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Texas Border Business
By Marci Caltabiano-Ponce and Melissa Vasquez
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – This year was jam-packed with activities and significant changes for the UTRGV community, to include defining accomplishments like:
- Repeats of the UTRGV Chess Team’s state and national victories.
- The announcement of an innovative free-tuition program.
- New and expanded courses and degrees.
- Critical scientific and health-related research.
- A long (and constantly growing) list of national and international accolades for students, faculty, and staff.
- And the appearance of our mascot, The Vaquero.
President John F. Kennedy famously said, “Things don’t happen, they are made to happen.”
As a university community, UTRGV’s students, staff and faculty continue to make things happen – day to day, year over year – facing challenges, overcoming obstacles and creating myriad and complex pathways into the future.
As we head into the new year, we know we have hard work ahead. The first class of the UTRGV School of Medicine will graduate in 2020. We will be gazing up at the stars and scoping the ocean floor. We hope you will listen for our music; seek out the weight of our letters; and absorb our colorful brush strokes.
For the next few minutes, though, please take a look back at some of UTRGV’s important – or just plain fun – stories of 2019.
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JANUARY
- UTRGV and City of Matamoros open student services office in IMACULTA
- MS in Bioethics approved for UTRGV School of Medicine
- School of Medicine professor researching new treatment for endometriosis
- Men’s Intramural Flag Football team claims national championship title
FEBRUARY
- UTRGV’s all-female Mariachi Azalea latest addition to mariachi program
- UTRGV researchers uncovering South Texas’s part in the Underground Railroad
- University, Harlingen CISD and City of Harlingen collaborate to construct new building
MARCH
- School of Medicine celebrates opening of its Biomedical Research building in McAllen
- UTRGV opens STARGATE with ribbon-cutting ceremony
- Geology Club hits gold, celebrates 50th anniversary
APRIL
- Back to Back Champions: UTRGV Chess Team defeats rival Webster University to win President’s Cup
- School of Medicine welcomes new cancer immunology team
- UTRGV admitted into prestigious Carnegie Project on Education Doctorate consortium
- FAST FORWARD: UTRGV’s Dr. Christopher Gabler is compressing time to research climate change
MAY
- UTRGV Chess Team recognized at Texas State Capitol in Austin
- Academic Affairs leader testifies before House SubCommittee on higher education and labor
- Multicultural arts take the spotlight at UTRGV’s new Center for Latin American Arts
- UTRGV moves up in Carnegie Classification
JUNE
- Bringing pride and tradition: UTRGV reveals mascot
- UTRGV to offer Master of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology
- Stories to tell: UTRGV’S Fort Ringgold documentary earns Telly Award
JULY
- Two UTRGV faculty members named recipients of UT Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards
- ‘Be Our Guest’: UTRGV offering new degree in hospitality and tourism
- Villalobos receives national award for scientific scholarship, STEM leadership
AUGUST
- UTRGV Names New Vice President and Director of Athletics
- International study finds blood pressure over 24 hours is best predictor of heart, vascular disease
- PA program celebrates 25 years of service to the Valley with this year’s White Coat Ceremony
- UTRGV Ballet Folklórico welcomes new Ballet Folklórico Alumni company
SEPTEMBER
- UTRGV unveils historic free-tuition program
- President Guy Bailey Named 2019 Border Texan of the Year
- UTRGV, City of Pharr, PSJA ISD celebrate groundbreaking of new natatorium
OCTOBER
- White House names UTRGV Professor Karen Lozano a Presidential Excellence Award recipient
- UTRGV School of Medicine announces Vaqueros MD, early-assurance pre-med program
- Sweet Repeat! UTRGV Chess Team wins back-to-back state titles
NOVEMBER
- UTRGV breaks ground on Institute for Neuroscience in Harlingen
- Vaquero Tech Centers officially open in the UTRGV Campus Bookstores
- UTRGV launches Physician Assistant Career Track program for high school students
- Mercado named Psychologist of the Year by the Texas Psychological Association
DECEMBER
- UTRGV computer science major creates winning 2019 President’s Holiday Card
- UTRGV Mariachi Juvenil Aztlán wins at Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza
- School of Medicine’s Professor Krouse conferred as fellow, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
- Well done, Vaqueros! UTRGV graduates a total of 2,700 during fall commencement
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