houck2040/artisci huggingface dataset:
i was so lucky to serve under john fackler when he was dean of science and i was a department head said texas a&m statistician and dean emeritus of science h joseph newton former head of the texas a&m department of statistics (1990-1997) and former dean of science (2002-2015) i learned so much about science and science administration that helped me later when i became dean john and naomi did so much for texas a&m and bryan-college station and my wife linda and i were lucky to have them as friends fackler was a member of the american chemical society (acs) since 1956 serving as councilor a past chair of both the cleveland and texas a&m sections a past chair of the inorganic division and a career consultant for 20 years he was elected as one of 162 inaugural acs fellows in 2009 a fellow of the american association for the advancement of science and the american institute of chemists fackler also was a member of the royal society of chemistry sigma xi the american crystallography association the academy of science (director 1987-1989) and the pegasus society of robinson college cambridge in addition to fulbright john simon guggenheim and bye fellowships fackler received many major career honors and awards including the acss morley medal (1987) southwest regional award (1990) and distinguished service to inorganic chemistry award (2001); a manchot forschungsprofessur (wilhelm manchot research professorship) from the technical university of munich germany (1992); and a texas a&m association of former students distinguished achievement award in research (2007) he also received an honorary doctorate from valparaiso university in 1987 and was celebrated with several special lectureships including a 2001 appearance in texas a&m's multi-year university distinguished lecture series in addition he served as a member and past chair (1988-1989) of the board of trustees for the gordon research conferences a world-renowned series of scientific conferences
john fackler was a major leader in inorganic chemistry and a much-respected colleague said texas a&m inorganic chemist marcetta y darensbourg a fellow distinguished professor of chemistry his mentorship of me was so subtle that i didnt know it happenedtil it was over he led a very active and balanced life equally proud of his family of his politically-involved wife of his research contributions and of his service to texas a&m university and to his profession we met here in college station last november and discussed many things including his twice-a-week golf his remembrances of his famous mentor fa cotton and his pride in the many coworkers who had graced his laboratories you can tell by that cherubic smile that john was a really good person fackler is preceded in death by his wife of nearly 62 years naomi in 2018 and a daughter cheryl ruth fackler hug in 2013 he is survived by their children katherine grace fackler chapman karla sue fackler grafton john martin fackler and dorothy louise fackler as well as their nine cherished grandchildren: jenna chapman ian chapman nicholas fackler hug colin fackler hug andrew grafton rebekah grafton dan grafton ava fackler and owen fackler in lieu of flowers or other offerings memorial donations may be made to lord of life lutheran church the rotary club of the woodlands or valparaiso university (please denote either the reverend martin th steege endowed scholarship fund or the john and naomi fackler lectureship in chemistry and english)
at the heart of texas a&m university a statue of sen matthew gaines stands defiant one arm outstretched the other cradling a law book and a bible from its pedestal near the memorial student center the sculptures eyes gaze southwest toward the brazos river and the vast stretches of agricultural land beyond about 50 miles in that direction in one of the many unmarked graves dotting the landscape of nearby lee county gaines physical remains lie buried and forgotten their exact location lost to time we really want to find his grave said gaines great granddaughter marilyn alexander-walls back then people didnt always mark graves well and they didnt keep a whole lot of documents the only thing we know is that he was buried somewhere around giddings the small community where the former legislator lived out his later years in some ways this anonymous final resting place is emblematic of the way gaines and his story were treated in the years following his death even toward the end of his life the man once known throughout the region as an impassioned preacher statesman and civil rights activist was already fading into obscurity eventually his name all-but-disappeared from both the historical record and popular memory it would take decades of hard work to bring it back history has kind of rediscovered him here in the late 20th century and early 21st century said carlos blanton professor and head of the department of history at texas a&m
while the november 2021 statue unveiling was a significant and widely-celebrated milestone blanton says there is still plenty of work to be done: i suspect well probably know even more about matthew gaines in the years to come still its worth asking why gaines was forgotten in the first place ultimately blanton said his story illustrates how the lives and contributions of black texans have been intentionally and systemically erased and how bringing that history back to life is both difficult and necessary ‘a bad slave details about gaines early life are scant in the absence of any formal diaries or memoirs historians have relied on statements gaines gave to the press and stories he shared with his wife and children to construct a rough timeline of his life while enslaved any reading of those sparse details of matthew gaines life really shows you the grittiness of that world blanton said the denial of basic rights of human freedom and human liberty simply did not sit well with some and the things that made matthew gaines abad slave (his defiance of authority and constant struggle to be free) actually made him this wonderful person who was able to become a leader after the era of slavery ended gaines was born around 1840 on a louisiana plantation 1850 census records mention one 39-year-old female slave and six enslaved children living on the small estate in rapides parish presumably gaines his siblings and their mother the identity of his father is unknown
this is a period when black people are trying to understand the meaning of freedom broussard said and thats a difficult question because whites come back from the civil war angry and unrepentant they do accept the end of slavery but they dont necessarily accept the idea that black people are equal to whites it was in this highly charged environment of reconstruction that gaines began his career as an activist and politician according to barr and calvert the earliest mention of his activities in this arena was an 1869 news article in the houston union about that years elections: davis will carry the county easy the papers brenham correspondent wrote we have matt gaines on the war path and he is doing good work davis referred to the former union general edmund j davis whose victory in the governors race ushered in a period of political dominance for the radical republican faction to which gaines and other black politicians were aligned the republican party under lincoln was the party to free the slaves and so black leaders of course believe thats the only party thats going to protect their interests and protect their lives broussard said and even before the 15th amendment black men are voting in texas this powerful new bloc mobilized to sweep the states first group of black legislators into office gaines was one of two black men to hold a seat in the texas senate during the 12th legislature along with a handful of others elected to the states house of representatives the historical significance of the moment was not lost on gaines who later remarked that the old state of affairs has died out ‘they may kill me if gaines and his compatriots had indeed put an end to the old state of affairs it is clear from his actions in the legislature that he was intent on ensuring it was well and truly dead in speeches on the senate floor he railed against the old evils of slavery and the new evils of voter suppression violence and intimidation carried out by groups like the ku klux klan not satisfied with mere emancipation gaines consistently agitated for true freedom and equality for his fellow black texans we are legislating for the people of this state under this new condition of affairs the old corruption of the confederacy was buried at the surrender of general lee gaines proclaimed this particular speech was in support of a measure to combat the klan and other violent groups by forming a state militia and if the ku-klux dont get me gaines said perhaps by the time my six years in this senate expires i may be able to go to congress he spoke at length of the tremendous possibilities ushered in by the new radical republican government for gaines and the other black statesmen of the era this was a chance to stand up to the old majority of texans who in his words could not recognize the fact of a man of my color being equal with them before the law or one of my complexion having the right to the ballot box and the right to enter a school house
education was an issue particularly close to gaines heart he and his fellow black legislators unanimously supported the 1871 measure allowing texas to establish its first public institutions of higher education the all-white agricultural and mechanical college of texas (now texas a&m) and a separate institution for black students which later became prairie view a&m his commitment to public education can be seen elsewhere too when the legislature moved to establish free public schools for all texas children gaines was strongly in favor he was also adamant in his stance that these institutions should never be segregated at one point saying to black parents send your children to any of the free schools you want to
peter mccullagh john d macarthur distinguished service professor emeritus of statistics at the university of chicago will visit the texas a&m university campus later this week as the guest speaker for the biennial emanuel parzen prize lecture series sponsored by the texas a&m department of statistics mccullagh will present an 11:30 am public lecture statistics of speciation and the evolution of reproductive isolation friday (march 3) in the room 150 of the john r blocker building as a co-recipient of the 2022 emanuel and carol parzen prize for statistical innovation the presentation is free and open to the public the parzen prize is named for emanuel parzen longtime distinguished professor of statistics at texas a&m who passed away february 6 2016 established through the texas a&m foundation and first awarded in 1994 to recognize parzens 65th birthday it is presented in even-numbered years to north american statisticians in recognition of outstanding careers in the discipline and profession of statistics in addition to an invitation to deliver the parzen prize lecture recipients receive a citation and a $1 000 honorarium plus travel expenses an elected fellow of the royal society (1994) and the american academy of the arts and sciences (2002) mccullagh has made wide-ranging contributions to statistical theory and methods through his work which seeks to develop a mathematical foundation for statistical models his research interests include linear models asymptotic approximation statistical theory statistical methods and applications mccullagh is a co-author along with john nelder of generalized linear models (1983 2nd edition 2018) a seminal text on its subject as well as author of both tensor methods in statistics (1987; 2nd edition 2018) a pioneering exploitation of tensor methods applied to distributional problems arising in statistics and ten projects in applied statistics (springer 2023) in 1990 he received the prestigious copss (committee of presidents of statistical societies) presidents' award in addition he is a past scientific advisory panel member of the us environmental protection agency
emanuel parzen who joined the texas a&m statistics faculty in 1978 retired in 2009 as distinguished professor emeritus of statistics but remained active in his research in 1994 he was awarded the samuel s wilks memorial medal of the american statistical association for outstanding research in time-series analysis especially for his innovative introduction of reproducing kernel spaces spectral analysis and spectrum smoothing; for pioneering contributions in quantile and density quantile functions and estimation; for unusually successful and influential textbooks in probability and stochastic processes; for excellent and enthusiastic teaching and dissemination of statistical knowledge; and for a commitment to service on society councils government advisory committees and editorial boards in 2005 parzen received the gottfried e noether award for a lifetime of outstanding achievements and contributions in the field of nonparametric statistics both in research and teaching carol parzen who earned her masters of science in adult extension education from texas a&m in 1981 has had diverse careers in the community she retired from the texas a&m mays college of business administration and graduate school of business where she served as assistant director of the cba fellows program the parzens were married in 1959 and had two children sara schandelson a librarian who resides in boca raton fla and michael parzen a senior lecturer of business administration in the harvard university business school as well as six grandchildren for more information regarding the parzen prize lecture series please contact the department of statistics at (979) 845-3141 or view event information online
when the nguyen brothers opted to become science leadership scholars (sls) at texas a&m university they simultaneously laid claim to a unique distinction: the first-ever sibling pair in the programs history kyle nguyen24 and his younger brother henry nguyen 25 who describes himself in his sls biography as the little brother of the guy on my right grew up together in sugar land texas nowadays they share their aggie status the texas a&m campus a biology major a passion for medicine and an exclusive array of opportunities afforded to them though the sls program sls was launched in 2016 with generous underwriting from dozens of texas a&m former students donors and faculty to provide support to first-generation high-performing students from low-income households who are majoring in science-related disciplines for kyle and henry the opportunity to be sls scholars was one of their deciding factors in attending texas a&m i owe a lot of my decision to be an aggie to sls kyle said i don't think i would be here without sls and it definitely helped guide me through getting into college
another factor kyle and henry said was the help of former sls academic advisor victor castillo '13 going into freshman year and not knowing anything and having your own personal advisor that helps you is probably the most helpful thing kyle said he definitely led by way through freshman year and set me up for the next few years for henry castillo helped him navigate through his first year on campus figuring out registration and resolving issues with advanced placement (ap) credits castillo currently an assistant director in the office of diversity and inclusion at mays business school also recalls his time with the nguyen brothers positively they were my top-notch kids in the program and theyre both doing amazing things castillo said its definitely a testament to their parents and how they were raised that they are two students in the same program doing amazing things at texas a&m
in terms of their parents and the rest of their family kyle and henrys connection with them is one of the reasons they work so hard they said a part of striving to do well in general is to give back to our family and people that have helped us along the way kyle said our family has sacrificed a lot for us to be here our parents had the life and they chose to give it up in fact henry said his decision to pursue a career in medicine with his biology background stems from its relevance within their household i've always been surrounded by human anatomy since i was young and i wanted to go into it because a lot of our family members are in medicine so i wanted to dive into it too henry said kyles academic career at texas a&m began in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic inhibiting his ability to connect with his classmates and make friends around campus this posed an issue for him in his freshman year and sls was a welcome solution with covid year not being able to meet anyone…it was definitely the pathway for me being here and getting started kyle said
like his brother henry also found solace through sls in terms of finding a group of friends i thought it was going to be hard to meet new people and make new friends during my freshman year and meeting with the members in my year definitely helped me henry said five people from sls have been my friends since then study buddies and all that stuff despite the pair's similarities their career goals and hobbies distinguish them in many different ways kyle enjoys playing volleyball photography and collecting figures while his younger brother likes to take scenic bike rides play basketball and run track i tried volleyball once henry said my hands hurt i quit after day one one thing that they share somewhat begrudgingly at times is classes i really appreciate my older brother for paving the path for me henry said were the same major we take the same classes so any questions i have i can just ask him yeah im pretty sure my notes help him more than me kyle agreed castillo notes that the scholar selection process is rigorous governed in part by achievements as well as sat/act scores when henry was chosen a year after kyle it was entirely by chance the fact that theyre coming from the same household both high-achieving students first-generation low income it's crazy how they both got into this elite program castillo said we only pick about 20 kids each year out of the 800 incoming freshmen so the fact that they both got in was amazing
for the brothers it was hard for them to believe that they were the first pair of siblings to make it into sls however based on their academic credentials and impressive lists of achievements they have officially made sls history and are on track to reach their own designated levels of success theyre both funny great kids castillo said i love them to death while both brothers claim that sls has positively impacted their academic experience thus far henry was quick to express his gratitude to the program in one specific regard thank you for the free food he said
to learn more about supporting first-generation students in the college of arts and sciences please contact our development team
with former president jimmy carter entering hospice care at his home in georgia last month experts and historians are reflecting on how the 39th president will be remembered terry anderson a professor in the department of history at texas a&m university has a bold assessment: i believe that jimmy carter is the most underrated president in modern american history carter 98 served just one term from 1977-1981 before losing his bid for re-election to former gov ronald reagan of california in 1980 anderson said public opinion had soured on carter in the last half of his administration after a series of events that were both in and out of his control the soviet unions invasion of afghanistan a 444-day hostage crisis in iran in which american diplomats were held captive and surging inflation to name a few he had two and a half three good years and then he had the worst last year possible anderson said and a lot of it has nothing to do with him but we often think of him looking back on the last part not the first part of his administration despite his missteps carters presidency was more consequential than most recall anderson said to start he said carter changed the direction of us foreign policy by making human rights a centerpiece he negotiated the camp david peace accords between egypt and israel normalized diplomatic and trade relations with china and signed the panama canal treaty anderson pointed out that carter established the department of energy and department of education and he also deregulated the airline industry what carter did after the presidency will also be a large part of his legacy anderson said he started the carter center and has been involved in more than 100 negotiations on elections or observing elections and because of this there has been a huge american presence in the world anderson said because of this he won the 2002 nobel peace prize no one has done as much in their post-presidential years
‘the right person for the moment little was known about carter nationally before he used the 1976 iowa caucuses to propel his campaign for the democratic nomination and put himself on the road to the white house said kirby goidel a professor in the department of political science goidel said carter helped reshape the electoral landscape and made iowa an essential destination for presidential candidates as a candidate carter also perfectly reflected the moment in the wake of the vietnam war and watergate americans had largely lost faith in their government goidel said honest humble and from a small town in georgia carter was the right person for the moment carters presidency is largely remembered for its failures goidel said he was largely unsuccessful due to his lack of understanding of washington politics as president he said carter didnt have the media savvy of reagan for example or the charisma of bill clinton years after he would be another jimmy carter was an insult democratic candidates ran away from goidel said but he was a fundamentally good and decent person it is no exaggeration to say that no american president has used their post-presidency more effectively to continue to do good work and reshape our world