The Dallas Morning News recently reported on a $5 million investment by Chevron in an “innovative new program that enables students to complete the first two years of a Texas A&M University engineering degree at El Centro College or three other community colleges around the state.” The co-enrollment curriculum was developed with the support of Chevron’s vice president of diversity, ombuds and partnerships Shariq Yosufzai, TX D ’74.
“What you have to do is out-innovate the competition. Innovation happens from ingenuity, and ingenuity comes from diversity. Diversity and inclusion and ingenuity are linked,” said Yosufzai, a 1974 chemical engineering graduate from Texas A&M. Read the article for more details on this new program.
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Thursday, July 16, is the deadline to vote for your favorite 2014-15 Elite 89 winner. This recognition is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 89 championships. This year there were 91 winners due to ties at two championships. You can vote once per day until the field is narrowed down to 30 semifinalists.
Margaret G. Guo, MA B 2016, is a 2014-15 Elite 89 recipient. Guo is majoring in electrical engineering & computer science and engineering at MIT where she is a member of the women’s swimming and diving team. You can read biographical information for each 89 Elite recipient here
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It was announced this week that four American astronauts will fly on a commercially owned and operated spacecraft, built by contractors, not NASA, and become the first astronauts to launch to space from U.S. soil since the space shuttle was retired in 2011. Two of the astronauts are Tau Bates: Robert L. Behnken, Ph.D. (MO G ’92), and Lt. Col. Douglas G. Hurley, LA B ’88. Click here to read more about upcoming low-Earth orbit space mission from The Washington Post.
Dr. Behnken is an Air Force colonel who has flown two space shuttle missions, performed six spacewalks, and is looking forward to the new challenge. Hurley is a retired Marine Corps colonel who has flown two space shuttle missions, spent 683 hours in space, and was the first Marine test pilot to fly the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
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Tau Beta Pi 