AUSTIN, Texas—The “Address on the State of the University” by University of Texas at Austin President Larry R. Faulkner at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 6 will include a report of initiatives of his administration and a response to recent recommendations by the Commission of 125 articulating its vision of the university for the next 25 years.
Faulkner’s speech, his seventh since he became president in 1998, will be in Jessen Auditorium, Homer P. Rainey Hall, near the Littlefield Fountain. The program is free and open to the public.
The speech is part of The University at 121: An Anniversary Observance, commemorating the university’s 121st birthday. The University of Texas at Austin opened on Sept. 15, 1883.
The ceremony will include the presentation of several awards, including the Presidential Citation, the Civitatis Award, the Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award and the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Awards. New members of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers also will be formally recognized.
The anniversary program will be broadcast live on the Web and on Campus Cable Channel 33 of the campus broadband cable system.
The university’s Tower will be illuminated in orange-and-white light Wednesday night honoring the award recipients.
The Presidential Citation was created in 1979 to recognize the extraordinary contributions of individuals who personify the university’s commitment to the task of transforming lives. These citations salute those whose service exemplifies the values shared by The University of Texas at Austin community. In honor of each recipient, a Presidential Citation Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to a student. Presidential Citation recipients for 2004 are Red McCombs, chief executive officer of McCombs Enterprises in San Antonio; Mike A. Myers, chairman of the board and owner of Myers Financial Corporation, Myers Bancshares, Inc., and Myers Development Corporation, a residential community developer in Dallas; and Dr. J. Tinsley Oden, associate vice president for research and director of the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.
The Civitatis Award recipient this year is Dr. Reuben R. McDaniel, the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Chair in Health Care Management in the Department of Management Science and Information Systems. The award is presented to a faculty member who has shown exemplary campus citizenship throughout a career of service at the university.
The Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award recognizes a senior faculty member for a distinguished career in teaching at the undergraduate level. It is given to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication to teaching excellence. This year’s recipient is Dr. Charles Ramírez Berg, a distinguished teaching professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film.
The President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award recognizes excellence in undergraduate teaching. This year’s recipients are: Professor C. Joshua Holahan, Department of Psychology; Associate Professor Arturo De Lozanne, Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology; Assistant Professor Mark A. Lawrence, Department of History; and Associate Professor Marjorie C. Woods, Department of English. This award was established in 1980 to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching. Awards are based on nominations received from deans and department chairs in the colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences.
New members of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers include: Toyin Falola, the Frances Higginbothom Nalle Centennial Professor in History, Department of History; Jerry Junkin, the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Centennial Professor in Music, director of bands and head of the Division of Conducting and Ensembles, School of Music; Brian P. Levack, the John E. Green Regents Professor in History, Department of History; Associate Professor Elizabeth M. Richmond-Garza, Department of English and director of the Program in Comparative Literature; Lawrence W. Speck, the W. L. Moody Jr. Centennial Professor in Architecture, School of Architecture; and Professor Mary A. Steinhardt, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education.
For more information contact: Don Hale, 512-475-6869.