Stories

Matt Chumchal, Ph.D., was bestowed the Advisor of the Year award from the Texas Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (TAAHP) in February recognizing his exemplary efforts within the Pre-Health Professions Institute. TAAHP connects Texas health professions advisors to each other and to the professional schools that students seek to enter.

Richard Denne, Ph.D., Hunter Enis Endowed Chair in Petroleum Geology in the Department of Geological Sciences, received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Southwest Section of American Petroleum Geologists at their annual conference on June 29.

Associate professor of chemistry, Kayla Green, Ph.D., received a $240,000 award from The Welch Foundation in June. As one of the nation’s largest private funding sources for fundamental chemical research at universities, colleges, and other education institutions in Texas, The Welch Foundation granted funding of more than $23 million for 2021.

A team of five geology graduate students from TCU (Fabian Pena, Carter Lewis, Tyler Zeiger, Sam Totz, and Noah Underwood) competed in the global finals of the AAPG Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) Program competition after winning the regional competition in March.

In February, when the call went out for volunteers to help staff the Texas Christian University/Baylor Scott & White Health Community Vaccine Site, the Pre-Health Professions Institute in the College of Science & Engineering jumped at the opportunity to help.

Another graduating class of Horned Frogs is ready to change the world for the greater good. Finishing strong amid a pandemic, members of the class of 2021 have proved their resilience and grit, skills valued by potential employers.

Joyce Akinnibosun is a senior nutrition major with a biology minor, on the pre-dental track. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and shifts to virtual learning, she has been accepted to every dental school in Texas. Akinnibosun grew up in Cedar Hill, Texas, and came to TCU on a scholarship as a biology major, but eventually switched to nutrition when she discovered she enjoys learning about nutrition and health.

Jessica Boyce ’20 graduated from TCU with a biology major and minors in Spanish and anthropology. Boyce is from Charlotte, North Carolina, and came to TCU on the pre-health track. After graduating last year, she used her EMT license to volunteer with an organization in Mexico during her gap year before entering physician’s assistant school this May.

Ally Lunich and Sawyer Diaz, two pre-health students, have been working to create volunteer opportunities for their peers during the pandemic. Lunich and Diaz recently put together a list of more than 40 charitable and non-profit organizations, both locally and nationally, to provide virtual volunteering opportunities to pre-health students.