• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) announced that the U.S. Department of Education has recognized TTUHSC as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). HSI designation enables the university to strengthen its ongoing efforts to recruit and support underrepresented students, grow a more diversified faculty and better serve its communities as a comprehensive health care institution.
  • Professor of Veterinary Microbiology Devendra Shah joined the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine. He began his duties March 1. 
  • Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) researchers were ranked in the top 2 percent of global researchers by a widely publicized citation database created at Stanford  University.
  • AC Student Media brought home 24 awards, including four first-place prizes, from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA) convention March 23-26 in Fort Worth. The group also won Gold and a Best of Show Award in the student division at the 2022 American Advertising Awards. The annual awards, known as the ADDYs, were presented Feb. 17 at Reed Beverage in Amarillo and recognize excellence in local student and professional advertising.
  • AC has been recertified as an Achieving the Dream (ATD) Leader College of Distinction, a designation AC has held since ATD created the award in 2018. 
  • Nursing Process ranked WT’s online RN-to-BSN program No. 6 in the nation in a recent report. WT’s program is the only one in Texas to make the list. WT’s program was cited for its flexibility for working nurses and its affordability, as well as its accelerated track that allows students to earn online bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing.
  • The University’s master of science in finance and economics has been in the Top 10 for a total of eight consecutive years for TFE Times, an online news platform that’s considered one of the world’s foremost academia media companies.
  • WTAMU students won eight awards at the 2022 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association convention. Students from the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities won five live contest awards and three awards for previously published/broadcast material.
  • Dr. Jean Stuntz retired this spring after 21 years of service at WT. During her tenure, she helped found WT’s gender studies program.
  • WT’s One West campaign scored a gold, two silver and two bronze awards at the 2022 American Advertising Awards. WT students from the Department of Communication and the Department of Art, Theatre and Dance won a total of 13 ADDY Awards at the 2022 American Advertising Awards.
  • Twenty WTAMU faculty members have been awarded more than $70,000 in aid for projects through the WTAMU Foundation. The spring 2022 grant cycle will help fund the ongoing Rural Mural Project from WT’s Department of Art, Theatre and Dance; research into labor market issues among rural educators; the purchase of an electric kiln for large-scale ceramic sculptures; a project that makes sharing cutting-edge information technology easier among WT students, faculty, staff and alumni; and more.
  • Dr. Priscella Correa, WT’s Baptist Community Services Professor of Nursing, was chosen for the 2022 cohort of Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education’s Career and Leadership Development Institute.
  • Kelly Preston, FirstBank Southwest’s SVP/ HR Director, received the United Way of Amarillo & Canyon “Loaned Executive of the Year” award. The Loaned Executive position is designed to assist the organization’s annual campaign, and communicate to the community and local businesses the services and needs of United Way. 
  • Amarillo South Rotary Club awarded Marshall Stallwitz the Amarillo Firefighter of the Year for 2021. Stallwitz is a firefighter assigned to Fire Station 2. He is a member of the Amarillo Fire Department’s Peer Support Team.
  • Kids Incorporated announced a million-dollar donation from Toot’n Totum. Phase One of the new Kids Inc.  sports complex will include 60 acres of lighted synthetic turf fields for sports such as baseball, softball and soccer.
  • Paul French was honored with the REALTOR Emeritus Award for 40 years of continuous membership.  
  • The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration celebrated the groundbreaking of the Pantex Plant’s Advanced Fabrication Facility. The AFF will replace structures dating back almost eight decades and support Pantex’s role as NNSA’s High Explosives Center of Excellence for Manufacturing. 
  • Corporal Tony Vaughn of the Amarillo Police Department was promoted to Sergeant and Officer Daniel Smith was promoted to Corporal. Sergeant Tony Vaughn has been with APD for 15 years. 
  • The United Family and Mrs. Baird’s Bread honored three Amarillo area teachers as Teachers on the Rise. The winners are Lorena Baca of Humphrey’s Highland Elementary, Brittany Monds of Clarendon Junior High and Bruce Bryant of Canadian High School.
  • Peyton Bivins with the Amarillo College Foundation, Devin Savage with FirstCapital Bank of Texas, and Haley Stoddard with Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch were awarded 2021 Young Professionals of the Year by Elevate Amarillo. 
  • Stella Maddox of FirstBank Southwest was promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer.
  • Michael Cruz has been named chief executive officer (CEO) at BSA Health System. Cruz first joined BSA as vice president of operations in 2003, later  becoming chief operating officer (COO).  
  • BSA Health System announced the adoption of a  $15.00 per hour minimum wage, benefitting current employees and new hires. Additionally, BSA updated wages with a market adjustment for other positions, such as acute care registered nurses. 
  • David Hudson, president, Xcel Energy – New Mexico, Texas  (SPS), retired on May 1 after 38 years of service to the company that included more than eight years guiding the company’s Southwest operations. Hudson became president of Xcel Energy’s Southwestern Public Service Company in January 2014.
  • For the third year in a row, Xcel Energy has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.  
  • Tiffany Sharpensteen joined Education Credit Union as the Business Development Specialist. Sharpensteen comes to ECU with 13 years of banking and Credit Union experience ranging from Financial Education to Branch Management. 
  • Physicians Surgical Hospitals has added the da Vinci® Xi robotic system to its surgical options. The da Vinci® Xi is a state-of-the-art surgical robotics platform that can be used for gynecologic, urologic, thoracic, cardiac and general surgeries.
  • Southwest Airlines, in conjunction with Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, celebrated the start of Southwest Airlines’ new daily non-stop service to Austin. The new expanded service to Austin Bergstrom International Airport will operate on Sundays through Mondays.
  • Tim Koetting was elected President of the Amarillo Tri-State Exposition board of directors for the coming year. Koetting joined the board in 2004 and serves on the rodeo committee. 
  • Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum won six ADDY Awards in the local Amarillo competition. Stephanie Price, marketing director, was awarded the prestigious Silver Medal at the 2022 American Advertising Awards, hosted by AAF Amarillo.
  • Turn Center has named Amanda Allen as Director of Finance. Allen assumed responsibilities in February, succeeding Mary Ellen Hughes, who retired this spring after 14 years of service to Turn Center.
  • City of Amarillo Building Official Johnny Scholl has been reappointed to the Texas Industrialized Building Code Council (TIBCC) by Gov. Greg Abbott. The TIBCC oversees the state program regulating industrialized housing and buildings. 
  • The Amarillo Symphony awarded the 2022 Beethoven Society Award  to Jeff Booth, head of the 2022 Music Director Search Committee. This annual award is given to donors who invest in the mission of the Symphony. 

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