Faculty & Staff Brags

This is not an exhaustive list of the many distinguished awards received by TCC faculty and staff in 2014. Please submit your awards to TCC.Brags@tccd.edu.

  • Brent Alford

    Instructor of Drama, Northwest Campus

    Selected to perform in Summer 2014 as Prospero in the Trinity Shakespeare Festival’s acclaimed production of The Tempest. Also selected to appear as The Narrator in the Dallas Theatre Center’s production of The Rocky Horror Show.

  • Orlando Bagcal

    Associate Professor of Construction, South Campus

    Mentored Construction Management students, leading them to a 2nd place award at the 2014 International Builders Show — Residential Construction Management Competition in Las Vegas.

  • Rebecca Balcarcel

    Associate Professor of English, Northeast Campus

    Elected as treasurer of Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers in September 2014.

  • Josh Blann

    Associate Professor of Drama, Northwest Campus

    Invited to be a guest artist for Abilene Christian University’s Abilene Shakespeare Festival in Summer 2014 for the title role in Macbeth.

  • Jeremy Byrd

    Professor of Philosophy, South Campus

    Featured in the international journal of scientific philosophy, Erkenntnis. In the article entitled “The Dialectical Advance of the Direct Argument,” Byrd presented a deeper understanding of holding people morally accountable for their behaviors.

  • Consortium Leadership and Renewal Academy Graduates

    CLARA is a year-long regional leadership program created for the North Texas Community College Consortium member institutions.

    • Michelle Davis-Mohammed

      Manager of Real Estate Management Services, District

    • Kateeka Harris

      Coordinator of Student Support, Northeast Campus

    • Harry Johnson

      Coordinator of Special Projects, Northeast Campus

    • Joan Johnson

      Assistant Professor of Government, Northeast Campus

    • Mina Thompson

      Assistant Professor of English, Northeast Campus

  • Leigh Dietrich

    Assistant Police Chief, District Office

    The Texas Association of College and University Police Administrators (TACUPA) presented the prestigious Larry W. Fultz Memorial Award to Dietrich at its 50th Annual Conference in Corpus Christi.

  • Maddalena De Nicola

    Instructor of German/ESOL, Northeast Campus

    Chosen by her colleagues in the North Texas chapter of AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) for the Klett Langenscheidt Award, presented in September 2014.

  • Charles DeSassure

    Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Southeast Campus

    Appointed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to be a member of the Learning Technology Advisory Committee (LTAC) for a term of three years beginning September 1.

  • Angel Fernandez

    Associate Professor of Art, Trinity River Campus

    Participated in the Spring 2014 Trinity River Faculty Exhibition in the Eastfork Gallery. Displayed an outdoor sculpture installation at El Centro College in Dallas from October 2013 through August 2014. Also has a sculpture on display at the TCC Northwest Campus Sculpture Park.

  • Jason Frawley

    Professor of History, Northwest Campus

    Article published in The Gettysburg Magazine, a highly respected national publication for those interested in Civil War history. He served as the Thomas W. Smith Post-Doctoral Fellow at Gettysburg College from 2012 to 2013 and was selected by The Gettysburg Magazine to write an article reflecting on his time there.

  • Amy Gee

    Assistant Professor of Nursing, Trinity River Campus East

    Selected as one of the Great 10 Nurses for 2014 at Cook Children's Medical Center.

  • John Hartley

    Associate Professor of Art, Northwest Campus

    Honored with the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Visual Artist as part of Fort Worth Weekly’s Best of 2014 Awards. Also selected for the juried Art in the Metroplex 2014 exhibition. Only 35 works were selected from 700 entries. Hartley exhibited his art at the following venues in 2014: Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Artspace 111, TCC Northwest Faculty Exhibition and Gallery 414.

  • Laserfiche Implementation Team

    Darrell Rush (Document Imaging Technician), Carol Latham (Records Imaging Specialist), Nigel Parker (Director of Archives and Records Management), Patricia Shapard (Manager of District Imaging) and Ramon Moreno (Document Imaging Assistant), District

    Received a MCCi Excellence Award as well as the Laserfiche Run Smarter Award. The team’s work was also featured on the Laserfiche website as an example to other companies on how this TCC team accomplished automation of manual paper processing.

  • Brentom Jackson

    Counselor, Northwest Campus

    Became a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor. Jackson is the second certified Mental Health First Aid instructor on the NW campus.

  • Brian Johnson

    Associate Professor of Government and History, South Campus

    Was sworn in as Mayor of Kennedale, Texas. Charles Overstreet, South Campus Professor of Psychology and Sociology is also on the Kennedale City Council.

  • Jennifer Lawrence

    Professor of History, Southeast Campus

    Served as a historical expert on the show, Gunslingers, on the American Heroes Channel (formerly the Military Channel) for the episode focusing on John Wesley Hardin. The episode aired Sunday, August 17.

  • Paul Luyster

    Associate Professor of Biology, South Campus

    Selected as one of 10 national finalists for the Community College Futures Assembly Bellwether Award in the category of “Instructional Programs and Services.” Also certified as a “National Academies of Education Fellow in the Life Sciences” after successfully completing the Mountain West Summer Institute at the University of Colorado.

  • Lydia Macaulay

    Assistant Professor of Computer Science & Information Technology, Southeast Campus

    Recognized as an advanced level instructor by the Cisco Networking Academy program. This award recognizes her achievements as an instructor in the top 25 percent globally in the areas of participation in professional development opportunities, attention to student needs, student performance and use of resources.

  • Tyson McMillan

    Coordinator of Career Services, South Campus

    Honored as a 2014 Texas Association of Special Student Services Programs (TASSSP) TRiO Achiever. Also selected by the TASSSP board as their 2014 Southwest Association of Student Assistance Program TRiO Achiever.

  • Nicole Minor

    Director of Campus and Community Outreach, South Campus

    Received a 2014 Community Service Award at the L. Clifford Davis Legal Association’s Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet for her outstanding work to empower and educate the community.

  • Monica Miranda

    Coordinator of Career Services, South Campus

    Named to the Conference Committee of the Executive Board of the Texas Cooperative Education and Internship Association, serving as a community college representative on the board.

  • Robert Munoz

    Vice President of Community & Industry Education, Trinity River Campus

    Named to the Executive Advisory Council of The Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color. Elected as treasurer of the council, which consists of 14 member institutions in Texas.

  • LeeAnn Olivier

    Instructor of English, Northwest Campus

    Published two poems, “Letters from Crittenden County Jail” and “Fragments of My Father after Vietnam,” in the September 2014 issue of Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journal.

  • Marius Pfeiffer

    Professor of Biology, Northeast Campus

    Completed Leadership Colleyville through the Colleyville Chamber of Commerce in June 2014.

  • Patricia Richards

    Associate Professor of Photography, Northeast Campus

    Selected to exhibit five photography pieces at the Palazzo Albrizzi in Venice, Italy. Also participated in the PhotoTXcetera exhibition, ONEshot!, in the Kevin Page Gallery at the Valley View Center in Dallas, Texas.

  • Adrian Rodriguez

    Vice President of Student Development Services, Trinity River Campus

    Selected as a recipient of Phi Theta Kappa’s prestigious Distinguished College Administrator Award, an international distinction based on outstanding support provided to PTK over many years. Also selected as one of four college administrators in the state of Texas to be inducted into the Hall of Honor for Distinguished College Administrators for the Texas Region of PTK.

  • Winter Rusiloski

    Associate Professor of Art, Northwest Campus

    Selected to exhibit her art at the following venues in 2014: Artspace 111, Dallas Art Fair, Fort Worth Community Arts Center and Cohn Drennan Contemporary. Also selected for the juried Art in the Metroplex 2014 exhibition. Only 35 works were selected from 700 entries.

  • Wafeeq Sabir

    Sociology Adjunct, Trinity River Campus

    Presented with the "National Black Police Association Presidential Award" by NBPA Regional President Bobby Westbrook while conducting a workshop on Bios and Résumés for Law Enforcement at the NBPA Southern Region Spring Training Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.

  • Allan Saxe

    Government Adjunct, Southeast Campus

    Awarded The University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in August.

  • Lisa Self

    Assistant Professor of Child Development and Education, Northeast Campus

    Awarded the 2013–2014 Community College Regional Chapter Counselor Award for Kappa Delta Pi, honor society for education and child development students.

  • Jacob Smith

    Adjunct Instructor for Fire Service Training Center, Northwest Campus

    Won the 2014 Texas Association Fire Educators’ (TAFE) George Hughes Instructor of the Year Award.

  • Frederick Spaulding

    Associate Professor of Art, Northwest Campus

    Selected to exhibit his art at the following venues in 2014: Artspace 111, South Texas College and The University of Texas-Pan American.

  • Demetrice Thompson

    Coordinator of Special Projects, South Campus

    Was invited to serve on the Campus Performance Objective Committee for the 2014–2015 school year at the Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD.

  • Brandon Tucker

    Web Design Coordinator, District

    Exhibited his photography at the 2014 Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival. Also a photography finalist in the TCC Spring Art Competition.

  • Tracy Williams

    Coordinator of Career Services, Northwest Campus

    Accepted the position of president-elect/conference chair on the Executive Board of the Texas Cooperative Education and Internship Association, Inc. This position heads the conference committee.

Chancellor’s Employee Excellence Award Honorees

Bobbie Douglass

Exemplary Teaching

Bobbie Douglass
Northeast Campus
Associate Professor of Music

Julie Lantrip

Exemplary Teaching

Julie Lantrip
Northwest Campus
Professor of Government

Kristina Miranda

Exemplary Teaching

Kristina Miranda
South Campus
Instructor of Biology

Brunilda Santiago

Exemplary Teaching

Brunilda Santiago
Southeast Campus
Associate Professor of Mathematics

Irene Thrower

Exemplary Teaching

Irene Thrower
Trinity River Campus
Instructor of Speech

Shani Barrax Moore

Access and Diversity

Shani Barrax Moore
District Director of Institutional
Diversity and Inclusion

Laura Escamilla

Student Success

Laura Escamilla
Trinity River Campus Academic Advisor for the Transfer Center

Jeronimo Aviles

Service to Community

Jeronimo Aviles
Trinity River Campus Assistant Director of Counseling and Advising

PR and Marketing

Forward Thinking

District Public Relations and Marketing Team:

L–R: Sara Rogers, District Manager of Marketing Communications; Kendra Prince, District Editorial Coordinator; Connie Wiebe, Administrative Office Assistant; Suzanne Cottraux, Executive Director of Public Relations and Marketing; Rita Parson, District Manager of Public Relations; DeeDra Parrish, District Photographer

Men of Color Mentoring Program

Innovation and Creativity

District Men of Color Mentoring Program Team:

L–R: Eligio Martinez, Coordinator of Student Success; Christopher Douglas, Student Success and Title III; Jacqueline Hall, Administrative Assistant; Freddie Sandifer, Jr., Coordinator of Student Success

Chancellor’s Distinguished Leadership Award

Based on the recommendation of TCC campus presidents, Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley, for the second year, presented the Chancellor’s Distinguished Leadership Award to nearly 300 faculty members who made up the District’s Academic Curriculum Teams.