MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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Ben Thomas , Ph.D. |
Dear Alumni,
Mark your calendars: Friday, November 7, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. is the date for the annual GSBS Alumni Reunion in Houston. This year’s Distinguished Alumnus will be Danny Welch, Ph.D. (1984/Nicolson). As you may know, Danny is internationally recognized for his work in cancer metastasis, and is the Leonard H. Robinson Professor of Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
As president, I was pleased to represent the Alumni Association at this year’s Commencement and to welcome 56 new graduates into our organization. We now number over 1800 members worldwide.
Our third annual Career Day was held in early June and was a great success. A total of 32 students attended, and heard the experiences and insights of twelve experts in a wide range of careers. I want to thank those experts who generously gave their time to describe their often tortuous route to their specific careers and to answer the many questions asked by the students. This year’s experts included Eric Solberg (Associate Dean); Luetta Allen (Ph.D. 2001); Sangeeta Cheema (Ph.D. 2002); Jennifer N. Fernandez (Ph.D. 2000); Ralf Krahe (Ph.D. 1995); Steve Lott (Ph.D. 1997); Suneeta Mahagaokar (Ph.D. 1979); Marya McCarty (Ph.D. 2002), Madhu Purewal (Ph.D. 1990; JD); Joy Marshall (Ph.D. 2003; Steering Committee member); and Vicky Estrera (Ph.D. 2001; Alumni Association vice president). In case you are counting, I also had the pleasure of participating as well.
We welcome two new members to the Alumni Association Steering Committee: Jackie Peltier-Horn (Ph.D. 1981; now a professor at Houston Baptist University), and Molli Murray McGahren (Ph.D. 2007; now a research scientist at M. D. Anderson). They bring the Steering Committee to a total of eight, including Joya Chandra (Ph.D. 1998); Maureen Goode (Ph.D. 1985); Dorrie Lamb (Ph.D. 1980), as well as Joy, Vicky, and me. Linda Carter provides administrative support to the Alumni Association, in addition to her other GSBS responsibilities. They are a dedicated group, and a true pleasure to work with.
Finally, one of our tasks this year is to help redesign and update the Alumni website. January 2009 is now the target launch date, In the meantime, please take a look at our old website and enjoy the photos of this year’s out-of-town reunion that was held in Boston [http://gsbs.uth.tmc.edu/alumni/Boston_Reunion_08.htm]. My special thanks to Deborah Anderson (Ph.D. 1976; Distinguished Alumna 1991), for entertaining us with her remarks, and to Travis Hollmann (Ph.D. 2005) and Susan Ritter (Ph.D. 2005) for helping to host the occasion—we borrowed all of them from their day jobs at Harvard. I also want to thank Dean Stancel for his unwavering support of the Alumni Association and its goals.
As you can see, it has been a busy year. See you at the November Reunion!
Best regards,
Ben Thomas, Ph.D. (1973)
President, GSBS Alumni Association
2007-2008
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Kendra Woods, Ph.D. |
Hello Everyone,
This is my favorite time of year, the end of the academic year and the
most important event, Commencement! After all of the effort, sacrifice,
placing other aspects of life on hold to focus on research and writing,
let the celebrations begin! Once friends and family see our GSBS graduates
cross that ever important stage to the joy and pride of their faculty
mentors they somehow understand just how powerful the journey has been.
I love the pageantry, the tradition and I stand ready to join the party.
There are over 50 students crossing that stage with 50+ more celebrating
in spirit from their various new postdoctoral, pharmaceutical and NIH
positions.
To celebrate
our students the GSBS Alumni Steering Committee will host several events.
First, we will welcome the 2006-2007 graduates into the official ranks
of the GSBS Alumni Association with a final Friday Afternoon Club (on
a Thursday, May 3). Later, in June, we will continue the tradition set
last year of a great West Coast Reunion by hosting the first ever East
Coast Alumni Reunion on June 16 in Washington D. C. Whether you live in
the D. C. area or can plan to visit please join us for a reception and
dinner. Invitations will be mailed soon.
Our
annual mentoring event will feature a second alumni-sponsored Career Day
for GSBS students that will take place on Saturday morning, June 23. We
are gathering our alumni speakers now who will showcase their professional
expertise and stellar careers in areas our students have indicated the
desire to learn more about.
I have
had the privilege this year to have worked with a dedicated and innovative
group of Alumni Steering Committee members: past presidents Joya Chandra,
Ph.D. (1998) and Dorrie Lamb, Ph.D. (1980); vice president Ben Thomas,
Ph.D. (1973); Vicky Estrera, Ph.D. (2001); Maureen Goode, Ph.D. (1985);
Mustafa Ozen, Ph.D. (1999) and our newest member Joy Marshall, Ph.D. (2003).
These GSBS alumni have enthusiastically devoted their time to make the
2006-2007 academic year extraordinary.
Most recently we have been reviewing the outstanding nominees for Distinguished
Alumni. Watch your e-mail for an announcement of the 2007-2008 honoree.
Have a wonderful
summer!
Cheers,
Kendra Woods,
Ph.D. (1995)
GSBS Alumni Association President
2006-2007
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Joya Chandra, Ph.D. |
Howdy Y'all,
It's that time of year—rodeo season, and what better than to round
up some of the latest developments at the GSBS. Before I get too far,
I do want to mention the wonderful Alumni Reunion hosted last November,
complete with music, in the George and Cynthia Mitchell Basic Sciences
Research Building, new home for the GSBS. (Find your reunion photos at
http://gsbs.uth.tmc.edu/alumni/reunions.html). We honored Bhudatt Paliwal,
Ph.D. (1973) as the GSBS Distinguished Alumnus for 2005-2006. Dr. Paliwal
brought us an extraordinary tale of his journey from a small village in
India to a position of note in the world of medical physics radiation
dosimetry and imaging.
In January we said farewell to immediate past-president Steven Lott, Ph.D.
(1997), who has gone to on to head a brand new lab at the University of
Florida Health Science Center-Jacksonville. Steve continues his loyalty
to GSBS with willingness to help us host the first-ever locality-based
alumni gathering, this year in the Palo Alto area—think fine California
dining. More about this later—watch for a Save-the-Date postcard
for the evening of May 20, 2006. Thanks to you Steve, and thanks to our
California on-site partners, Patty Wong, Ph.D. (2001) and David Voehringer
who are helping us to organize the evening. Thank you, Steve, for your
many efforts as president and for your vision of a cross-country network
that will support the GSBS in many ways, and grow collegial, professional,
and personal connections.
Speaking of support, it was good to have Kendra Woods, Ph.D. (1995) be
elected vice president/treasurer during the Reunion—she’s
got her work cut out for her. And, speaking of the future, I would like
to see a way that the remarkable resource of GSBS Alumni be utilized,
in some fashion, to inform and assist current GSBS students with their
career potential—perhaps through a career day. Stay tuned, and please
consider in the meantime, signing on to be an In-Reach mentor. I welcome
your thoughts via jchandra@mdanderson.org.
Joya Chandra, Ph.D. (1998)
President, 2005-2006
GSBS Alumni Association
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Steven T. Lott , Ph.D. |
Dear Alumni and other friends,
What an amazing year! The GSBS has moved from the far reaches of the Texas
Medical Center to its very core, and as you may imagine, is loving their
new home in the concrete and marble George and Cynthia Mitchell Basic
Sciences Research Building, June and Virgil Waggoner Academic Hall.
Thank you for the honor of being your Alumni Association president. Two
of the most significant events that took place last fall included the
first ever, alumni sponsored, Undergraduate Research Competition, and
the 2004-2005 Alumni Reunion. The Undergraduate Research Competition was
well supported by the GSBS, and attended by 40 students from across Texas
and the United States. Nineteen undergrads presented scientific posters
and 21 others were peer reviewers. The Competition was a featured part
of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s 10
th Annual Research Day, and the students were hosted at a breakfast in
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Special thanks go
to the very able chairpersons, Kendra Woods, Ph.D. (1995) and Brenda Whaley,
Ph.D. (1995), to Joya Chandra, Ph.D. (1998) for heading the poster selection,
to Maureen Goode, Ph.D. (1985) who wrote the abstract template, to Dorrie
Lamb for shepherding the undergrad advisors, and to Ben Thomas, Ph.D.
(1973) who headed the panel of alumni judges. I had the fun of guiding
a very enthusiastic group of peer reviewers.
The 2004-2005 Reunion reception and dinner were a wonderful success with
a record turnout of 135 people. This year, mark your calendars for November
11, 2005, when we honor Dr. Bhudatt Paliwal, renowned medical physics
researcher, as the Distinguished Alumnus. Joya Chandra was elected vice-president/treasurer
last fall, which means she will have the thrill of serving as your president
next year. The plan for the 2005-2006 Reunion is to give you an opportunity
to see the Graduate School, up close and personal, in its exhilarating
(and permanent) location. This will be a great chance to visit with colleagues
and faculty, so I look forward to seeing you there. Molly Bray, Ph.D.
(1998), Vicki Estrera, Ph.D. (2001) and Mustafa Ozen, Ph.D. (1999) will
be on hand as the newest Alumni Steering Committee members. Not to be
forgotten, outgoing president, Dorrie Lamb, Ph.D. (1980), who handed me
the ‘presidential brick’ and finished presiding over this
busy group, is roundly applauded for her many efforts.
I invite you to become involved; the experience is priceless.
Steven T. Lott, Ph.D. (1997)
President, 2004-2005
GSBS Alumni Association
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Dolores (Dorrie) Lamb, Ph.D. |
Dear Alumni and other friends,
I want to thank you for the honor of being your president, and give you information about the latest news from your Alumni Association Steering Committee. Currently, we are working on the development of an under-graduate scientific poster competition to be hosted by the GSBS and the Alumni Association next fall. This science day was proposed by the Alumni Association in an effort to fulfill our mission to broaden the visibility of GSBS in the community, promote an educational event in the biological sciences, and give the college student-participants one of their first opportunities to present their research projects in a professional, user-friendly forum. With a little luck, it will encourage the recruitment potential for the Graduate School, as well.
The "Retro Reunion" hosted in November was a lot of fun, complete with costumes on a few guest "celebrities," and a great talk by Distinguished Alumnus, Gene Gerner, Ph.D. (1974). Dr. Gerner (who presented a brilliant seminar in conjunction with grand rounds on Friday) spoke extemporaneously and entertaingly Saturday evening about the challenges for a cancer researcher working on the gastrointestinal system. The new John P. McGovern Commons in the heart of the Texas Medical Center was the site for the event, and as it turned out, was quite fabulous. If you were not able to join us for this year's reunion, I hope you will plan to do so next fall. Please take a look at the photos from the "Retro Reunion."
Steven Lott, Ph.D., (1997) was elected vice-president/treasurer (and hence president next year). Thank you, Steve, for agreeing to serve. Most importantly, I want to thank Brenda Whaley, Ph.D. (1995) for her leadership as immediate past president, and her continued active participation as we go forward with the scientific poster competition. Kendra Woods, Ph.D. (1995) and Joya Chandra, Ph.D. (1998) are two new Steering Committee members (they volunteered!), and we expect Mustafa Ozen, Ph.D. (1999) to join us on this committee before the year is out. Thank you for all your support. Check the website on a regular and please take time to update your contact information at http://gsbs.uth.tmc.edu/alum_directory.htm. In other words, I hope you will stay in touch, it's going to be a fascinating year.
Dolores (Dorrie) Lamb, Ph.D. (1980)
President, 2003-2004
GSBS Alumni Association
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Ann Killary, Ph.D. |
I'm very pleased to welcome you to the GSBS Alumni Association. In January, 2000, when Dean Stancel asked me and four other GSBS graduates (Maureen E. Goode, Ph.D., 1985/Daiger; Edward F. Jackson, Ph.D., 1990/Narayana; Ben Thomas, Ph.D., 1973/Tessmer; and Brenda Whaley, Ph.D., 1995/Barber) to serve as a Steering Committee, I think we had little idea how much the Association could do and how much fun it would be. With the able assistance of the GSBS's Linda Carter, we have met every month or two since then to write the Association's mission statement and bylaws, to plan the kick-off dinner and Reunions, to write the web page, and to design programs for alumni to keep in touch and help the GSBS and its students.
OK, maybe that sounds more like work than fun. (Dorrie lamb, Ph.D., 1980/Sanborn, did lighten our load by joining the Steering Committee after the Reunion.) But if you attended the Reunion on October 14, 2000, you'll have some idea what I mean. At the Reunion, we got back together with old friends (remember that woman in your lab who always took your Pipetmen?) and made new ones from other graduating classes (like the young guy who picked your graduate-school picture out of the display and asked you who those "old people" were), and we got the latest news on GSBS from Dean Stancel.
A lot of us found that the Reunion was a great opportunity to make new connections (now that you've forgiven the woman who took your Pipetmen, maybe you'll write a grant with her, and maybe you'll hire that young guy, unless he offers you a job first). If you didn't get to attend last year's Reunion, check out the pictures (don't worry, the old pictures of you aren't there), and check back for the new photos of this year's event.
I think the Reunion (and working on the Steering Committee) made a lot of us feel connected to GSBS in a way in which we hadn't as students. We're now in a position to work with the current students and help the GSBS continue its mission to educate scientists. Most of us feel passionately about our careers in science, and which of us wouldn't want to help other people get started on the same path? We have an easy way to match you up with students who would like to talk to you about your career: the In-Reach Mentoring Program. Brenda Whaley has done a stellar job of setting up this program, but we need you to participate, so please consider signing up for it.
The Steering Committee will continue to develop other ways in which all alumni can work with GSBS students and the institution as a whole and maintain contact with other alumni. Look up your friends in the Directory, check out what they've been doing lately [News] send us news about yourself News and Memories and let us know how you'd like to get involved [Volunteer]. Be sure to check out the Reunion 2001 photos, and I hope to see you in 2002!
Ann M. Killary, Ph.D.
('80)
President, 2000-2001
GSBS Alumni Association
