January

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing break. I spent the time in Virginia and North Carolina with family and friends, so it was a nice break. I apologize for any confusion caused by the change to the holiday schedule, but I must say that I really enjoyed having January 2 off as it gave me time to get some things in order at home before coming back to work.

February

It seems that January flew by with all the ice days and special holidays. It certainly has been a challenge to adjust the class schedule and get back in the swing of things. This month we continue to work on some ongoing projects as well as some new projects, so I will try to keep everyone posted as we progress toward our two campuses in the fall.

March

I’d like to start out by saying congratulations to Michelle Rangel, administrative assistant to Dr. Jose Pliego. According to my sources, Michelle was married to Andres G. Montez on Valentine’s Day. Andy is a Sergeant First Class in the Army and is currently stationed in Iraq. Michelle and Andy were married while he was home on R&R. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Montez!

April

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Samuel H. Black, Ph.D. Dr. Black was a founding faculty member of the College, served as Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Undergraduate Medical Education from 1985-1987, Interim Dean for the College of Medicine from 1987-1988, Associate Dean of the College of Medicine from 1988-1990 and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1990-1991. He most recently served as Professor Emeritus of Humanities in Medicine and Professor Emeritus of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Black was an outstanding colleague, mentor, and friend. He will be greatly missed.

May

It is Commencement time again at the College and I want to personally congratulate all of our medical and graduate students who are completing their degrees this month. This is the culmination of several years of hard work, and we are proud to have you become alums of this great institution. For those of you completing medical school, you are now officially “Aggie Docs”!

June

Thanks to all who attended and participated in the Senior Banquet and Commencement. As always, these are wonderful events for our students, and it is important for us to show our support and appreciation for their hard work the past four years. I actually had comments ready to deliver at Commencement, but after the outstanding student response by Dr. Kelly Wright, I decided to let skip my comments. She delivered perhaps the best student response I have heard in all my years of attending Commencement. It was absolutely outstanding!

August

Although commencement ceremonies were more than two months ago, the time has just flown by. Students with the Prairie View and JAMP summer programs were here in June what an enthusiastic group! And its hard to believe the Class of 2011 is already here and has started classes.

September

I hope everyone’s semester is off to a good start. Our new students are enthusiastic and seem to be adjusting well to medical school. It’s always great to get to know a new group of students. I recently met with the M1s to discuss our plans for class expansion and multiple campus implementation as well as address any questions they may have. They were very interested in our plans, and had some excellent questions. I have also met with the M2s and M3s to provide all of our students with a good understanding of our class expansion plans.

October

This is a busy month for me as we continue to implement several aspects of our expansion plans. Also, I will be out of the office a fair amount this month, so it will be a hectic several weeks.

November

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather we have been having lately! It has really been perfect. My office hosted a reception for new faculty last Friday, and I was very pleased at the attendance. It was a great opportunity for faculty and staff to interact and meet the new folks at the college. I want to commend Brenda Long in my office for putting on a very nice event. I think everyone who attended appreciated it.

December

The end of the year is upon us, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. It’s been a great year, and I appreciate your hard work.