John Sharp has been named chancellor of The Texas A&M University System.
John Sharp has been named chancellor of The Texas A&M University System.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M in 1972 and a master’s degree in public administration from Texas State University in 1976.
“I am truly honored and humbled to have the opportunity to lead this great university system,” said Sharp. “This is truly a dream come true.”
A native of Placedo, Texas, Sharp has more than three decades of public service to his credit, during which he has served in the Texas Senate (1983-1987) and Texas House of Representatives(1979-1983), as Texas Railroad Commissioner (1987) and as Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (1991-1998). Sharp, 61, comes to the A&M System from Ryan & Company, where he was a principal with the largest state and local tax consulting firm of its kind in Texas.
(Source: wtaw.com)
Texas State University alumnus Robert Shields, owner of Hill Country Bob Recreation, says he has found a way to “play for a living.”
His Austin-based business offers outdoor adventures such as rock climbing, canoeing, mountain biking, tree camping, tubing and caving.
The 27-year-old Shields, who has a degree in recreation administration from Texas State, is a guide with Cypress Valley Canopy Tours in Spicewood during the day and runs Hill Country Bob Recreation on his off days and weekends.
“People told me I was never going to play for a living, but here I am,” he says.
Read the complete story and watch Shields in action as a guide on Statesman.com.
Texas State University professor Mary Ellen Cavitt has been named the recipient of the 2011 Teaching Award of Honor. Cavitt is a professor of music education and the director of graduate studies in music at Texas State University.
This prestigious award, given annually by the Texas State Alumni Association, recognizes, encourages and rewards superior Texas State classroom teachers. Texas State professors, lecturers, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors who have taught at least two years at the university are eligible for the award.
The award includes a certificate and a monetary gift of $1,500. Click here to learn more and submit a nomination for the 2012 award.
Cavitt’s excellence as a teacher also was recognized earlier this year when she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching for the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Cavitt earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance from The Juilliard School. She completed her Ph.D. in music education at the University of Texas.
Tasha Kneis, a Texas State University alumna and a debate teacher at Harlingen High School South, was crowned Miss Tip of South Texas at a pageant Saturday.
“I am very excited; it was a big surprise,” Kneis says.
Kneis, 25, is now preparing to compete in the Miss Texas pageant, to be held Sept. 3 in Houston. She said she competed in pageants as a teenager in Harlingen, but considers herself a novice at this level of competition.
“Being in a pageant takes a lot of work,” Kneis said. “I was very lucky to have friends and family who pulled together and got me ready for this.”
Read more about Kneis in the Brownsville Herald.
Texas State alumnus Tim Clark is one of eight physicians to have joined Floyd Medical Center’s Family Medicine Residency program.
Clark earned his Bachelor of Science in biology from Texas State and his medical doctorate from Ross University School of Medicine, Dominica, West Indies. He resides in Rome.
Established in 1976, the Floyd Family Medicine Residency program provides three years of academic and clinical post-doctoral education to medical school graduates.
During the residency, the physicians complete a rotation schedule that provides in-depth learning experience in such areas as surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, obstetrics and orthopedics.
Read more about the residency program at RN-T.com.
Texas State University alumnus Robert “Bob” Slocum was recently named chief executive officer of the New Life Children’s Center, a nonprofit residential treatment facility in Canyon Lake, Texas.
New Life, operating under the umbrella of Lutheran Social Services, treats girls aged 11-17 with severe emotional and behavioral problems resulting from past abuse and neglect.
“New Life is a model for residential treatment facilities, with an exceptional campus and staff and the most highly regarded therapeutic programs,” Slocum says.
Before his appointment as CEO, Slocum was the director of program operations at New Life for 11 years, serving one year as interim executive director. Over the course of his 34-year career, he also has held positions in several other neuropsychiatric treatment programs and residential treatment centers in and around Central Texas.
Slocum earned two bachelor’s degrees - in psychology and biology - from Texas State University.
Read more of Slocum’s story on Help, Healing, Hope, the Lutheran Social Services blog.
The Jacksonville Daily Progress in Jackson, Texas, welcomed Texas State University graduate Faith Harper to its news department earlier this month.
Harper, who lives in Bullard, says she is glad to be working in an area connected to her past.
“I grew up down the road, and spent a large portion of my childhood in Jacksonville,” she says. “I can’t believe what a great opportunity. I am excited to serve the people of Jacksonville.”
For more information on Texas State alumni working in the media, visit the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s website.
As a young entrepreneur, Texas State grad Jaime Valdivia says business is going along swimmingly.
Valdivia owns Blue Lagoon Aquariums, based in Victoria, Texas. The company, which he started on his own 10 years ago, cleans and maintains about 150 aquariums a month, located in homes and offices such as the tank in Crossroads Title Company (pictured).
Valdivia got his start in the aquarium world shortly after graduating from Texas State University with his business degree. He worked for Houston’s Aquarium Environments, handling installations and maintenance for about a year-and-a-half before returning home to start his own business.
“I thought there might be a niche market here for something like this,” he said. “I wanted to give it a shot.”
Blue Lagoon Aquariums offers aquarium design, maintenance and remodeling services, selling everything from tanks to fish. Valdivia also speaks to local schools about aquatic environments.
Read more of his story in the Victoria Advocate.
Texas State University graduate Anthony Tobias, who retired from a 32-year coaching career in May, is back in the game as a new member of the coaching staff at San Marcos Academy.
Tobias, who graduated from San Marcos High School in 1974 before earning his bachelor’s degree from Texas State, will serve as an assistant coach for varsity football and baseball.
“Coach Tobias is another veteran coach who can bring experience to our program for our kids and our young coaches,” says Snuffy Smith, assistant vice president for athletics at the Academy.
“Coaches are there in those key developmental years for kids,” Tobias says. “The main lesson I try to share with student athletes is not to get discouraged. They need to know that good things don’t just happen over night; they have to develop slowly.”
Read more about Tobias and his new role at the Academy in the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas State University alumna Colleen Dean was recently profiled by the San Antonio Business Journal.
The Victoria native, who used her fashion merchandising bachelor’s degree as a springboard into a successful business career, now handles private wealth management for J.P. Morgan in San Antonio.
She shared her journey through job transitions as well as her thoughts on financial planning, glass ceilings and technology.
“I like math. It tells you a story.” And numbers do tell the Colleen Dean story. As managing director of private wealth management at J.P. Morgan, Dean spends her day going over the numbers with her clients and doling out advice on how to make them all add up.
Math aside, Dean considers herself a listener and problem-solver. “This is a people business,” she says, accented in her friendly Texas way. “It’s about relationships and helping achieve goals. I just love meeting and helping people.”
As a way of “giving back” to Texas State, Dean is involved with the McCoy College of Business Administration Advisory Board.