TWU
Home > Marketing
& Communication > next link > next link
TWU Awards Honorary
Degree To Dr. Richard Wainerdi
12/2/04
HOUSTON —
Texas Woman’s University will present Dr. Richard E.
Wainerdi, CEO and chief operating officer of the Texas Medical
Center, with an honorary doctor of laws degree during commencement
ceremonies, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. in the George R. Brown Convention
Center. TWU has awarded only seven other honorary degrees
in its 103-year history.
“It is an
honor to recognize Dr. Wainerdi for his long and productive
association with teaching, learning and intellectual inquiry
and his constant quest for new ideas, new growth and new science,”
said TWU Chancellor and President Dr. Ann Stuart. “Houston’s
civic leaders, health care professionals and residents are
well-aware of Dr. Wainerdi’s extraordinary achievements
and his dedication to health care and education. More remarkable
is that thousands of people half a world away are as aware
of his accomplishments.”
Since taking the
top leadership post at the Texas Medical Center in 1984, Dr.
Wainerdi has been instrumental in increasing the physical
size, patient count, number of employees and students, and
research grants at the TMC. In his role as an educator, he
spent 20 years at Texas A&M University and founded the
university’s Nuclear Science Center, the Activation
Analysis Research Laboratory, the German Synfuels Technology
Retrieval Program, the Center for Energy and Mineral Resources
and a number of other programs, including the university’s
College of Medicine. He continues to serve as an adjunct professor
at Texas A&M, as well as the Baylor College of Medicine,
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and University
of Texas Houston Health Science Center.
“I am delighted
to formally become a part of the Texas Woman's University
family,” said Dr. Wainerdi. “The university has
established a proud tradition of excellence in the health
professions. This is an honor which I will cherish.”
A petroleum engineering
graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Wainerdi also
received master’s and doctoral degrees in petroleum
and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
He also is a graduate of the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology
and the Bronx High School of Science.
Recipients of an
honorary degree from TWU must demonstrate genuine achievement
in an activity consonant with the university’s mission.
Nominations are made by faculty, staff or members of the TWU
Board of Regents, and an advisory committee reviews the nominations
and makes a recommendation to the chancellor of the university.
Previous recipients
are: Nelda C. Stark, honorary doctor of laws degree (1957);
Mary Gibbs Jones, honorary doctor of laws degree (1958); Edith
Alderman Deen, honorary doctor of letters degree (1959); Lady
Bird Johnson, honorary doctor of laws degree (1964); Marcella
Perry, honorary doctor of laws degree (1976); Lucile Petry
Leone, honorary doctor of laws degree (1979); and Marie M.
Clay, honorary doctor of humane letters degree (2003).
###
For Further
Information Contact:
Roy Kron
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: rkron@twu.edu
|
