TAMUK Professor Named Fellow Twice in 2020
Vebleo recognizes veritable leadership in engineering organizations and is a leading global scientific organization working to encourage researchers and scientists.
Press Release
Dr. Jingbo Louise Liu, chemistry professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Dr. Jingbo Louise Liu, chemistry professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, recently was selected as a Fellow of her second and third professional societies.
In October, both Vebleo and the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) elected her a Fellow of their respective organizations. Vebleo recognizes veritable leadership in engineering organizations and is a leading global scientific organization working to encourage researchers and scientists. IAAM is the world’s largest material science association whose core mission is the advancement of materials to global excellence.
In 2018, Liu was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the oldest English Language society in the world whose charter recognizes the general advancement of chemical science.
“These three organizations have one thing in common,” Liu said. “They offer a think tank and data repository for global research and education forum to induce development in the fields of chemical science, advanced materials, chemical engineering and technology to find solutions to the pressing issues of the world. Working forward with this aim, the organizations solicit goals. It is a singular honor to be invited and elected to Fellow status.
“Further, it is a humbling experience and a recognition that high caliber research and leadership in chemical and material science can be accomplished by faculty at Texas A&M-Kingsville. I take great pleasure in my students and collaborators who have assisted me in being able to make contributions to the advancement of materials science and engineering.”
For Liu, serving as a Fellow comes with great responsibility to continue to seek knowledge and empower students.
“It is often thought that faculty in non-Ph.D. granting programs do not have the rigor to compete or conduct leading-edge research,” she said. “These awards are an affirmation that the impossible is achievable within our department, college and university. It also is an example to young women that they too can compete and conduct serious science and once they reach a threshold continuum, they also will be recipients of quantum of success. They too can push this society towards a sustainable future in the energy-food-water nexus and beyond.”
Javelina Opportunity Award
Texas A&M University-Kingsville has launched the Javelina Opportunity Award, which will cover tuition and fees for a year for new, eligible first-year and transfer students.
Press Release
Texas A&M University-Kingsville has launched the Javelina Opportunity Award, which will cover tuition and fees for a year for new, eligible first-year and transfer students.
“For nearly 100 years this institution has changed the lives of our students and their families through educational opportunity,” said Dr. Mark A. Hussey, president of Texas A&M-Kingsville. “We are thrilled to be able to offer this award to students as they begin their journey to complete a college degree. Texas A&M-Kingsville is committed to removing barriers to education. The Javelina Opportunity Award extends our legacy of educational excellence at an outstanding value.”
Beginning in Spring 2021, new students will be eligible for the award program if they meet the following criteria:
Are a Texas resident
Are enrolling for the first time at Texas A&M-Kingsville as an undergraduate first-time-in-college or transfer student
Have an annual household income less than $65,000
Have a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file
Register for at least 15 semester credit hours
Recipients of the Javelina Opportunity Award may be eligible to receive the award for two long semesters (spring/fall) if they maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.
The award program leverages financial support including federal and state aid along with University scholarships and the Texas A&M University Regents Scholarships. New students who submit a FAFSA will be automatically considered for the program.
Texas A&M-Kingsville Will Waive Application Fee for Veterans
Officials with the Office of Veterans Affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville have announced that they will begin waiving the Application Fee for all veterans beginning in the spring semester.
Press Release
Officials with the Office of Veterans Affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville have announced that they will begin waiving the Application Fee for all veterans beginning in the spring semester.
“This will allow our student veterans a worry-free and quicker application process,” said Eloy Gamez, director of the Office of Veterans Affairs. “The transition from military to civilian is one filled with many obstacles. Veterans who are discharging look forward to starting their journey in education and the utilization of their benefits help them reach their goals.
“By us waiving these fees, we are removing one of the first hurdles a veteran can face when starting their education career. It also is a great way to show support to our veterans and service members,” Gamez said.
The process is a partnership with the Office of Admissions, Gamez said. “There is a digital Applicant ID form which now includes a Military/Veteran Applicant type. Our students will select that option along with their Applicant level and attach a qualifying service form (DD214, Orders, Transcript) for our review and verification.”
Currently, the application fee is $25 for undergraduates and $35 for graduate students.
Annual Economic Forum Will be Virtual Event
This year’s keynote speaker is Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar. He will talk about Navigating the Road to Recovery: An Overview of the Fiscal Health of the State and Challenges for Texas in the Upcoming 87th Legislative Session.
Press Release
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar
Kingsville - The College of Business Administration (CBA) at Texas A&M University-Kingsville will host its annual Economic Forum, but this year’s will be virtual. The 10th annual Economic Forum will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
This year’s keynote speaker is Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar. He will talk about Navigating the Road to Recovery: An Overview of the Fiscal Health of the State and Challenges for Texas in the Upcoming 87th Legislative Session.
This year’s forum will feature a study of three South Texas counties that have similar COVID-19 case levels. Dr. Thomas Krueger, J.R. Manning Endowed Professor of Innovation in Business Education and chair of the department of accounting and finance from the College of Business Administration, will present his research entitled Economic Conditions in Kleberg County, Fayette County and Medina County: Three South Texas Counties with Similar COVID-19 Case Levels.
To register for the economic forum, go to http://www.tamuk.edu/business/researchoutreach/economic-forum.html and click on the Register Now button. Follow the directions as if ordering tickets. Follow through until the end. Then on the day before the forum, Monday, Nov. 2, all those registered will get an email with their own individualized link to the Zoom meeting.
About Glenn Hegar
Glenn Hegar was elected the 36th Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in November 2014.
As Texas’ Chief Financial Officer (CFO), he is the state’s treasurer, check writer, tax collector, procurement officer and revenue estimator.
Soon after taking office, he reorganized the agency for quicker and more effective decision-making and reduced its administrative footprint by working with the Legislature to eliminate inefficient programs and transfer others that didn’t fit core missions.
As CFO of the world’s ninth-largest economy, Hegar monitors Texas’ financial health to ensure it maintains strong fund balances.
Hegar is a graduate of Texas A&M University and St. Mary’s University where he earned a master of arts and his law degree. He earned a master of laws from University of Arkansas.
About Dr. Thomas Krueger
Dr. Thomas Krueger is the J.R. Manning Endowed Professor of Innovation in Business Education at Texas A&M-Kingsville. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a master’s degree in business administration from Minnesota State University and a doctorate in business administration in finance from the University of Kentucky.
Before joining Texas A&M-Kingsville, he taught finance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. While at UW-La Crosse, he was chair of the Finance Department and internship coordinator of the East Central European Scholarship Program.
Since joining Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2011, Krueger has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. Some of the classes taught over the past year are business finance, personal financial planning, capital budgeting, financial ranch management and global finance.
Krueger has authored over 90 refereed journal articles and been cited 1,254 times in other articles. His H-statistics of 13, means that at least 13 authored articles have been cited 13 or more times. Perhaps his most widely-read article, titled “Super Bowl Stock Market Predictor,” was published in the top-tier Journal of Finance.
Other research has resulted in winning six Best in Track Awards and one Distinguished Research Award at national finance meetings. He was chosen for the 2015 Teaching Excellence Award, an acknowledgement as the best instructor in the finance discipline, by the Academy of Finance, an international association of Finance Professionals. From 2014 through 2019, Krueger was the recipient of the College of Business Administration’s Distinguished Research of the Year awards.
He was the 2017 President of the Academy of Finance, 2017-present chair of the accounting and finance department at Texas A&M-Kingsville, and member of the Graduate Education Advisory Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board from 2016-2019, where he has played a role providing inflation–adjusted information regarding student loan debt and graduate education costs in Texas.
Missing TAMUK Math Professor
Texas A&M University Math Professor Dr. Hueytzen Wu has been missing since October 1. If you or someone you know has any information about Dr. Wu, please contact Kingsville Police Department at 361-592-4311.
Press Release
Updated 10/7/2020, 5:57 p.m.
Kingsville Police Department has reported that the body Dr. Wu, has been located at Boca Chica Beach, near Brownsville, TX .
Updated 10/7/2020, 3:34 p.m.
Hueytzen James Wu 74YOA, has been reported missing by family members after his wife, who had been out of town, attempted to contact him last week. Neighbors report having seen him the afternoon of Thursday October 1st, 2020 at approximately 4:45pm.
Dr. Wu was seen in the area of Benavides and Hebbronville at local convenience stores later that evening. Witnesses have indicated that Dr. Wu appeared dazed and confused and did not appear to know where he was or where he was going. Dr. Wu is a diabetic and does not have his medication with him. The symptoms described above are consistent with an individual that has not received appropriate medication. Dr. Wu is described as an Asian Male 5’7”, 140lbs. Dr. Wu a professor of mathematics, did not report to work at a local university on Friday, October 2nd, 2020 or on Monday, October 5th, 2020.
A large sum of cash was withdrawn from the account of Dr. Wu since the time he has been reported missing. Dr. Wu was last driving a 2015 Nissan Odyssey White in color. That vehicle has been located at the Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas. This is an area near the SpaceX facility.
If you have information regarding Dr. Wu please contact the Kingsville Police Department at PH# (361) 592-4311 or contact CrimeStoppers at (361) 592-INFO (4636) or email: p3tips.com. If you know the whereabouts of Dr. Wu, you may be eligible for a cash reward.
Original post at 2:11 p.m.
Texas A&M University Math Professor Dr. Hueytzen Wu has been missing since October 1. Last seen in Kingsville on Hall Ave.
Drives a white Nissan Quest. License plate FHP8804.
If you or someone you know has any information about Dr. Wu, please contact Kingsville Police Department at (361) 592-4311.
$3 million for Student Support Services at Texas A&M University Kingsville
The program will aid 360 first-generation, Pell Grant-eligible, undergraduate students.
Press Release
The Office of Student Access at Texas A&M University-Kingsville has received just over $3 million in U.S. Department of Education grant money for the Student Support Services (SSS) programs. The SSS program received more than $1.7 million while the SSS STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program received over $1.3 million, each divided into payments over the next five years.
Both programs already assist Texas A&M-Kingsville students, but these grants will extend those services another five years.
“These programs are not only important to our students because they provide individualized academic services that promote persistence, but they also will now offer career-focused skill building so that our students are competitive in the workforce once they graduate,” said. Dr. Maria Martinez, interim associate vice president for student access.
The goals of the programs are
To increase the persistence and graduation rates of eligible university students
To foster an institutional climate supportive of the success of first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities based on need
To help students make the transition from one level of higher education to the next.
“These programs are meaningful and highly impactful. I also think the funding level is remarkable because it means we can provide additional services related to career planning and funding for internships,” Martinez said. “New aspects of the SSS programs will include focused career and internship plans, personal fiscal/budget management plans and career mentoring engagements with industry professionals.”
The two programs serve 360 first-generation, Pell Grant-eligible, undergraduate students each year. Both programs offer peer mentoring, academic tutoring, specialized career counseling, dedicated computer lab access, academic workshops, financial planning and career workshops, graduate school planning trips and grant aid.
The SSS program serves students who are majoring in all fields offered at Texas A&M-Kingsville while the SSS STEM program provides services to those in STEM majors.
Faculty member named to Reading Academies Pilot
Dr. Fernando Hernandez, assistant professor in the teacher and bilingual education department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, was recently honored with membership in two reading associations.
Press Release
Dr. Fernando Hernandez, assistant professor in the teacher and bilingual education department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
KINGSVILLE — Dr. Fernando Hernandez, assistant professor in the teacher and bilingual education department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, was recently honored with membership in two reading associations. First, Hernandez was accepted into the Reading Academies Pilot where he would participate in and provide feedback on draft Reading Academies modules prior to full implementation. The program is part of the Texas Education Agency.
Second, he applied to and was selected to serve as an at-large member of the Texas Association of Literacy Educators (TALE), an affiliate of the National Literacy Association. This is an elected position and he will serve a two-year term. TALE is dedicated to promoting literacy in the education sector and consists of professional members that are committed to serving the leaders in the state of Texas.
Hernandez has been at Texas A&M-Kingsville for a year. He worked as a lecturer in the bilingual and literacy studies department at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for two years. He earned a bachelor of business administration in finance from Southwest Texas State University; his master’s degree in reading from University of Texas Pan American and his doctorate in literacy from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Emeka Obi receive Scholarship from Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society
The sophomore from Lago, Nigeria received the Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship from Alpha Lambda Delta, the National Honor Society for First-Year Success.
Press Release
KINGSVILLE - Emeka Obi has done something no other student at Texas A&M University-Kingsville has done. The sophomore from Lago, Nigeria received the Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship from Alpha Lambda Delta, the National Honor Society for First-Year Success.
Obi is an electrical engineering major with minors in math and computer science at Texas A&M-Kingsville. “To be the first Texas A&M-Kingsville student to receive this scholarship is truly a great honor,” he said. “I am very sure that more Texas A&M-Kingsville students will follow. It brings me great pleasure that I would be leading this line.”
He is currently interning for VISA payment services company as a software engineer and he is historian of the National Society of Black Engineers. He is a senator for the Student Government Association and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Association of Computing Machinery and the Society of Automotive Engineers.
This year, Alpha Lambda Delta has awarded 50 Trow scholarships across the country. Selection is based on maintaining a 3.5 grade point average, academic records, participation in Alpha Lambda Delta activities, campus and community service activities and the applicant’s essay answers.
Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that recognizes students’ academic success during their first year at their college or university.
Texas A&M System Will Have Access to Free Testing for COVID-19
Each campus will establish an on-line test registration, and anyone wishing to be tested must first sign up there. Trained personnel will monitor the self-administered oral swabbing required.
Press Release
Students, faculty and staff at all 11 Texas A&M System universities across the state will soon have quick and easy access to free testing for COVID-19.
“Ensuring the health and safety of our students is our top priority,” said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “Facilitating increased accessibility and availability of COVID-19 testing will help us mitigate the spread and help to protect each other by taking preventative and proactive measures.”
Approximately 15,000 test kits will be sent to system campuses each month. Each campus will set up a central location for the testing, which will consist of a simple, painless mouth swab. Testing could start as early as late this week.
The testing is possible thanks to an agreement Chancellor Sharp negotiated with Curative Inc., a national testing company based in California. Curative has committed to turning around lab results within 30 hours from when the sample arrives at their lab.
To date, Curative has released more than 1.2 million test results and is processing 55 to 60 thousand test kits per day with plenty of capacity. A major benefit of the Curative testing system is it is a turn-key operation, offering tests, shipping, processing and a software system that collects and reports results.
Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to get tested if they experience COVID-19 symptoms, or suspect they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Close contact is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being within 6 feet of someone with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes at any time, beginning 48 hours before the individual had symptoms, regardless of wearing a face mask.
While the tests are free, those who have insurance are encouraged to use their primary care physician to access the test so that their test can be paid for by insurance. The on-campus tests will not be available to the general public.
Each campus will establish an on-line test registration, and anyone wishing to be tested must first sign up there. Trained personnel will monitor the self-administered oral swabbing required.
About Curative
Curative Inc. was founded to develop tests for sepsis in January 2020 and pivoted to COVID-19 in early March 2020 upon realizing the urgent need for test development and production in the United States. Founded by Fred Turner and comprised of a team of doctors, scientists, engineers and health industry experts, the Curative test is a simple-to-use oral fluid COVID-19 test that can be rapidly scaled to enable widespread access to testing to keep our communities. For more details on Curative, please visit www.curativeinc.com.
About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation with a budget of $6.3 billion. The System is a statewide network of 11 universities; a comprehensive health science center; eight state agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and the RELLIS Campus. The Texas A&M System educates more than 151,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $1 billion in FY 2019 and helped drive the state’s economy.
TAMUK - Golden Key
The Golden Key chapter at Texas A&M University-Kingsville is one of only 24 chapters worldwide, to receive the Key Chapter Award for 2020. There are over 400 chapters around the world.
Press Release
The Golden Key chapter at Texas A&M University-Kingsville is one of only 24 chapters worldwide, to receive the Key Chapter Award for 2020. There are over 400 chapters around the world.
The chapter featured a presentation, entitled Be an Agent of Change, that showcased four events and a highlighted event all done in the 2019-20 academic year. They featured two chapter alumni who used social media to enhance their work in area schools; a graduate school development project; a book collection drive that helped three locations; the Bags for Foster Children project that collected all kinds of bags; and bringing Kleberg Bank to the Fall Festival to provide change for attendees and student organizations.
This is the second time the Texas A&M-Kingsville chapter received this international award. The first time was in 2017.
TAMUK - SAT/ACT Optional For 2021 Admission
Texas A&M University-Kingsville has decided to make the SAT and ACT optional for admission in the spring, summer and fall of 2021.
Press Release
Officials at Texas A&M University-Kingsville have announced they will make optional the requirement of First-time in College (FTIC) applicants to provide SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admission for the spring, summer and fall sessions in 2021.
“Due to COVID-19, there has been uncertainty about whether the ACT and SAT tests will be consistently accessible to all prospective students. As such, Texas A&M University-Kingsville has decided to make the SAT and ACT optional for admission in the spring, summer and fall of 2021,” said Dr. Maureen Croft, vice president for enrollment management.
“We believe that this will ensure fairness in the admissions process during these unprecedented times,” she added. “Applications will be reviewed holistically with or without SAT or ACT scores. We encourage students to provide additional information on their application such as letters of reference, academic achievements, extracurricular activities, community service, awards and other factors that support an applicant’s ability to succeed at Texas A&M-Kingsville.”
Students who have been denied admission should know that the university’s Admission Appeal Process remains in effect without change. Anyone with questions are encouraged to contact the university at admissions@tamuk.edu or 361-593-5372 (JESC).
TAMUK - Wildfires and Drought Study
TAMUK - Dr. Weimin Xi, associate professor and senior ecologist in the biological and health sciences department, is working on two studies that he hopes will help better understand wildfires and how people can prevent the devastation associated with them.
Press Release
Photo by Texas A&M University Kingsville
Dr. Weimin Xi
Texas A&M University Kingsville - Dr. Weimin Xi, associate professor and senior ecologist in the biological and health sciences department, is working on two studies that he hopes will help better understand wildfires and how people can prevent the devastation associated with them. His projects were funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service for a total of nearly $150,000.
The first of the studies, receiving $72,000 from the Forest Service, will look at the effects of wildfire and fuel-reduction treatments on forest structures around the Storrie fire and others in northern California.
The Storrie Fire started Aug. 17, 2000, at Storrie, California in Plumas County. Before it was brought under control Sept. 27, it had consumed 52,000 acres of private and National Forest System lands on the Mt. Hough Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest and the Almanor Ranger District of the Lassen National Forest. Suppression costs were estimated to be $22 million.
“I am trying to have a better understanding on how the California forests respond to large wildfires and then use the information we will learn to help landowners achieve more fire-resilient forests,” said Xi. “This includes how to manage before and after wildfires.”
The hypothesis is that thinning the forest by removing smaller, weaker trees, can improve the forest’s health thus making it more fire-resilient. Another part of the hypothesis is that reducing the fuel, including needles, grasses, small twigs and larger fuels such as shrubs, branches on the ground and downed trees, could make a forest resilient to fire.
“As we can’t burn the forests to test our ideas, we will use forest simulation models to test under different scenarios showing what the results would look like with different fire size, severity, portion of tree thinning, different fuel treatments combined with the varied drought under climate change and more,” Xi said.
“Overall, we are using forest simulation models to test the ideas of whether forest thinning and fuel reduction can reduce the number of wildfires, the intensity of the fire and if the forests can better adapt to fires,” he added.
Xi said understanding and quantifying the resilience of forests to wildfires is critical for forest ecosystem management.
“This understanding is essential for forest managers to achieve their management goals,” Xi said.
Xi’s second project was awarded $77,500 by the Forest Service. For this project, Xi will team up with Dr. Sandra Rideout-Hanzak, professor of restorative fire ecology in the Department of Range and Wildlife Sciences at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
In this study, they will investigate the short- and long-term effects of the 2011 drought on tree mortality in four national forests, Angelina, Davy Crockett, Sabine and Sam Houston, and surrounding areas of East Texas using National Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and a forest succession and drought model.
“We hypothesize that tree death rates are closely related to drought distribution and drought length and that oak trees experienced higher impacts than pine trees in the East Texas forests,” Xi said.
“Weather is the leading cause of tree mortality in Texas forests and drought has the biggest impact on forest health,” he said, “Understanding how drought affects trees under varying stand conditions is essential to mitigate its negative impacts on the sustainability of forests during global warming.”
Xi and Rideout-Hanzak will also examine interactions among drought, wildfire and insects under climate change to help landowners and resource managers to develop effective forest management strategies to mitigate negative impacts.
With a background in forest ecology, Rideout-Hanzak said she will be collaborating on designing the study methods.
“Wildfires are almost always a result of a drought combined with a dry, windy day, so drought affects fire,” she said. “With prescribed fire, we typically wouldn’t burn during a drought because we want to make sure there is plenty of soil moisture when we burn so that plants can green up right away without missing a beat. If we burn during a drought, we are adding stress to plants that are already stressed.”
The first grant is for two years and the second is for three. Both will support graduate student assistants.