The A.J. Rodriguez, Jr. Memorial Scholarship
The late A.J.
Rodriguez, Jr. was an alumnus of University of Texas School of Allied Health
Sciences. He received a Certificate of Proficiency as an Occupational
Therapy Assistant from the SAHS and an Associate Degree from Galveston College
in 1971. In 1978, he completed a B.S. Degree in Government Management,
with a concentration in The Law and The Citizen, at the University of Houston at
Clear Lake.
Adolph J. Rodriguez, Jr., "A.J." to
all who knew him, exemplified all that can be accomplished in a
community by a single energetic individual who has dedicated his life to
love and service. During his short but successful career, the City
of Galveston benefited greatly from his many endeavors. He was
president of the Galveston Heart Association, president of the Galveston
Noon Kiwanis Club, secretary of the Galveston Boys Club, and a member of
the Galveston Board of Directors of the United Way. He played a
major role in the establishment of the Emergency Medical Services program
in the City of Galveston, was the director of the CETA program in the
community, and was Federal Grants Coordinator for Galveston County. Mr.
Rodriguez was a moving force behind the summer recreation program for
disadvantaged youth, and he served on the External Advisory Council for
the School of Allied Health Sciences.
A.J. was the recipient of several awards
including the Kiwanian of the Year, the Boys Club Medallion, and the
Galveston Jaycees Distinguished Citizen Award. In addition to his
tireless community service, A.J. was a devoted father, husband, and
friend.
A.J. Rodriguez was a man of character and
spirit. His faith and belief in his fellow man, the optimism and
dedication with which he met life, and his tireless efforts on behalf of those
less fortunate than himself form the foundation of the memorials to his life.
Endowment currently stands at $37,895.94 with a $50,000 goal.
School of Allied Health Sciences Silver
Anniversary Scholarship Endowment
Funds
from this endowment are distributed at the discretion of the Dean to the
programs, for scholarship awards, to be decided by program faculty. On October
11, 2000, 17 scholarships were awarded in the amount of $10,500. Currently the
endowment stands at $377,472.71 with a goal of $1,000,000.
The Diane Lisa Sunshine Leonard Scholarship
The
D. Lisa Sunshine Leonard Scholarship was created in 1990 to honor the late
Dr. Lisa Leonard, Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs. Dr. Leonard was a
biochemist, a talented teacher and an able administrator. She first joined
the UTMB School of Allied health Sciences as a teaching consultant in 1975.
In 1976 she became a full time member of the faculty, developing and teaching
courses in Human Anatomy, Human Physiology and Neuroscience. Before
becoming Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs, in 1981, she headed the
Department of Humanities and Basic Sciences.
Dr. Leonard was an active member of the
American Society of Allied Health Professions and held many national and
regional offices and committee posts. Her research activities
included numerous papers and presentations in the areas of curriculum
development and evaluation, and gerontology. She was honored several
times by the School of Allied Health Sciences, receiving awards as
Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Administrator.
Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship
Available to all full-time
junior students who have participated in community and alumni events. All life
time memberships to the alumni association are deposited into the principal (or
corpus). Endowment currently stands at $47,229.65 with a
$100,000 goal.
Alpha Eta Society Scholarship
Funds
distributed from this endowment are used to provide scholarships to full-time
senior SAHS students receiving either baccalaureate or graduate degrees who are
members of the UTMB chapter of the Alpha Eta Society. The endowment currently
stands at $25,903.19 with a $50,000 goal.
The Dr. Eugene Kindley Memorial Scholarship
Eugene
(Gene) Kindley, Ph.D. was an educator who taught anatomy and neuroscience at
UTMB's School of Allied Health Sciences from September 1995 until his death in
February 1997.
In his short two-and-one-half years at the
School of Allied Health Sciences, Associate Professor Eugene Kindley won the
respect of administrators and faculty for as a colleague and later as director
of the Humanities and Basic Sciences Division. He communicated to students his
genuine concern for their development as scholars and as people, and they
responded to his interest. His untimely death was a great loss to our school and
to allied health education.
The SAHS established the Dr. Gene Kindley
Scholarship Endowment to honor Kindley's memory in perpetuity. Income from the
endowment is awarded to an eligible student in any of the school's programs
after completion of the basic science portion of the curriculum. Other criteria
which may be considered in awarding the scholarship are: overall grade point
average in basic science courses; leadership in student government and
professional organizations; community service, disadvantaged background,
financial need, and commitment to ethical, compassionate, team-oriented health
care. The endowment currently stands at $36,200.12 with a $50,000 goal.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences
Ruth Morris Scholarship
The
history of CLS at the School of Allied Health Sciences begins with Ruth Morris.
She joined UTMB in 1967, the year the UT Board of Regents approved creation of
the SAHS. She became founding chair of the Department of Medical Technology in
the new school in 1968 and served in that role for 19 years, guiding the
department and the school through its important formative period. Morris retired
in 1990 and is now professor emeritus. To honor Ruth Morris, the department has
established the Ruth Morris Scholarship. The fund currently stands at
approximately $12,431.85 with a $10,000 goal to endow the scholarship.
Competitive Scholarship in Clinical
Laboratory Sciences
To qualify
for exemption from paying out-of-state tuition rates a student must be awarded a
competitive scholarship in the amount of $1000 or more for the academic year, by
an official scholarship committee or committees of the public institution of
higher education they are attending. If nonresidents or foreign students
in competition with other students, including Texas residents, obtain these
competitive scholarships, the students may pay the same tuition as a resident of
Texas during the registration period in which the competitive scholarship is in
effect. A competitive scholarship that qualifies the holder for waiver of the
difference between the tuition charged to resident and nonresident students
shall be awarded for the purpose of encouraging excellence in the academic
program in which the student is enrolled. An institution shall not waive
nonresident tuition on the basis of competitive scholarships for more than five
percent of its total enrollment in the corresponding previous academic year.
Department of Occupational Therapy
The Robert K. Bing Scholars Program
In 1966, Robert K.
Bing agreed to reorganize the Department of Occupational Therapy in the
hospitals of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Here he
established the first school of allied health in the Southwest. In 1968,he was
named dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences, the first occupational
therapist to receive such an appointment.
Dr.
Bing has contributed to education, research, administration, recruitment, and
public relations for occupational therapy. In 1981, the AOTA awarded him its
highest honor, the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship. While holder of the
lectureship, Dr. Bing wrote "Occupational Therapy Revisited," a
thorough, thoughtful, and inspiring history of occupational therapy, from its
philosophical origins in seventeenth-century England forward.
As professor emeritus, Dr. Bing maintains
active involvement with the School of Allied Health Sciences, where he is a
frequent lecturer for the Department of Occupational Therapy and a mentor to
faculty members and students alike.
Medical professionals today recognize, more
than ever before, the "inextricability of mind and body" of which Dr.
Bing speaks (quoted on
front cover). And they acknowledge the critical importance of occupational
therapy in restoring function and improving quality of life for people with
physical and emotional disabilities. In this emerging health care environment,
occupational therapists have the opportunity to create new collaborative roles
and add to the rich history of the profession. The opportunity demands
imagination and commitment, and the Robert K. Bing Scholars Program is designed
to foster development of just such professional attitudes.
Robert K. Bing Occupational
Therapy Scholars will be students who demonstrate scholarship and potential for
leadership in the profession. The dollar amount of the award will be sufficient
to cover the cost of tuition, books, and laboratory fees. The prestigious award will encourage
students to perform at their best. It will recognize and reward those who take
seriously the profession's challenge to make contributions that extend beyond
satisfaction of requirements.
Income from the Robert K. Bing Occupational
Therapy Scholars Program endowment will:
-
pay tribute to a nationally acclaimed
occupational therapist and educator, founder, and first dean of the School
of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston.
-
promote and reward scholarship in
occupational therapy among students who demonstrate potential for
leader-ship in the field.
-
attract, by virtue of the award's prestige
and substance, dedicated students who will strengthen the occupational
therapy program and the School of Allied Health Sciences.
-
encourage students to emulate Dr. Bing's
high standards of scholarship, integrity, competence, and compassion.
The endowment currently stands at $107,282.35 with a
goal of $100,000.
The Texas Society, Daughters of the American
Revolution Endowed Occupational Therapy Scholarship
This
endowed scholarship was established in 1992 by the Texas Society, DAR. It
is awarded, annually, to an outstanding occupational therapy student.
Applicants must submit a letter of application and an original essay on
the value of occupational therapy in the treatment of chronic illness. The
endowment currently stands at $48,872.51 with a goal of $50,000.
Competitive Scholarship in Occupational
Therapy
To qualify for
exemption from paying out-of-state tuition rates a student must be awarded a
competitive scholarship in the amount of $1000 or more for the academic year, by
an official scholarship committee or committees of the public institution of
higher education they are attending. If nonresidents or foreign students
in competition with other students, including Texas residents, obtain these
competitive scholarships, the students may pay the same tuition as a resident of
Texas during the registration period in which the competitive scholarship is in
effect. A competitive scholarship that qualifies the holder for waiver of the
difference between the tuition charged to resident and nonresident students
shall be awarded for the purpose of encouraging excellence in the academic
program in which the student is enrolled. An institution shall not waive
nonresident tuition on the basis of competitive scholarships for more than five
percent of its total enrollment in the corresponding previous academic year.
Department of Physical Therapy
The Linda Lange Williams Memorial Scholarship
This award is given to a MPT
student in their final year of education in the Department of Physical Therapy
who has demonstrated academic excellence by maintaining a Grade Point Average of
not less than 3.3 during professional studies; who had demonstrated
potential for clinical excellence in the laboratory and clinic; and who has been
certified by the Office of Financial Aid as in need of monetary assistance in
order to complete his or her education.
Linda
Lange Williams was born January 15, 1950 in Beaumont, Texas. She attended
public schools in Vidor, Texas and later attended Lamar University. She
was accepted into the Physical Therapy Program at the School of Allied Health
Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch in 1970 and graduated in 1971.
Linda's education was funded by
scholarships such as the Neil Armstrong Easter Seal Scholarship, and she never
forgot the financial help provided by others that enabled her to reach her goal
of becoming a physical therapist.
Following graduation, Linda
accepted a position as staff therapist at Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas
in Beaumont. She was later promoted to the position of Assistant Director
and was Acting Director of Physical Therapy at the time of her death.
Linda died on April 19, 1986 at
the age of thirty-six in a tragic fire that also claimed the lives of her
husband, Bruce, and her son, Michael.
The Sabine District of the Texas
Physical Therapy Association aided by donation from family and friends,
established the Linda Lange Williams Memorial Scholarship in 1987 to honor and
perpetuate her memory by aiding a student with financial needs to complete their
education even as Linda herself was aided.
The Ruby Decker Professorship
A
pioneer in physical therapy, Ms. Decker served as a reconstruction aide in World
War I. Reconstruction aides were early rehabilitation personnel who are regarded
as contributing to the founding of occupational and physical therapy in the
United States. She received a teaching degree in physical education at
Battle Creek College in Michigan and "on-the-job" training with the
army as a reconstruction aide. Ms. Decker practiced physical therapy in
many locations in the U.S. before becoming the director of physical therapy
services at the UTMB Hospitals and director of the UTMB Physical Therapy program
in 1945. Her appointment to chair of the PT department was almost denied
by the AMA because she did not have a degree in PT. One of the MDs for
whom she worked was on the accreditation board at the AMA and pushed through her
initial appointment at UTMB in 1945. Later in her tenure as department
chair she decided to get a degree from her own school and graduated with highest
honors from UTMB Physical Therapy Program along with the eight students in her
1961 class.
Although she retired from UTMB in 1963, she
continued her involvement in the physical therapy profession, assuming positions
at the American Physical Therapy Association headquarters in Washington DC and
as a visiting professor at Duke University. In 1967 she accepted a one
year appointment to start a school of physiotherapy in West Pakistan.
After the founding of the UTMB School of Allied Health Sciences in 1968, Ms.
Decker provided consultation and occasional teaching as a part-time faculty
member, and served as an active member of the alumni association.
During
her distinguished career, Ms. Decker received numerous awards and recognition,
including the prestigious McMillan lectureship from the American Physical
Therapy Association. She held many positions in the Texas Physical Therapy
Association, and an anonymous donor created an award in her name. The Ruby
Decker award is considered the highest award offered by the Texas Physical
Therapy Association.
This endowment was created to honor Ruby Decker and her outstanding lifetime
contributions to physical therapy, physical therapists and humanity. Funds from
this endowed position will be used to support in whole or in part, a full time
academic Professorship in the UTMB-SAHS Department of Physical Therapy.
Selection of an occupant shall include criteria of teaching, patient care and
research skills. The endowment currently stands at $154,320.84 in hopes to raise
enough money to lend Decker's name to a distinguished professorship, requiring
the endowment of $250,000.
Ruby Decker Endowed Scholarship in Physical Therapy
This
endowment was created to honor Ruby Decker and her outstanding lifetime
contributions to physical therapy, physical therapists and humanity. Funds from
this scholarship endowment are to sustain an annual academic scholarship for
students enrolled in the graduate program of the Department of Physical Therapy.
The endowment currently stands at $42,695.78 with a goal of $100,000.
Schapper Endowment for the Study of Spine
"Dr.
Allensworth came to love problem-based, small-group learning," says Dr.
Rahr. "It is a Socratic kind of learning. He would make students do a
physical exam, to see that they knew how to do it. Then, they would sit down in
a small group and talk about the patient's problem until they got to
resolution."
