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Awards & Grants

Celebrating Excellence: UTRGV announces faculty award recipients for 2024-2025

Celebrating Excellence: UTRGV announces faculty award recipients for 2024-2025

  Friday, May 09, 2025
These annual awards recognize faculty who have demonstrated outstanding contributions in teaching, online teaching, research, service, student mentoring, community-engaged scholarship and sustainability education.

Azenett Cornejo, newly retired former director of Student Media at UTRGV, is one of two inductees into the 2025 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association’s Hall of Fame, and the first from UTRGV.

Former UTRGV Student Media director inducted into TIPA Hall of Fame

  Thursday, April 17, 2025
Azenett Cornejo, a Brownsville native and former director of UTRGV Student Media, is one of two new inductees into the 2025 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Hall of Fame, making her the first from UTRGV to receive this honor.

Girl Day Engineering

UTRGV’s Orozco-Leonhardt receives 2024 SME Faculty Advisor Award

  Wednesday, April 02, 2025
When Dr. Edna Orozco-Leonhardt first stepped into her classroom at UTRGV, she envisioned a space where aspiring engineers could turn academic experiences into pathways for advanced manufacturing careers and groundbreaking research. That vision ...

UTRGV’s Dr. Teresa Feria-Arroyo honored with prestigious AAHHE award

UTRGV’s Dr. Teresa Feria-Arroyo honored with prestigious AAHHE award for student mentoring in STEM

  Monday, March 17, 2025
Dr. Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo, a distinguished faculty member at UTRGV, continues to make waves in the academic community with her recent national recognition. Honored by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), she ...


  • ‘There’s so much more to discover’

      Wednesday, February 12, 2025 — When Dr. Erin Easton, an assistant professor with the UTRGV School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences, first opened the email congratulating her on winning The Explorers Club Citation of Merit, she was aboard a Schmidt Ocean Institute ...

  • UTRGV’s Feria, Qubbaj receive prestigious Presidential Mentoring Award

      Friday, January 24, 2025 — Dr. Teresa “Paty” Feria Arroyo and Dr. Ala Qubbaj never set out to win a national award; they simply wanted to help more students discover opportunities in the fields of science and engineering. Their dedication has earned each of ...

  • UTRGV among institutions chosen for Gulf Scholars Program

      Friday, December 20, 2024 — The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced UTRGV as part of the 2024 cohort for the Gulf Scholars Program.

  • Dr. Alexis Racelis selected as national Rural Innovator, recognized for community and environmental impact

      Wednesday, December 18, 2024 — Dr. Alexis Racelis, director of UTRGV’s Agroecology and Resilient Food Systems program, was selected as one of 14 Rural Innovators by the White House’s Domestic Policy Council. On Wednesday, senior Biden-Harris Administration ...

  • UTRGV Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center recognized with national Award of Excellence

      Monday, December 16, 2024 — The UTRGV Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center (ECC) earned the University Economic Development Association (UEDA) Award of Excellence in the Engaged University category, recognizing its eBridge Center for Business and Commercialization ...

  • UTRGV professor awarded NSF grant to enhance medical sensor reliability

      Monday, December 09, 2024 — Li Zhang, a professor in the UTRGV Department of Computer Science, has received a $260,000 grant for research aimed at improving the reliability of deep learning models that analyze time-series data from medical sensors, crucial in modern ...

  • UTRGV’s Zayas celebrated with Texas Association of Bilingual Education award

      Thursday, November 21, 2024 — Dr. Luis H. Zayas, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, recently earned the 2024 Texas Association of Bilingual Education (TABE) “Dr. José A. Ruiz-Escalante" Higher ...

  • APLU recognizes UTRGV with prestigious Degree Completion Award

      Tuesday, November 12, 2024 — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was awarded the 2024 Degree Completion Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), beating out fellow finalists University of Kentucky and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The ...

  • UTRGV’s Hebbard earns UT Regents Outstanding Teaching Award

      Wednesday, October 30, 2024 — This month, The University of Texas System Board of Regents honored her dedication and innovative teaching methods with the prestigious 2024 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA). Hebbard, a lecturer in the UTRGV Writing and Language ...

  • UTRGV receives $500,000 for Manufacturing Incubator

      Wednesday, October 23, 2024 — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) announced today it received $500,000 in federal funding for its Rio Grande Valley Manufacturing Incubator, a project set to bolster advanced manufacturing and economic growth in the region.

  • UTRGV and STC receive NSF grant for coordinated studies in calculus

      Wednesday, October 02, 2024 — The “HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Enhancing Student Success in Calculus to Strengthen STEM Pathways at Hispanic-Serving Institutions,” is intended to increase student success and decrease the average time students take ...

  • UTRGV GEAR UP awarded $28 million grant for college readiness programs

      Monday, September 23, 2024 — UTRGV has started the Fall semester with renewed funding for its Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, known as GEAR UP.  The funding is more than $28 million for the next seven years. UTRGV is one of six awardees ...

  • UTRGV professor earns awards from EnergyTech UP faculty competitions

      Thursday, September 19, 2024 — Derek Abrams, RCVCOBE associate professor of practice for entrepreneurship and innovation, recently was awarded the inaugural 2024 Faculty Explorer Award from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP).

  • UTRGV receives transformational $30 million grant to establish Diabetes Center of Excellence

      Monday, September 16, 2024 — The Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation (VBLF) has awarded a significant $30 million grant to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to establish the UTRGV Diabetes Center of Excellence (UTRGV DCE). The new center, which will be built near the ...

  • UTRGV celebrates employee milestones

      Tuesday, August 13, 2024 — More than 300 UTRGV employees were recognized recently for their years of service to the university, during the 2024 Service Awards ceremony. Among them was Maria A. Garcia, celebrating a special milestone: 50 years with the university and ...

  • UTRGV awards 10 Faculty Excellence Awards for 2023-24

      Wednesday, June 26, 2024 — The UTRGV Office of Faculty Affairs named 10 faculty members as recipients of the 2023-2024 UTRGV Faculty Excellence Awards.

  • UTRGV CHAPS named 2024 recipient of SAA Excellence in Public Archaeology Programming Award

      Wednesday, May 29, 2024 — UTRGV Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) recently received the 2024 Society for American Archaeology’s (SAA) Excellence in Public Archaeology Programming Award.

  • Sam’s Club gives $350K to RCVCOBE, Career Center to help provide career opportunities

      Tuesday, May 21, 2024 — A new gift from UTRGV’s collaborating partner, Sam’s Club, is expected to help broaden opportunities for students and their future careers.

  • UTRGV President Guy Bailey named Chief Executive HR Champion

      Tuesday, May 21, 2024 — UTRGV President Guy Bailey has received the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) 2024 Chief Executive HR Champion Award, given in recognition of his commitment to the employees of the university.

  • Dr. Fred Farias III awarded President’s Medal of Honor during UTRGV Spring 2024 Commencement

      Saturday, May 11, 2024 — Dr. Fred Farias III, chairman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and president and CEO of 20/20 Vision Care, has been awarded the UTRGV President Medal of Honor, a prestigious distinction only five others have received before him.

  • UTRGV School of Medicine awarded $500,000 to develop chronic pain, depression comorbidity treatments

      Tuesday, April 23, 2024 — Thanks to a $500,000 grant awarded by the Trauma Research and Combat Care Casualty Collective (TRC4), researchers at the UTRGV School of Medicine’s Institute of Neuroscience will examine the effectiveness and safety of novel strategies for ...

  • Fortune ranks UTRGV MSBA #4 in Texas

      Tuesday, April 16, 2024 — Fortune magazine recently ranked UTRGV’s Online MSBA program 4th in Texas for 2024 – and 17th in the broader national roster.

  • UTRGV marks facility enhancements with $2.4M EDA grant

      Friday, April 12, 2024 — UTRGV on Thursday marked the beginning of a transformative facility enhancement project, with a groundbreaking ceremony at the Community Engagement and Student Success Building (CESS) in Edinburg. Funded by a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. ...

  • UTRGV to kick off facility improvements with $2.4M EDA grant

      Tuesday, April 09, 2024 — UTRGV will hold a groundbreaking ceremony and special announcement on Thursday, April 11, to highlight the start of new facility improvements. Supported by a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), the ...

  • Valley native and UTRGV medical student earns national health recognition

      Tuesday, April 02, 2024 — Briana Gonzalez DiGrazia, UTRGV School of Medicine student, earned the prestigious U.S. Public Health Service 2024 Excellence in Public Health Award, recognizing medical students who demonstrate leadership in advancing initiatives to enhance ...

  • UTRGV MS in Business Analytics ranks 4th in Texas

      Friday, March 29, 2024 — The MS program, recently ranked 4th in Texas by Fortune, helps train and prepare UTRGV students for jobs with companies that collect data needed to derive insights, improve efficiencies, reduce waste and increase profitability.

  • UTRGV professor awarded 2024 Hispanic Women Making History honor

      Tuesday, March 26, 2024 — Dr. Sylvia Robles, assistant professor of practice in the UTRGV Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship (RCVCOBE), has been named a 2024 Hispanic Women Making History awardee by the Hispanic Women Network of Texas – RGV ...

  • Dr. Eloisa G. Tamez recognized as a Leader and Legend in Texas Nursing

      Monday, March 25, 2024 — The Texas Nurses Association recently selected Tamez, professor and associate dean for Student Success & Engagement at UTRGV School of Nursing, as one of five TNA members recognized as a “Leader and Legend of Texas Nursing” ...

  • UTRGV School of Medicine awarded $17.5M to expand Graduate Medical Education programs

      Thursday, March 07, 2024 — The funding spans the 2024-2025 academic year and bolsters expansion of the UTRGV School of Medicine’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs by offering new residency options within the community. The School of Medicine’s goal is ...

  • UTRGV provost awarded Society for Social Work and Research book award

      Monday, February 26, 2024 — UTRGV provost Dr. Luis Zayas has been awarded the Society for Social Work and Research book award. Zayas was recognized for research on effects of children living in immigration detention centers on the border.

  • UTRGV School of Medicine granted multiple NIH awards for research

      Wednesday, January 31, 2024 — The UTRGV School of Medicine has received five awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research on various neurobiological studies, including chronic pain, neurodegenerative diseases, HIV and Alzheimer’s disease.

  • UTRGV Testing Center awarded CLEP Honors Achievement

      Thursday, November 16, 2023 — UTRGV’s Edinburg Testing Center has been given the CLEP Honors National Achievement award for being a top 20 CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) honors test center.

  • UTRGV awarded $5M grant to help revolutionize defense manufacturing

      Friday, November 03, 2023 — UTRGV hosted the inaugural meeting of its America's Additive Foundry (AAF) Consortium, an initiative funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense's Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) program.

  • UTRGV receives $1.2M NASA award to boost STEM education and research

      Tuesday, October 31, 2023 — UTRGV has been awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant from NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, to enhance focus on earth and planetary sciences. Funded by the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP), the initiative aims ...

  • Gov. Abbott’s office gives UTRGV the Lex Frieden Employment Award

      Thursday, October 26, 2023 — The Office of the Texas Governor has awarded UTRGV the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities’ annual Lex Frieden Employment Award, for work performed within the UTRGV Office of Human Resources, the UTRGV Enactus Group ...

  • UTRGV CMAS awarded grant for museum internships, fellowships

      Wednesday, October 25, 2023 — UTRGV’s Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) and the B3 Institute recently received a $741,469 grant for the UTRGV CMAS Latinx Museum Internship and Fellowship Program.

  • UTRGV hometowns – Edinburg and Brownsville – make Top 10 list of most wallet-friendly college towns in the U.S.

      Monday, October 23, 2023 — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is located in not one, but two of the most wallet-friendly college towns in the country according to WalletHub’s “Best College Towns & Cities in America.”

  • UTRGV’s Yznaga honored with prestigious Young Center award for her work with immigrant children’s rights

      Friday, October 20, 2023 — Dr. Selma Yznaga, a UTRGV professor in the Department of Counseling, is the 2023 recipient of the esteemed Maria Woltjen Waymaker Award from the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

  • UTRGV named inaugural ‘Academic Institution of the Year’ by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

      Friday, September 15, 2023 — The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), has named UTRGV its inaugural Academic Institution of the Year for 2023.

  • UTRGV receives NSF grant for state-of-the-art electron microscope

      Thursday, September 14, 2023 — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded UTRGV a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award to acquire a special, cutting-edge microscope that will expand the possibilities for interdisciplinary molecular research at UTRGV and increase ...

  • NSF funds UTRGV - TSC partnership in multi-messenger astronomy

      Thursday, September 14, 2023 — A new research and education partnership in astronomy, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has developed between UTRGV and Texas Southmost College (TSC) to conduct research in multi-messenger and time domain astronomy.

  • ‘Chronicle of Higher Education’ lists UTRGV as third-fastest growing public doctoral institution

      Thursday, August 24, 2023 — The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released the Fall 2023 issue of the Almanac of Higher Education 2023, where for the sixth year in a row, UTRGV is ranked as one of the top 10 fastest-growing public doctoral institutions in the United ...

  • UTRGV’s Dr. Leticia Villarreal Sosa receives 2023 Gary Lee Shaffer Award

      Wednesday, July 05, 2023 — Dr. Leticia Villarreal Sosa, LCSW, UTRGV associate dean of Research and Faculty Development and professor in the School of Social Work, recently was honored with the 2023 Gary Lee Shaffer Award presented by the School Social Work Association of ...

  • Vackars gift $1 million to the UTRGV Department of Communication

      Wednesday, June 28, 2023 — Robert C. and Janet Vackar have gifted $1 million to the UTRGV College of Liberal Arts to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a degree in mass communication.

  • UTRGV earns second gold rating for campus sustainability practices

      Friday, June 23, 2023 — UTRGV has received another distinction for collegiate sustainability, this time with a gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainable Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (AASHE ...

  • UTRGV Center for Teaching Excellence awarded NSF grant for SaLT program

      Wednesday, June 21, 2023 — The National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) has awarded a $199,838 grant to the UTRGV Center for Teaching Excellence’s Students as Learners and Teachers program ...

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