I am always pleased to hear about the personal successes of many of our students. For instance, Laura Hill, one of our outstanding students in the DCCCD STEM Institute and LeCroy Scholars Program, recently told me she just was accepted to Cornell University’s Summer Food Science Scholars Program “to study pathogens!” Cornell and Purdue University are partnering on a research project that hosts Laura and other participants for 10 weeks over the summer in West Lafayette, Indiana.

She graduates from Eastfield College next month and will attend Texas A&M University this fall as a biology major following her summer research. Her enthusiasm for the sciences echoes what I heard from our high-achieving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) scholars participating in the DCCCD STEM Summit earlier this month.

This year’s summit connected STEM scholars and CITI Faculty Fellows with a series of renowned speakers and panelists from local STEM industries and academic institutions to explore career opportunities and current issues affecting the STEM field.

STEM scholars and CITI faculty mentors were also invited by DCCCD Foundation Board Chair Elect Hunter Hunt and his wife, Stephanie, to be their guests at SMU’s Engineering and Humanity Week.  CITI Faculty Fellow Claire Bambrough of Richland College called the joint summit events “transformative for both students and faculty.”

Thanks to the Hunts and Hunt Consolidated and Foundation Board Member Debbie Taylor and CITI for making the STEM Institute and its capstone experiences possible.
Betheny L. Reid

Betheny L. Reid

Laura Hill

DCCCD’s “best and brightest” STEM students, along with distinguished guests and faculty, received valuable lessons about environmental awareness, innovations in ocean exploration and personal experiences from the member of a famous family. Fabien Cousteau, grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, spoke to STEM scholars from the DCCCD STEM Institute and invited guests from the community at the Dallas World Aquarium on April 12. He also took part in a personal Q and A session with scholars from the STEM Institute the next morning during the second annual DCCCD STEM Summit at Brookhaven College. 

Both of Cousteau’s presentations were sponsored by the DCCCD Foundation and Hunt Consolidated.  Foundation Chairman Elect Hunter L. Hunt, president and CEO of Hunt Consolidated, introduced Cousteau to the audience prior to his April 12 presentation. Foundation President Betheny L. Reid presented Cousteau – also an avid motorcycle collector – with an antique motorcycle goggles encased in a shadowbox following his evening presentation at the World Aquarium. Cousteau then engaged STEM scholars in a range of discussions from shallow-water non-breathing to oceanic innovation and exploration to marine environmental conservation during his Q and A at the April 13 summit.

The students also attended other sessions throughout the summit, which featured STEM speakers from businesses and universities throughout North Texas. The all-day event is one of the required activities throughout the academic year for the 101 scholars currently enrolled in the institute.

The Foundation is proud to have among the top fund-raisers in the business. Foundation President Betheny L. Reid flew to Chicago to be recognized for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) Commonfund Institutionally Related Foundation Awards during the annual CASE conference on April 19.

She was one of only two individuals in the country to be recognized for this prestigious award, which selects fund-raising professionals who have made significant contributions to the quality of their organizations and who have provided outstanding service to the community of institutionally related foundations.

Carrie Nelson, coordinator of development in the Foundation/Development Office, recently earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential. The CFRE credential grades fund raising professionals on the highest standards of professional competence and ethical practice in serving the philanthropic sector.

Congratulations to Betheny and Carrie for their outstanding achievements!

Reid receives CASE award.

Carrie Nelson

This leadership briefing is provided for leaders who are involved in advancing the
work of DCCCD and the Foundation.

Doug Hawthorne, FACHE, Chairman, DCCCD Foundation Board
Wright L. Lassiter Jr., Chancellor, DCCCD
Betheny L. Reid, President, DCCCD Foundation;
Associate Vice Chancellor, DCCCD Development
breid@dcccd.edu 214-378-1538

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