Texas A&M AgriLife members receive Texas A&M Board of Regents awards

Some Texas A&M AgriLife personnel were among the faculty members and agency service, extension or research professionals designated as Regents Professors and Regents Fellows for 2018-2019 by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

In a university press release, Elaine Mendoza, chairperson of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, stated, “These awards recognize and honor the exemplary accomplishments and contributions of our faculty, extension or research professionals.”

Mendoza also noted recipients “exemplify the commitment to excellence in research and service that sets Texas A&M System employees apart.”

Dorothy Shippen, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and biophysics, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, was selected for the Regents Professor Award. Her research focuses on biochemical and cytological approaches for studying telomeres, which play an essential role in genome stability and cell proliferation capacity.

Texas A&M AgriLife personnel chosen for the Regents Fellow Service Award were Danny Nusser and Kathy Smith, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service; Wenwei Xu, Ph.D., AgriLife Research; and Bradley Smith, Texas A&M Forest Service.

Nusser, AgriLife Extension regional program leader, Amarillo, was cited for his leadership in educational programming in agriculture and natural resources, community resources and economic development in the agency’s 41-county North Region.

Kathy Smith, an AgriLife Extension agent in Parker County, was recognized for her 35-plus years presenting adult and youth family and community health programming to Texas residents.

Xu, a professor of corn breeding and genetics with AgriLife Research, Lubbock, was cited for his work in breeding multiple stress-tolerant corn germplasm for food, feed and silage with traits for improved yield, drought and heat tolerance, and insect and disease resistance.

Bradley Smith, a fire behavior analyst with the Texas A&M Forest Service, Longview, was honored for his work analyzing fire behavior and applying what is learned toward fire prevention and identifying priority areas and other factors to help firefighters make tactical decisions.

The Regents Professor Awards program was established in 1996, and the Regents Fellow Service Awards program was established in 1998.