Each month, Campus Kudos will spotlight recent awards and distinctions earned by University of Houston faculty and students. These include memberships into professional societies, international honors, competitive fellowships and other accolades. To submit recent accomplishments, send a note to Academic Update.
Armed Forces Salute
Moores School of Music (MSM) Professor of Conducting Franz Krager and members of the
MSM Orchestra performed at NRG Stadium during the Nov. 9 Houston Texans’ halftime
show. The performance was part of the Texans’ Salute to Service with 72,000 fans on
hand for the performance.
According to Krager, he had just a week’s notice to assemble 50 volunteer musicians from the MSM Orchestra and to prepare the composition “Armed Forces Suite.” The National Football League and Houston Texans were outstanding hosts, Krager added.
"Everyone we met there was gracious, helpful, and so very appreciative," he said "It was a 'win, win' for them, and for the University of Houston. I am absolutely certain that they will ask us back for another halftime show, in the future."
The full performance can be viewed online.
Hall of Fame Honors
College of Optometry Professor Michael Kalloniatis became the first recipient of Retina Australia’s Hall of Fame Award. The honor celebrates individuals who have made lasting contributions nationally
or internationally to improve the lives of those affected by inherited retinal diseases.
Heart Beat
The UH Health Family Center and the Humana Institute received the Community Impact
Awards from the American Heart Association for their work on maternal health. UH Health
Family Care Center is one of the sites for the Maternal Health Program, MomRx, while
the Humana Institute leads the evaluation of the program across all Houston Texas
sites.
Marvelous Mentor
University of Houston College of Pharmacy Professor Kevin Garey received the 2025 Outstanding Mentor Award by the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP). The award honors SIDP members who have significantly advanced their mentees’
professional growth and career success in clinical practice, research and education.
A Healthy Award
University of Houston Law Center second-year student Jahnavi Arun has been awarded
the Michael F. Anthony Health Law Scholarship by the American Health Law Association. The national scholarship recognizes law students
who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement and a strong commitment to
advancing health law.
Prescription for Success
University of Houston College of Pharmacy student Jose Ayala has been named one of
21 recipients nationwide of the CVS Health / American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
(AACP) Community Pharmacy Award for Student Pharmacists. The award, which includes a $20,000 scholarship, recognizes student pharmacists
who demonstrate a strong commitment to serving their communities and advancing public
health while overcoming financial barriers in their pursuit of education.
Paper Chase
Computer Science Doctoral students Dana Alsagheer, Michael Yantosca and ChengAo Shen
had papers accepted as first authors to the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Association
for Computational Linguistics held in Vienna, Austria—one of the world’s leading conferences in computational linguistics
and AI.
Mid-Career Achievement
University of Houston evolutionary geneticist, Erin Kelleher, has been awarded a $348,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Mid-Career
Advancement Award. She will pursue groundbreaking research on transposable elements, which are parasitic
pieces of DNA that move within genomes.