Accolades: Alumni Honor, Academician Award Go to Provost, Teacher

Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of UT Dallas faculty and students. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communication manager.

Musselman Receives Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Inga Musselman, interim provost and professor of chemistry at UT Dallas, recently was named a distinguished alumna of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

“These awards are the highest ones given by the Alumni Association, and we are proud to recognize these alumni for their accomplishments and service,” said Susan Pyron, associate vice president for annual giving, alumni and parent relations at Gettysburg.

Musselman graduated from the college in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, earning departmental honors for her academic achievements. She also was a member of the institution’s field hockey team and a student academic group called the Skeptical Chymists.

“I am honored and delighted to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from my alma mater, Gettysburg College,” Musselman said. “The liberal arts education that I embraced while at Gettysburg was transformative and continues to be central to my philosophy of education.”

Musselman earned her PhD in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while performing doctoral research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She also conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University before she joined the chemistry faculty in UT Dallas’ School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in 1992.

Her most recent research has focused on the development and application of microscopy and microanalysis methods for the study of materials structure in the areas of gas separations, fuel cells and bionanotechnology. Musselman has been the primary research supervisor of numerous doctoral, master’s and baccalaureate degree students as well as high school summer students.

As interim provost, Musselman is responsible for faculty hiring and advancement, academic programs, budget priorities and budget allocations for the schools and academic facilities. She also is the primary contact with The University of Texas System for academic affairs.

EPPS Executive in Residence Earns Terrell Blodgett Academician Award

Teodoro J. Benavides, executive in residence at UT Dallas, has been named the 2017 recipient of the Terrell Blodgett Academician Award for significant contribution to the formal education of students pursuing careers in local government.

Benavides, who served as Dallas city manager from 1998 to 2004, teaches in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.

The Texas City Management Association presents the annual award to recognize leadership in promoting careers in local government, developing research, and encouraging relationships between academia and local government. The award was presented at the association’s annual conference in June in Austin.

The award is named for Terrell Blodgett, Mike Hogg Professor Emeritus in Urban Management at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, who has served for more than 50 years in a number of state and local government roles in Texas.

Benavides said he was honored to be named this year’s recipient.

“Many years ago, I embarked on a college education and I majored in public administration and education. I first went into a local government management career, which covered 35 years. Then I was fortunate to be given an opportunity by The University of Texas at Dallas to return to my first passion, which is teaching,” Benavides said.

“It is a tremendous honor to receive the Terrell Blodgett Academician Award, as is humbling to even have my name associated with one of the giants of the city manager profession, Mr. Blodgett.”