Rice professor inducted into Texas Science Hall of Fame

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– February 1, 2002Posted in: News Releases

CONTACT: B.J. Almond
PHONE:
(713) 348-6770
EMAIL: balmond@rice.edu



RICE
PROFESSOR INDUCTED INTO TEXAS SCIENCE HALL OF FAME
Richard Tapia among 11
Texans honored


A mathematician at Rice
University is among this year’s inductees to the Texas Science Hall of
Fame.


Richard Tapia, the Noah
Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics, was chosen for his
many contributions to mathematics and education, including the nationally
recognized model program he established to produce more women and
underrepresented minority Ph.D.s in mathematics. Thirty-one mathematics students
have received a Ph.D. degree under Tapia’s direct supervision.


Tapia and 10 other
Texans, including astronaut Mae Jemison and Nobel laureates Hans Deisenhofer,
Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein, were inducted at a ceremony in January in
San Antonio, where efforts are under way to raise funds to build a facility to
house the Texas Science Hall of Fame. “I was extremely honored to be included in
a group of such distinguished individuals who had demonstrated science
creativity in so many original ways,” Tapia said.


The new inductees were
recognized in both houses of the Texas legislature and commended by Governor
Rick Perry. Henry Cisneros, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, spoke at the induction ceremony.


The Texas Science Hall
of Fame, established in 2000 by the Center for Leadership in Science,
Mathematics and Technology at the Alamo Community College District, recognizes
Texans who have played a major role in significant scientific accomplishments in
the state.


Nominations from a wide
variety of scientific areas are accepted from individuals and organizations and
then voted on by an advisory board; the attention to the premier achievers is
intended to inspire others to take on the challenges of the world through
innovative use of science.


Tapia, who is also
director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education and associate
director of graduate studies for Rice’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies,
is internationally known for his research in the computational and mathematical
sciences.


The complete list of
inductees to the Texas Science Hall of Fame can be found on the Web at <www.texassciencesummit.org/halloffame/hof00.htm>.



Rice University is consistently ranked one of America’s
best teaching and research universities. It is distinguished by its: size-2,700
undergraduates and 1,700 graduate students; selectivity-10 applicants for each
place in the freshman class; resources-an undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio
of 5-to-1, and the fifth largest endowment per student among private American
universities; residential college system, which builds communities that are both
close-knit and diverse; and collaborative culture, which crosses disciplines,
integrates teaching and research, and intermingles undergraduate and graduate
work. Rice’s wooded campus is located in the nation’s fourth largest city and on
America’s South Coast.

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