These awards demonstrate the Boards appreciation for exceptional educators at each of the 14 UT institutions, Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife said. Their dedication to teaching excellence and student success is instrumental to achieving our education, research and healthcare missions.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler(UTHSCT) Associate Professor Dr. Torry A. Tucker has been selected to receivethe 2020 Regents Outstanding Teaching Award from The University of TexasSystem Board of Regents to recognize extraordinary classroom performance andinnovation.

The honor reflects the great respect students, peers andpresidents have for a recipients teaching abilities and contributions.

This award is so well deserved, and we are so proud of Dr.Tucker, said UTHSCT President Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun. Great faculty, like him,will lead and educate a new generation of scientists and healthcareprofessionals. We appreciate what Dr. Tucker does for our university every day,and I look forward to when we can have an in-person and safe celebration of hisaward.

Dr. Tucker is an associate professor of cellular andmolecular biology. He also serves as the associate dean for faculty andeducation initiatives. Dr. Tucker was trained as a cell biologist at theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham with a focus on diseases of the lung,specifically cystic fibrosis. He came to The University of Texas Health ScienceCenter at Tyler as a postdoctoral fellow in 2007 and joined the faculty in2009. His current research investigates the causes of pleural scarring andsubsequent fibrosis. He also studies pathways involved in the development and progressionof idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Dr. Tucker receives a certificate, medallion and $25,000 inrecognition of his impact on students and the institution. Tucker was one of 27faculty members representing 14 UT academic and health institutions to receivethe 2020 Regents Outstanding Teaching Award.

These awards demonstrate the Boards appreciation forexceptional educators at each of the 14 UT institutions, Board of RegentsChairman Kevin P. Eltife said. Their dedication to teaching excellence andstudent success is instrumental to achieving our education, research andhealthcare missions.

Great teachers inspire, motivate and challenge theirstudents, UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken said. We honor theseoutstanding educators for their service to Texas and Texans.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents establishedthe annual awards program in 2008 to honor exemplary classroom performance andinnovation. Since then, the Board has presented more than $20 million to over750 outstanding UT educators.

Nominees undergo a series of rigorous evaluations bystudents, peer faculty and external reviewers. The review panels consider arange of activities and criteria in their evaluations of a candidates teachingperformance, including classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovativecourse development and student learning outcomes.

As part of the world-renowned University of Texas System,The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) is a graduateschool providing programs for those seeking careers in the medical field.UTHSCT offers Master of Science in Biotechnology, Master of Public Health andMaster of Health Administration degrees, as well as residency programs formedical school graduates in family medicine, general surgery, internalmedicine, occupational medicine, rural family medicine, general psychiatry andrural psychiatry. Psychology internships and fellowships are also available.

Graduate students, medical residents and other medicalprofessionals-in-training develop marketable skills and qualifications to excelin the medical field as they learn alongside innovative scientists, physiciansand other healthcare experts at UTHSCT and UT Health East Texas, a 10-hospitalhealth system throughout East Texas. Led by Kirk A. Calhoun, MD, FACP, theuniversity will soon become the home to the first medical school in East Texas,pending regulatory and accreditation approval. For more information visitwww.uthct.edu.

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Dr. Torry Tucker Receives Outstanding Teaching Award - East Texas Review