Distinguished Alumni

The 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards took place on November 8, 2019.
Shahrzad Amirani

Shahrzad Amirani ’89 BA, ’93 PHD

Shahrzad Amirani is vice president, head of new products and innovation, at Ipsen Biopharma. She is passionate about improving patients’ lives by implementing customer-centric approaches to new product development and bringing life-saving medicines to market. She has held positions in both pharmaceutical and biotech companies, working on commercial development, life cycle management and integrated care. Amirani established the Shahrzad Amirani Endowed Scholarship at UTA and has contributed to over 2,000 microloans for women starting small businesses. A member of the UTA President’s Advisory Board since 2009, she holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a PhD in business administration.

Jacob Monty

Jacob Monty ’91 BA

For more than two decades, attorney Jacob M. Monty has successfully practiced at the intersection of immigration, labor and employment laws. He is the founder and managing partner of Houston-based law firm Monty & Ramirez LLP and is a nationally recognized authority on issues facing employers with large Hispanic workforces. He has held gubernatorial appointments to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, University of Houston Board of Regents and Texas Private Security Board and currently serves as outside counsel for the Mexican Consulate in Houston and as chair of the Center for Latino Jewish Relations. A member of the UTA President’s Advisory Board, Monty earned a bachelor’s degree in history from UTA and a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

Wendy Okolo

Wendy Okolo ’10 BS, ’15 PHD

Wendy A. Okolo is an aerospace engineering researcher in the Intelligent Systems Division at NASA Ames Research Center. She focuses on systems health monitoring and control systems design with applications to air and space components, vehicles, and systems. Her research experiences include working at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where she examined aircraft formation flight for fuel savings. Okolo earned a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering and, at age 26, became the first black woman to earn a PhD in aerospace engineering from UTA. Her numerous honors include the 2019 NASA Ames Early Career Researcher Award; the 2019 Women in Aerospace Award for Initiative, Inspiration and Impact; and the 2019 Black Engineer of the Year Award for Most Promising Engineer in U.S. Government.

Michael Ray

Michael Ray ’76 BS, ’78 MA, ’81 PHD

Michael B. Ray is a longtime advocate for UTA and chair of the College of Science's Advisory Council. Dr. Ray is retired but most recently was ExxonMobil’s Distinguished Science Advisor. During his career, he held positions as laboratory director at ExxonMobil’s Corporate Strategic Research and division manager of technical software development, among other technical positions. He was named a Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Fellow in 2009 for his contributions to geophysical computation. In 2008 he and his wife, Wanda, established the Michael B. and Wanda G. Ray Scholarship for Graduate Studies at UTA. Ray received three degrees from the University: a bachelor’s and master’s in mathematics and a PhD in mathematical sciences.

Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

1965

Lee Smith

1966

Sol Haberman
R. Bud Parker
W. T. Vandergriff

1967

Gerald M. Monroe
C. B. Smith Sr.
Fred Weeks

1968

Carlisle S. Cravens
Richard G. Dulaney
Jack S. Gray

1969

Herman Brautigam
Kenneth O. Emery
Morgan Woodward

1970

Charles Braswell
James P. Dunigan
H.A.D. Dunsworth
Eugene L. Strickland
Francis C. Turner

1971

Cothburn M. O'Neal
H. Earl Singleton
Kathryn W. Willis

1972

Ray Price
T.L. Shields
W. B. Swift

1973

Edwin L. Hamilton
Nathan Jones
Willard Latham

1974

Ray N. Biggers
Wayne E. Glenn
James K. Peden

1975

Richard E. Cavazos
H. J. Haynes
Jack H. Mahan
Paul E. Yarbrough Jr.

1976

Persis A. Forster
Darrell K. Glenn
Bill Jack Lancaster
Stanley M. Woodward

1977

Charles F. Dodge
Byron W. Stuckey

1978

Patrick E. Higginbotham

1979

James A. Cribbs

1980

Phil Burleson
Harriet F. Slaughter

1981

Alex M.G. Burton

1982

James A. Hayes
James E. Wright

1984

Bob McFarland

1985

David R. Newell
Anna Waynette Vandergriff

1986

David R. Braden

1987

Robert L. Stewart

1988

Donna L. Bertram
Glenn Gaustad

1989

J. Jan Collmer
Ronald L. Parrish

1990

S. Gus & Louise Alexander
Lorianne V. Palmer

1991

John David Patterson

1992

Kathleen Bell Cooper
Linda B. Thomas

1993

Naomi W. Lede
Safi U. Qureshey

1994

H. Ralph Hawkins
Jesse D. Oliver
Gloria Van Zandt

1995

Rebecca L. Boles
C. Roland Haden
R.A. Bobby Lane
Szu-Min Lin
Leonard C. Long
Margaret L. Martin
Cecil E. Roberts
Tom Scott
Steve Tipps
Ann Jobe Wynia

1996

Levi H. Davis
Linda Parker Denson
Harry W. Greene
Judy Early Kline
Kenneth W. Lowrance
Lionel B. Morrison
Nickey Naumovich Sr.
Lou Diamond Phillips
Bill Reeves
T. Anthony Reid
Nita F. Scheble Cox
Stephen William Spies

1997

Timothy E. De Noble
Michael M. Faenza
Nancy Grant
Jerry Bob Houston
David A. Jackson
Roger C. Lowe
Jim R. McClellan
Jim Oliphant
Ellen Larsen Palmer
Diane P. Patrick
Robert W. Proctor

1998

Elie S. Akilian
Maurice L. Barksdale
E. Dan Dahlberg
Maurine P. Dickey
Darell W. Fields
Phillip J. Ford
John L. Goolsby
Everette E. Gray
Curtis E. Hawk
Danny Ray Jackson
Sam Simonian
Kathleen Kay Willis

1999

Howard F. Ahmanson
Mark A. Dvorak
Robert H. James
Lee F. Krystinik
Dick Moeller
Franklin D. Moss
Freda J. Murray
Clifton L. Odom
Lee Thurburn
Larry Dan Watson
Valin R. Woodward

2000

R. Dean Astumian
Arlene Byrd-Shorter
George C. Campbell
H. Lea Barbato Gaydos
Randall C. Gideon
Frank W. Hill
Robert B. Howard
Rex H. Latham
Walter G. Sonneborn
Jerry W. Thomas
Robert K. Utley III

2001

T. Keith Alcorn
F. Thaddeus Arroyo
Walter H. Baxter
Sandra L. Bruce
M. Heloiza Novaes-Carman
David R. Gattis
Gary L. Henson
James Royce Lummus Jr.
Colleen W. McCall
John F. McMichael
Robert L. Meckfessel

2002

Kevin G. Abelbeck
Robert T. Babbitt
Randolph Blake
Thomas Chapmond
Hoang Van Dang
Robert C. Davis
Robert G. Davis
James F. Hollingsworth
James C. Hyden
Sharon Petrea Neece
Remy Cabatu Tolentino
James R. Wilson

2003

Graciela Berlanga-Cortez
Cynthia G. Franklin
Brian E. Happel
Susan McAvoy
Juli A. Mayfield
Carla D. McKelvey
Sharon K. Odum
Barry S. Payne
George F. Pickett
R. Zack Prince
Mary Clark Robinson
Clyde E. Womack

2004

Laura Valencia Alvarado
Steven A. Chapman
Brian E. Chase
Pamela R. Dunlop-Gates
Jacqualyn A. Fouse
Katherine K. Gilson
Mike Greene
Brenda J. Marshall
Madeline E. McClure
Jesse W. Rogers
John M. Suggs
Elmus S. Ussery

2005

Rayla J. Allison
William J. Commer
Jack E. Franke
David M. Kunkle
George C. McDowell
Lenore McMackin
Robin W. Newman
Walter H. Nguyen
Ross G. Querry
Maxwell C. Scarlett
Gary K. Trietsch
Roy L. Williams

2006

Corrine M. Anderson
Theron L. Bowman
Rosalie S. Budnoff
Mojy Haddad
Dwight P. Lawson
Melody D. Phillips
Susan M. Ponce
Lawrence W. Stephens
Joel H. Ward
David L. Webster
Timothy A. Westmoreland

2007

Michael R. Baylor
Lillie M. Biggins
Charles C. Cannon
Lu Pham
Phil Porter
Dan G. Sefko
Terry D. Steelman
Wesley A. Wampler
Kelcy L. Warren

2008

Azroei Ahmad
Molly Harvey Bogen
Shirley A. Burchfield
Anita J. Foster
Trey Hillman
Ron Jensen
Mohd Zamberi Kusa
Virginia A. Lynch
Jeffrey O. Smith

2009

Somsonge Burusphat
Wayne K. Carson
Rudy M. Garcia
Allan N. Garonzik
Thomas E. Harvey Jr.
Rodney W. Hicks
James E. Nelson
Vicky C. Teherani
Linda S. Watson

2010

Greg L. Barron
Clifford A. Hahne
Robert W. Irish Jr.
Jean C. McSweeney
Ignacio T. Nunez
Thomas E. Rourke

2011

Jane P. Avila
Lon M. Burnam
Harry M. Dombroski
Al Ellis
Keith D. Weiss

2012

Shirlee J. Gandy
Charles H. Goodman
David L. Hunn
Curtis R. Kayem
Wayne Watts

2013

Herbert A. Beckwith
Arunkumar Bhikshesvaran
Keith L. Crandell
JoAnn A. Lee
Jeffrey A. Leuschel
Betsy C. Price
Barbara White Bryson

2014

Baron V. Concors
Serena S. Connelly
James A. Greer
Frederick P. Perpall
Bruce L. Tanner
Vicki L. Tanner

 

2015

Sohrab D. Charna
Tamara Hext Hilliard
Raj Malik
Alan E. Petsche
Bonnie K. Petsche

 

2016

C. Keith Cargill
Daniel P. Hughes
Liz Johnson
B. Glen Whitley

2017

Roger A. Krone
Raj K. Nooyi
Mike Rhyner
Teresa White

2018

Mike Dolabi
Kevin Le
Maria Mejia

2019

Shahrzad Amirani
Jacob M. Monty
Michael B. Ray

 

Distinguished Alumni Service Award Recipients

1983

Melba Hammack
Thurman M. Jasper

1989

Mary Ann Thummel

1990

William L. Hughes Jr.

1991

C. Marvin Applewhite
Frankie M. Stewart Hansell

1994

David L. Browning
Mary V. Fulbright
Marcella Bonte Wilemon

1995

Daniel J. Kauth

1997

Lloyd C. Clark
Franklin D. Moss

1998

Thomas M. McMahon

1999

Jim W. Garrett
Ida V. Hall

2001

Royce B. West

2002

Tommy R. Franks

2003

Karen D. Borta

2004

Dan Bida

2006

Mary Ann Van Siclen

2008

Gloria Gatlin Bender

2010

James C. Ditto

2012

E. Dale Martin

Distinguished International Alumni Award Recipients

2010

Nasser Ahmed Lozi

2011

Mustaque Ahmed

2012

Pan (Baker) Jiang

Honorary Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

1970

Don Kennard
Tom J. Vandergriff

1972

C D. Richards
Duncan Robinson

1973

C.R. Gilstrap

1974

Edgar H. Keltner

1975

Martha W. & William L. Hughes

1976

B.C. Barnes

1977

Jack R. Woolf

1979

Mo-Shing Chen

1980

Jenkins Garrett

1981

Ray Wilkin

1982

Joseph J. Rady

1984

Wendell H. Nedderman

1985

Kenneth B. Newell

1986

Allan A. Saxe

1987

E. D. Scarth

1988

Glenn Wilkins

1990

Bob Bolen

1992

Betty A. Nedderman

1993

Raymond R. Andrae

1995

Dan C. Burkholder

1996

John D. Boon Jr.

1997

Dorothy L. Estes

1998

John H. McElroy

1999

Chris Harris

2001

Tom Cravens

2003

Chris Carroll

2004

Toby R. Goodman

2005

H. Jack Davis

2009

John P. Lanigan Jr.

2011

Karin E. McCallum

2012

James D. Spaniolo

2015

Arnold E. Petsche

2017

Frank Alexander
Jane Alexander

2018

Follett Higher Education Group

Distinguished Recent Graduate

2016

Jocelyn Zee

2017

Nafees Alam

2018

Matthew Foster

2019

Wendy A. Okolo

Distinguished Community Service

2019

The Honorable Kelly Hancock
The Honorable Chris Turner
The Honorable W. Jeff Williams