Topics at a glance: Professor Ted Pate honored at Star Awards    … Chung presents poster on dental implants at Academy of Osseointegration  … DB Building Project: Previews begin Monday!  … Register for classified staff workshop  … Dental Olympics coming in April; details still being worked out

Professor Ted Pate honored at Star Awards
Receives 2007 Michael J. Jimenez Leadership in Action Award

Ted D. Pate, Ph.D., a professor at both the UT Dental Branch and the UT Medical School, is the recipient of the 2007 Michael J. Jimenez Leadership in Action Award. Pate received the award Feb. 21 at the Star Awards Luncheon hosted by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

At the Dental Branch, Pate is in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, but his primary appointment is as a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at the UT Medical School in Houston. He has been a UTHSC employee for nearly 35 years.

A congratulatory letter from UTHSC President James T. Willerson, M.D., noted that Professor John C. McMahon, Ph.D., nominated Pate for the award, basing the recommendation on “many superb examples of (Pate’s) leadership and positive impact on fellow faculty members, employees and students, not only at our university, but at the national level as well.”

McMahon is also a professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Dental Branch and of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at the UT Medical School. He and Pate have been friends and co-workers for nearly 35 years. They currently teach physiology together.

Pate said he was surprised to be nominated and humbled to be chosen for the award.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of different activities, often in a leadership role, but I don’t consider what I do anything out of the ordinary,” he said. “The real key is the people I’ve gotten to work with. If (they’re) hard-working and they do their jobs, the fact that you might be the leader is not that important.”

When he first came to the UTHSC, Pate got involved in the Employee Relations Advisory Committee, first at the Dental Branch and then at the university level. He helped start the Faculty Senate and served as the first president, then served on the Inter-Faculty Council. As chairman of that committee two different times, he also had the opportunity to serve at the UT System level two different times on the Faculty Advisory Council. He is currently chair of that Council.

Most recently, Pate served on the UTHSC presidential search committee considering applicants to replace Willerson, who has announced plans to leave UT to lead the Texas Heart Institute. The UT Board of Regents will choose a new president from among the committee’s recommended finalists.

Although he’s won teaching awards and other accolades over the years, Pate said the Jimenez Award is a special honor. He met Mike Jimenez when both were involved in the Academic Administrative Leadership Program and on the Inter-Faculty Council. “Mike wasn’t with the health science center all that long, but in that short time he was here, he gained a lot of respect, and people really liked him,” Pate said.

Jimenez was a former vice president and chief human resources officer at UTHSC before his life was cut short by cancer. The award established in his memory carries a $5,000 cash prize to someone chosen from the faculty, A&P staff and classified staff who has demonstrated several specific leadership traits.

Pate said the award money will likely be used “for something fun,” but he and his wife, Gabrielle, are still considering various possibilities. “I feel very fortunate to have a very supportive family,” he said. “We’ll have been married 40 years in July. We’ve got two sons, both married, and we have four grandchildren with another one on the way. Family is a very big part of my life.”

If you’re hungry for answers (or for free pastries, fruit, coffee, cookies and punch) make plans to stop by one of the six come-and-go “Dental Branch Project Preview” receptions to be hosted by Executive Associate Dean John A. Valenza, D.D.S., March 17-20 in DB Room 346.

It’s an all-out effort to inform UTDB faculty, staff and students about the building project and to get your suggestions and comments. The receptions will be held from 7:30 to 9 a.m. daily Monday, March 17 through Thursday, March 20. For those who can’t come in the morning, midday sessions will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday only. See the latest drawings and building plans for the Dental Branch Replacement Building and give us your ideas, or get your questions answered.

In 2011, the UT Dental Branch will move to a new building on the south campus of the Texas Medical Center, but between now and moving day, a lot of planning has to be done and it’s well under way. Stop by and see for yourself what’s going on.

Dental Olympics coming in April;
details still being worked out

In April, The UT Dental Branch at Houston will take a turn hosting the annual Dental Olympics, April 11-12, at the UT Recreation Center, with a few events offsite,
location still being determined. Each year, the three dental schools in Texas come together to compete, network and have fun. Participants include both dental and dental hygiene students.

Events planned so far include a golf tournament, a 5K run, softball, soccer, flag football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, dodgeball, swimming relays, washers and billiards. Tiffany Tredway-Ransom, UTDB Student Council vice president, said that each year the host school gets to choose a special event outside the standard events, and UTDB has
chosen swimming relays.

Times for the events are still being planned. Twelve vendors have signed up as Dental Olympics sponsors, and volunteers will be needed to help with the event. Watch for more information at a later date.