Campus News and Updates: March 7

Howdy from your President!

March 9 (this Friday) is a significant anniversary for us. On that date in 1875, the Texas Legislature passed the act that provided for the establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. This year also is the 150th anniversary of the passage of the Morrill Act, which established the land-grant university system.
Building upon our land-grant mission, Texas A&M was recently recognized as one of the nation's 'top 25 colleges and universities serving Hispanics' by Poder Hispanic magazine: http://tx.ag/9gl4ej.
May graduates who attended high school in Texas are encouraged to consider nominating their most influential high school teacher for our Inspiration Award for Exceptional Secondary Education. Award recipients get $2,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Aggieland to be recognized at the commencement ceremony of the nominating student, and the school where the teacher taught the nominee gets $1,000. The nomination deadline is March 15. More information can be found here: http://sga.tamu.edu/inspirationaward.
Our students have been busy preparing for Campus Muster to honor Aggies who have passed away since last year's ceremony on April 21. This year, the names of those who were enrolled in Texas A&M at the time of their passing will be included in the Roll Call. For a complete list of criteria, go to http://muster.tamu.edu/. If you know of an Aggie who fits any of the criteria, contact the Muster Committee at 979-862-1191 or at rollcall@stuact.tamu.edu.
I used Skype with an external audience for the first time earlier this week, with the Brazoria County A&M Mothers' Club. It was a good tool for interacting with others when I could not be there in person.
Congratulations to Adam Williams, who earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 2004 and a master's in international affairs in 2007, for being named the 2012 Black Engineer of the Year in the category of Most Promising Engineer in Government by Black Engineering and Information Technology magazine: http://tx.ag/h194i3. He is a senior member of the technical staff and an international security technical systems analyst at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Finally, I wish everyone a happy and safe Spring Break next week. If you're traveling, you might consider sharing a ride through Zimride, the private ridesharing network for Texas A&M. More than 1,800 Aggie students, faculty and staff have signed up so far. Details (and information on a drawing for an iPad) are at http://www.zimride.com/tamu. I will resume my Wednesday emails on March 21.

Until next week, Gig 'em Aggies. In the meantime, you can always reach me at president@tamu.edu or follow me on Twitter(@aggieprez).

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin '71
President