicine)
- Jacob Provencio (College of Engineering and Integrated Design)
Performance, Creative Production or Creative Work Award
- Rachel Woolf, DMA (College of Liberal and Fine Arts)
Research Achievement Award
- Ruyan Guo, PhD (College of Engineering and Integrated Design) – Tenured category
- Janakiram Seshu, PhD (College of Sciences) – Tenured category
- Alexey A. Soshnev, PhD (College of Sciences) – Tenure Track category
- Mimi Xie, PhD (College of AI, Cyber and Computing) – Tenure Track category
- Sharon Wilcox, PhD (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) – Fixed-Term Track category
Richard S. Howe Faculty Excellence in Service to Undergraduate Students Award
- Amanda Fernandez, PhD (College of AI, Cyber and Computing)
Richard S. Howe Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
- Mariah Hopkins, PhD (College of Sciences)
Teaching Excellence Award
- Jennifer Beavers, PhD (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) – Tenured category
- Lacy J. Barton, PhD (College of Sciences) – Tenure Track category
- Thomas Ervin (College of AI, Cyber and Computing) – Fixed-Term Track category
University Service Award
- Ron Ellis (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) – Tenured/Tenure Track category
- Mary Dixson, PhD (College of Liberal and Fine Arts) – Fixed-Term Track category
Staff award recipients
Collaboration Champion Award
- Jenny Gonzalez (Marketing, Communications and Media)
- Bryan Tobias (Academic Affairs)
Excellence in Customer Care Award
- Shaun Davis (Operations and Administration)
- Jean-Luk Rueda (Academic Affairs)
Extra Mile Award
- Agustin Llano (Academic Affairs)
Innovation Trailblazer Award
- Hanin Alhaddad, PhD (Academic Affairs)
Leadership Award
- Alegra Lozano (Academic Affairs)
Richard S. Howe Staff Excellence in Service to Undergraduate Students Award
- Kimberly Perez (Academic Affairs)
Rising Star Award
- Vanity Davis (Operations and Administration)
Team Spirit Award
Team: Development and Opening of the New Institute of Texan Cultures
- Bianca Alvarez
- James Benavides
- Esteban Cantu
- Robert Gonzales
- Michelle Hamilton
- Kandice Howard-Fambro
- Nansy Lopez Gutierrez
- Monica Perales, PhD
- Danielle Ramos
- Marcela Summerville
- Marcus Tapia
- Cristina Winston
Order of the Roadrunner Award
- Minako Shibazaki (Academic Affairs)
Years of Service honorees
In addition to celebrating the award recipients, UT San Antonio also recognized UT System’s Years of Service milestones for faculty and staff. The full list of employees celebrating milestones can be viewed in the event program.
Among this group, Robert Renthal, PhD, professor of neuroscience, developmental and regenerative biology in the College of Sciences, received a standing ovation for an incredible 50 years to the UT San Antonio community.
Additionally, Janis Bush, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, Health and the Environment in the College of Sciences, and Michael Miller, PhD, associate professor of sociology and demography in the College of Health, Community and Policy, celebrated 45 years of service with the university.
The University Excellence Awards Steering Committee oversees and manages the annual University Excellence Awards program. The Academic Affairs Faculty Success Team coordinates the awards nomination and selection process for faculty members while divisional review committees and final review committees compromised of Staff Senators and division representatives advance the nomination and selection process for staff awards.
