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TWU Measures of Excellence

(Last updated September 4, 2009 )

• TWU’s enrollment grew 25.8 percent from 2003-08, the sixth-highest enrollment growth percentage among universities in Texas. (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Fall 2008)
  

• TWU's Hispanic enrollment increased 74.9 percent from 2003-2008, the fourth-highest increase among public universities in Texas. (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Fall 2008)

• U.S. News and World Report magazine ranks TWU in the top two in the state and the top 20 nationally among universities with the most diverse student populations.  (2009 Best Colleges issue)
  
  
• U.S. News and World Report ranks TWU’s graduate programs in occupational and physical therapy among the nation’s best. (2009 Best Graduate Schools issue)
  
  
• U.S. News and World Report ranks TWU’s graduate program in occupational therapy 17th nationally.  (2009 Best Graduate Schools issue)
  
  
• TWU’s graduate program in physical therapy is ranked 24th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. (2009 Best Graduate Schools issue)
  
  
• TWU has the largest doctoral nursing program in the country, and the 11th-largest College of Nursing in the country, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2007)

• Modern Healthcare magazine ranks the master of health care administration program at TWU's Houston Center as the fourth- largest in the nation. (2008)

• The Executive MBA Council ranks TWU's EMBA program as the largest in the state. (2008)
  

• Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine lists TWU among its Top 100 Schools in awarding master's degrees to Hispanics. (2008)
  

• TWU ranks among the top 115 public universities nationwide in doctoral degrees awarded. Among all universities — public and private — TWU ranks in the top 200 in doctoral degrees awarded. (2008) (The Center for Measuring University Performance, http://mup.asu.edu)
  
  
• The Dallas Business Journal ranks TWU as the fourth largest employer in Denton County.  (June 2007)
  
  
• TWU’s enrollment is the eighth largest out of 25 universities in the Metroplex, according to the Dallas Business Journal (2008)
  

• TWU is one of only 16 universities in the United States — and the only university in Texas — selected to participate in the American Democracy Project Civic Agency Initiative. The three-year program is a national initiative focused on encouraging students to be civic leaders in their communities. (2008)

• Eighty-six percent of TWU baccalaureate graduates are employed in Texas or enrolled in a Texas graduate program within one year, higher than the state average of 80 percent. (2008)
  

• Minority students (excluding international students) comprise 42 percent of enrollment at TWU. (Fall 2008)
  
  
• The health care administration program at TWU-Houston is one of six university programs selected by the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) as demonstration sites for the Graduate Health Management Education Demonstration Project.  The project’s goals are to influence and enhance the preparation of future healthcare leaders in an effort to improve the quality of healthcare in the United States. (2006)
  
  
• TWU nursing students consistently perform well above the state average on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX); TWU students' 2008 first-time pass rate was 95.76 percent. (Texas Board of Nursing)
  
  
• TWU Honors Scholars hold more than 160 local, regional, national and TWU scholarships.
   
• TWU’s Honors Scholar program is one of the 10 most selective honors programs in Texas.
  

• The TWU College of Professional Education graduates approximately 475 new teachers and 125 school principals and superintendents each year.  TWU students typically achieve an overall pass rate of 98 percent on state teacher certification examinations. (2008)
  
  
• TWU awards more than $5 million in scholarships annually.
  
  
• TWU produces more new nurses than any program in Texas and is among the nation’s leading providers of healthcare professionals. (2009)
  
  
• TWU offers the only Ph.D. in physical therapy in Texas.
  
  
• TWU offers the only undergraduate degree in adapted physical education in Texas.
  
  
• TWU’s occupational therapy program produces more occupational therapists than any other program in the nation. (2008)
  
  
• TWU's occupational therapy program is one of only three in the United States to offer a Ph.D., the most rigorous degree in the field. (2008)

• TWU is the only school in Texas and surrounding states to offer post-professional degrees and specialty certificates for practicing occupational therapists.  TWU has a national reputation for providing advanced-level OT education.
  
  
• TWU produces more speech language pathologists than any other program in the state.
  
  
• TWU produces more teachers of the deaf than any other program in the state.

Milestones

• TWU became the first public university in Texas to offer a specialist degree in September 2006. TWU now offers the 60-plus hour specialist in school psychology (SSP) degree.  The graduate-level degree falls between a master’s and a doctoral degree.
  
  
• The TWU College of Professional Education marked its 100th year in 2006-07.  COPE was established at TWU in 1906-07 as the Department of Education, a service department for the preparation of high school teachers.
  
  
• The TWU Concert Choir made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2005, performing with the National Women’s Festival Chorus.  TWU’s choir was the only one asked to perform alone at the festival.
  
  
• The TWU Drama Program debuted “The Long March” at New York City’s Greenwich Street Theater in 2006 in collaboration with the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.
  
  
• TWU researchers were the first to document bone loss in space in a project with NASA.  Today, the TWU Institute for Women’s Health has the world’s largest database of osteoporosis imagery/scans.
  
  
• In 1956, TWU opened the first building in the nation dedicated to library science instruction.
  
  
• TWU’s Fine Arts Building was the first facility in Texas designed and built specifically to house programs in the studio arts.

• TWU’s doctoral program in nursing was the first of its kind in the Southwest.
  
  
• TWU offered the first bachelor’s degree in health and physical education in Texas.
  
  
• TWU was the first university in Texas to offer a free-standing master of arts degree in women’s studies.
  
  
• TWU was the first higher education institution in Texas to offer a degree in music.
  
  
• TWU’s Ph.D. in dance is the oldest continuing doctoral program in dance in the United States and one of only three Ph.D. programs nationwide.
  
  
• TWU currently holds the Carnegie Classification of Doctoral/Research university.

• TWU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

• TWU received a $593,520 grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. The grant, to be distributed over a four-year period, will be used to fund scholarships to TWU undergraduate students majoring in the STEM fields. (2008).

• TWU and the Fort Worth Independent School District were awarded a $1.3 million federal grant for Project ACCELERATE, a program designed to improve the academic achievement of English language learners in the FWISD.  The U.S. Department of Education’s National Professional Development Program in the Office of English Language Acquisition awarded grants for projects designed to increase the pool of highly qualified teachers prepared to serve students with limited English proficiency and increase the skills of teachers already serving them. (2007)

• The TWU School of Library and Information Studies received a $691,323 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Studies and a second grant of $38,400 from Tocker Foundation to implement its Professional Education for Librarians in Small Communities (PELSC) project.  The project offers an online degree program that enables library workers currently serving in small and rural communities throughout Texas to earn a master’s degree in library science. (2007)

• The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board awarded TWU a $175,000 grant for its G-Force student mentorship program. It was the second consecutive year that TWU's G-Force program received the most funding of any university in Texas. (2008)
  

• Dr. Ronald Davis (kinesiology) is president of the National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPERID). (Term ends in 2010)

• Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng (library and information studies) was re-elected to her third term as a Councilor-At-Large for the Council of the American Library Association. (Term runs 2008-2011)
  
  
• Dr. Nancy DiMarco (nutrition and food sciences) is a member of the Sports Dietetics Practice Analysis workgroup of the Commission on Dietetic Registration.   The commission is a select panel of 10 registered dieticians from throughout the United States who were chosen to write the first certification exam for the credential, Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD).  (Term ends in 2009)
  

• Dr. Peggy Blake Gleeson (physical therapy-Houston) is vice president of the Education Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. (Term ends in 2010)
  
  
• Dr. Betsy Kaye (Reading Recovery) serves as a Trainer Representative on the Reading Recovery Council of North America Board of Directors. (Term ends in 2011)

• Dr. Donna Scott Tilley (nursing) was appointed to the Texas Nursing Facility Administrators Advisory Committee by Gov. Rick Perry. Dr. Tilley is the only nurse on the committee, which advises the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services on licensing and regulation of nursing facility administrators. (Term ends Feb. 1, 2013)

• Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng (library and information studies) was elected to the Executive Board of the Texas Library Association in 2008. (Term ends 2011)

• Dr. Ronald Davis (kinesiology) was appointed Texas State Coordinator of Adapted Sports for the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs (AAASP).  He will develop school-based sports programs for students with disabilities in coordination with the Texas high school scholastic sports.  (2007)

• Dr. Nancy DiMarco (nutrition and food sciences) was appointed to the Texas Joint Interim Study Committee on Nutrition and Health in Public Schools by Gov. Rick Perry.  The committee will review public school food and beverage programs to ensure healthy habits in combating childhood obesity and related diseases.

• Sherrie Taylor (School of Management) received the 2009 Homer Saunders Mentor Award from the Small Business Institute®. The award honors an SBI member for his or her mentorship of fellow members both in the United States and in other countries.

• Dr. Richard Sheardy (chemistry and physics) has been elected a 2008-09 Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) Leadership Fellow by the National Fellowship Board of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement. (2008)

• Dr. Patricia Bowyer (occupational therapy-Houston) was chosen to receive the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Roster of Fellows at the 2009 annual conference. The Roster of Fellows recognizes members of AOTA who, with their knowledge and expertise, have made a significant contribution to the continuing education and professional development of association members.

• Dr. Nancy DiMarco (nutrition and food sciences) was selected as co-recipient of the 2009 SCAN Achievement Award. The award is the highest honor presented by SCAN (Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionists), a dietetic practice group of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

• Dr. Dan Miller (psychology) is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of School Psychologists’ Neuropsychology Special Interest Group.
  
  
• The American Culture Association/Popular Culture Association of the Southwest has established an award in honor of Dr. Phyllis Bridges (English, Speech and Foreign Languages).  The award is presented to a person who presents the best paper in biography, autobiography, memoir or personal narrative.

• Dr. Young-Hoo Kwon (kinesiology) is the first person from the United States to serve as editor of Sports Biomechanics, the official journal of the International Society of Biometrics in Sports. (Term ends in 2010)

• Dr. JoAnn Danelo Barbour (educational leadership) is editor of Academic Exchange Quarterly, an internationally peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles that contribute to effective instruction and learning regardless of level or subject. (2008)

• Faisal Aboul-Enein (nursing, Houston) is part of a team of nurses from around the world who have launched the first-ever Evidence-based Nursing website called MORE (McMaster Online Rating of Evidence) EBN (Evidence-based Nursing) system. Mr. Aboul-Enein was an adviser and reviewer in launching the program, a collaborative work in conjunction with McMaster University in Canada. (2007)

• Dr. Susan Adams (family sciences) was named Counselor Educator of the Year at the 2008 Texas Counselors Association's annual conference.

• Dr. Lynda Uphouse (biology) was named a 2008 Piper Professor by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.  The award honors outstanding teaching in Texas colleges and universities.  The foundation makes only 15 awards each year. 

• Nine TWU faculty members have been named a Piper Professor since the award was established in 1958.

• Dr. Gay James (health studies) received the David K. Brace Award, the highest honor given by the Texas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (TAHPERD) for outstanding professional contributions. (2008)

• Dr. Barney Sanborn (kinesiology) received the 2008 Scholar Award from the Texas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (TAHPERD) in recognition of her scholarly activities in Texas and in the nation. (2008)
  

Faculty Achievement

• Pat Driscoll (health systems management, Dallas) was elected to the DFW Health Industry Council board of directors.  (2009)

• Dr. Jeff Robb (history and government) is president of the Southwestern Association of Pre-Law Advisors, an organization comprised of pre-law advisors from colleges and universities throughout the southwestern United States.  He also serves on the executive committee of the Pre-Law Advisors National Council. (2008)

• Dr. Kelley Moseley (health care administration, Houston) was named the Joseph C. Valley Gerontological Professional of the Year. The award is presented by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing a professional who has contributed to improving the quality of life for the elderly. (2008)

• Dr. Dan Miller (psychology) has earned diplomate status in school psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology.  The ABPP diplomate is the highest practice credential in psychology.
  
  
• TWU faculty developed the Theory of Occupational Adaptation, a treatment model taught in occupational therapy education throughout the world.
  
  
• Among TWU’s distinguished faculty are Fulbright Scholars Dr. Jim Williams, (sociology); Dr. Richard Shuster (music); Drs. Timothy Hoye and Harral Landry (history and government); Dr. Claire Sahlin (women’s studies); and Dr. Evelyn Curry (library and information studies); and Fulbright Senior Specialist Dr. Hugh Burns (English, speech and foreign languages).
  

• Dr. Anne Stiles (nursing) is a Member-at-Large and Director of Communications on the Southern Nursing Research Society Board of Directors. (Term ends in 2010)
  
  
• Joseph Pinson (music) has been a recipient of the annual Standard Award from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) since 2000.
  
  
• Gladys Keeton (dance) is a past recipient of the prestigious Honor Award from the Southern District American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Association.  This is the highest district award for service to the profession.
  
  
• Dr. John Flohr (Professor Emeritus, music) and Dr. Gladys Keeton (dance) were chosen in 2005 to represent music and dance for a five-year special task force on arts in Texas schools led by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

• Caryl A. Thompson was named the 2008 Woman of the Year in Medicine and Healthcare by the American Biographical Institute.

• Susan D. Ruppert, Ph.D., RN, professor of nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing; and Pam Windle, RN, MS, nurse manager of the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) at St. Luke's in Houston, were named as 2008 fellows of the American Academy of Nurse Practictioners (AANP).

• Dr. E. Ann Nalley was the first woman appointed to the Board of Pacifichem, an international organization of the Pacific Basin Chemical Society. (Term ends 2010).
  
  
• Maj. Gen. Mary Saunders, U.S. Air Force, Retired, was the first woman to serve as the director of transportation at the United States Air Force Headquarters.
  
  
• Maryellen Hicks was the first African-American and first woman to serve on the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth.
  
  
• Sylvia Garcia was the first Hispanic woman elected to the Harris County Commissioners Court.

• Windy Sitton was the first female mayor of Lubbock.
  
  
• Dr. Millie Hughes-Fulford was the first female civilian scientist in space.
  
  
• Ann Williams is founder and artistic director of the Dallas Black Dance Theatre and a member of the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame.
  
  
• Louise Ritter won the 1988 Olympic gold medal in the women’s high jump.
  
  
• Dr. Therese Bartholomew Bevers is the medical director of clinical cancer prevention at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
  
  
• Dr. James H. Rimmer is recognized internationally as the pre-eminent researcher/scholar in exercise physiology, especially as it relates to persons with disabilities.
  
  
• Dr. Melody Johnson is the first female superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District.
  
  
• Dr. Rosemary Luquire is senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Baylor Health Care System, Dallas.

• Michael Mayo is president of Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
  
  
• Capt. Lisa Ferguson, United States Air Force, is a past recipient of the Surgeon General’s Medal, the highest award of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
  
  
• Dr. Helen Benjamin is chancellor of the Contra Costa Community College District in California.
  
  
• Lisa Womack was hired in 2005 as the first female police chief of Elgin, Ill., after serving as the first female police chief of Sugar Land, Texas.
  
  
• Dr. Orfelina “Fena” Garza is president of Houston Community College Southeast.
  
  
• Dr. Colleen Smith is the first female president of Cisco Junior College.
  
  
• Dr. Sheryl Smith Kappus is president of Hill College.
  
  
• Dr. Mary Shaw-Ridley is director of the Center for the Study of Health Disparities at Texas A&M University.
  
  
• Debbie Paganelli is president of Texas Health Resources Hurst-Euless-Bedford.
  

• Gary Hamrick is vice president of nursing operations for the Baylor Health Care System.

• Miriam Sibley is chief nursing officer of the Parkland Health & Hospital System.
  

• Amy Goodson was one of five recipients of the Texas Registered Young Dietician of the Year award. (2008)
  
  
• Mary Carol Pomatto is chairman of the Pittsburg (Kan.) State University Department of Nursing.
  

• Lisa Niedermeyer is a professional dancer with the Jane Comfort Dance Company, touring nationally and internationally.

• Sean McGlashan is curator of contemporary art at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, Scotland.
  

• Hannah Frieser was chosen to co-chair a Society for Photographic Education (SPE) national conference with Miriam Romais, executive director of En Foco.  The conference, tentatively scheduled for 2010, will focus on diversity and multiculturalism.
  
  
• Dr. Joyce Swegle, professor of nursing in the Collin County Community College District, was named to the Dickinson Endowed Chair in Nursing.  The chair was one of two endowed chairs created in 2006, the district’s first.
  
  
• Mary Stowe is vice president and chief nursing officer of Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
  
  
• Polly Bednash is executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
  
  
• Ramiro Salazar is director of the San Antonio Public Library.

• Marilyn Bratcher Davis was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to a six-year term on the Texas State Board of Nursing. (Term expires in 2013.)
  
  
• Kay Alexander, senior vice president for the American Heart Association in Abilene, was appointed by Texas Speaker of the House Tom Craddick to the nine-member Commission on State Emergency Communications. (Term ends in 2014)
  

• Sheryl Luna received the 2008 Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation poetry award, presented to writers born in, living in or writing about Texas.

• Carmen Roman-Shriver was awarded the first-ever Distinguished Trinko Service Award by Latinos and Hispanics in Dietetics and Nutrition, an interest group of the American Dietetic Association. (2008)

• Michelle Lee is founder, president and CEO of STG International, a company that provides management and technical services to federal clients. The Washington Business Journal in 2009 selected her as one of 24 honorees for its second annual Minority Business Leaders awards program, which recognizes the Washington, D.C., area's top minority business leaders and owners.

• Priyanka Kapoor, a master of occupational therapy student, is one of only three two-time recipients of an International Masters Fellow from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). (2009)

• Jose Zamora, MFA student in dance, was awarded a Jacob Javits Fellowship. He is one of only 30 university students in the country and one of only two in Texas to receive the award. (2008)

• Bridget Walsh, a doctoral student in child development, represents the state’s graduate students on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Graduate Education Advisory Committee.  She is the only student on the committee. (2007)

• Rose Brock, a doctoral student in library science, is one of only 15 members of the Association of Library Services to Children's 2009 Newbery Award Selection Committee.

• Cristal Retana, a pre-law major, was accepted to the 2009 CLEO/Thurgood Marshall ASAP Summer Program. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the American Bar Association, helps students prepare for law school.

• Cristal Retana, a pre-law major, was one of only 14 students in Texas selected for the Senator Gregory Luna Legislative Scholars and Fellows Program. She is an intern in the 2009 Texas Legislature.

• Diana Cruz, a government major, is one of only 50 students in the state selected for the Texas Legislative Internship Program (TLIP). She is an intern in the 2009 Texas Legislature.

• Denise Ford, a doctoral student in reading education, was named the 2008 G. Richard Tucker Fellow. The award is presented to a graduate student in a language-related field.

• Vanessa Macedo, a child development major, was one of only eight students nationwide to receive a scholarship from the Alpha Sigma Lambda (ASL) National Honor Society. The ASL is the premier national honor society for nontraditional students. (2008)

• Megan Britt, a government major, was one of only 60 students in the United States selected to be part of the International Scholar Laureate Program's Delegation on Diplomacy and International Relations to visit Australia during summer 2008.

• Thanh Nguyen, a master of arts in teaching student, was named Teacher of the Year at Carpenter Middle School in Plano. He is interning as a math teacher at the school. (2009)
  
  

• Carolyn Barnes (marketing and communication) received the 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV. (2008)
  

• Lewis Benavides (human resources) was voted 2009 president-elect of the Texas Higher Education Human Resources Association (THEHRA). He will become president of the organization in 2010.

• For 54 consecutive semesters (that’s 26.5 years), student-athletes at TWU have achieved an overall team GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. (Spring 2009)

• Renee Renz, Pioneers basketball forward, scored a Lone Star Conference record 63 points in a 147-143 loss to Abilene Christian University on Jan. 5, 2009. The game, which went into quadruple overtime, received national attention.

• The TWU gymnastics team won the 2008 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championship in Shreveport, La. The national title is the ninth for the Pioneers, the most of any school in the history of USAG collegiate competition.
  
  
• Pioneers gymnast Courtney Arno-Templet won individual national titles on both the bars and the beam at the 2008 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships.
  
  
• TWU gymnastics head coach Frank Kudlac was inducted into the West Chester University Athletics Hall of Fame in February 2008. He competed as an all-around gymnast for West Chester and was team captain his senior year.
  
  
• TWU gymnastics assistant coach Lisa Klein was named the 2008 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Assistant Coach of the Year.The TWU volleyball squad was one of 39 NCAA Division II volleyball teams to earn the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2007-08 academic year.
  
  
  

The university established its first graduate programs in 1930, and awarded its first doctoral degrees in 1953.  TWU opened the Institute of Health Sciences Dallas and Houston centers in 1957 and 1960, respectively.  A new, state-of-the-art Houston campus opened in the Texas Medical Center in 2006, and plans are under way to build a new Dallas Center by 2011.