The page lists selected national and state recognitions within (e.g., ASA Fellow, ASA Waller, SW-MAA) and beyond (e.g., UT-ROTA, Piper) my discipline and some of my 40 awards in national education contests (e.g., NSF’s 2019 We Are Mathematics Video Competition and eCOTS 2022).
TEACHING and OVERALL RECOGNITIONS
Selected in 2026 by UTEP College of Science as its Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching and Mentoring awardee and its Graduate School Faculty Marshal of Students at UTEP’s spring Commencement ceremony; also, appointed in 2026 by President Wilson for a 2-year term on UTEP’s inaugural Teaching Effectiveness Committee.
Elected 2025 as Fellow of the American Statistical Association, publicly presented at the August 5 ASA President’s Address and Awards event (see program book and video) at the 2025 Joint Statistical Meetings, and based on research, teaching/mentoring, consulting, administration, and service to the profession. [publicized in April 2025 ASA press release, June 2025 Amstat News feature, local press release, UTEP College of Science, p. 63 of winter 2026 Rice Magazine.]
recent national/regional keynotes include 2026 NAFIPS, 2024 NMMATYC, 2023 USCOTS, 2022 NNN
2021 winner (and 8th recipient) of the Waller Distinguished Teaching Career Award (for teaching excellence, innovation, scholarship and broader impact), given by the American Statistical Association at the 2021 JSM Presidential Address and Awards Ceremony, yielding coverage in October 2021 Amstat News (print and blog) and UTEP newsfeed
2020 11-page interview on my career is in the Journal of Data Science and Statistics Education series on prominent statistics educators (yielding media coverage)
awarded (in April 2019) lifelong status of UTEP Distinguished Teaching Professor (one of 62 faculty in UTEP’s history up to that point to receive this recognition), and an inaugural member of UTEP’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers
2016 winner of a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award, a career achievement/dedication award given annual to only 10 faculty from all of Texas’ 150+ 2-year or 4-year public or private colleges; I am the 14th winner (and was the only one during 2013-2024) in UTEP history of this award
Appointed service directing (for 3 years: 2014-2016) UTEP’s campus-wide teaching center (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning), following service for CETaL as the 2013-14 Provost’s Faculty Fellow-in-Residence, and on (2008-2011) the CETaL Council of Fellows
a 2011 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Texas System (based on multiple levels of review of 150-page dossier of evidence, I competed against tenured faculty of all disciplines from the UT-System’s 9 universities, just 4 years after I received tenure)
2001 recipient of the Arthur M. Gignilliat, Jr. Professorship award, top annual internal award of Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Georgia State University Armstrong campus)
RESEARCH/SCHOLARSHIP/GRANTS
invited 2025 presentation on IASE webinar panel on statistics education research
Invited proposal review panel service during the 2023-24 school year for the National Science Foundation
Grand Prize winner (mid/advanced career category) of NSF’s 2019 We Are Mathematics Video Competition (open to anyone in the mathematical sciences who has or has had NSF funding) for video about my 2015-2020 NSF grant; screened at the 2019 National Math Festival
9 articles with special recognition include: (1) 2023 article (on visualization) is first in history (since 1979) of Teaching Statistics featured with a discussant response (and author reply) and was also the focus of the 10/20/23 CAUSE Research Reading Meeting, (2) article (on mnemonics) is most-read article (59,273 views as of 7/20/2026) in journal history (1992-present), (3) article (on inquiry learning) won “best paper award” (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning faculty award) at the 2012 International Sun Conference on Teaching and Learning, (4) article (on mathematical lyrics) is 3rd-most-read (as of 3/29/2026) in journal’s 18-year history, (5) article (overviewing educational fun) is (as of 2023) 12th-most cited paper in journal’s history, (6) article (on stereotypes) selected for 7/5/22 MTLT Journal Club meeting (with introductory video) and appeared in Dec. 2022 MTLT, (7) article (on social justice examples) selected for 3/7/17 webinar/discussion as part of international 8-organization series “Call for Collective Action to Develop Awareness: Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education” and in 2020 for a national curated webpage on social justice scholarship, (8) article (researching educational fun) featured on 12/21/17 episode #1716 (Digest 1) of MathEdPodcast, (9) article (on developing intuition about ANOVA) that won a development grant
Presented certificates for “Outstanding Efforts in Securing Extramural Funding” at UTEP ORSP (New Grant Award Recognition) Research Forum, including Feb. 2016 and Sept. 2014.
Interviewed by Keith Pannell for 5/29/14 “100@100: Research for Our Next Century” episode on NPR-station KTEP-FM
EDUCATION/OUTREACH
National Science Foundation: grand prize (mid/advanced career category) in the NSF’s 2019 We Are Mathematics Video Competition with the video screened at the National Math Festival
Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education: 2022 Winner in Activity Contest (6th Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics), winner of at least one top-4 award in each biennial national A-mu-sing educational contest entered (2013-2025), 24+ captions have been recognized as Winners (plus another 22+ winning honorable mention) in its monthly blind educational cartoon caption contests
American Statistical Association: Best Online Submission prize in the 2014 ASA’s Got Talent; Bronze Medal lesson in “Best Statistics Education Web (STEW) / Census at School Lesson” 2013 peer-reviewed contest; 1st-place in non-student category of 2019 ASA Day haiku, 2021 ASA Gives Back Hallow-meme, & 2025 ASA Gives Back haiku contests
Mathematical Association of America QL SIGMAA: 1st-place award in each of two categories in its 2011-12 Quantitative Literacy in the Media contest
National Museum of Mathematics: 1st-place in “Pi Day of the Century” song contest announced 3/14/15; also, 3 songs were winners in fall 2015 Open Set math song contest (yielding invited performance), 2 in the spring 2017 contest, 1 in the spring 2018 contest, and 1 in the spring 2021 contest (i.e., at least one winner in every song contest offered to date by the Museum!); also, 2 winners in its 2021 math limerick contest for National Limerick Day; invited talk in Math Encounters series and interview in Starring Math series
Sigma Xi (international honor society of science and engineering): runner-up in the Performing Arts category and in the Film category of the STEM Art and Film Festival competition at the 2022 International Forum on Research Excellence (IFoRE)
SERVICE
Reimagining the Core Fellow, 2022-2023
My service to UTEP’s campus teaching community, especially directing UTEP’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETaL) for 3 years (2014-2016), was publicly recognized at the 2022 “Enacting Inclusive Excellence through leadership, teaching and learning” conference of UTEP’s Center for Faculty Leadership and Development; this followed service in 2013 to CETaL as the Provost’s Faculty Fellow-in-Residence and having earlier served a 3-year appointed term as a CETaL Fellow (for which I was presented a plaque in 2011 as “Outstanding CETaL Fellow”)
Nationally-elected term Jan. 1, 2011-Dec. 31, 2013 as Publications Chair and Executive Committee member for the Statistical Education Section of the American Statistical Association
Editorial service includes: served 2013-2016 as sole Assistant Editor of Statistics Education Research Journal, served 2007-2009 and 1995-1997 terms as an Associate Editor of Journal of Statistics Education, an Associate Editor for Journal of Mathematics and Culture (8 years), and Editorial Board member of Texas Mathematics Teacher (12 years); also, ongoing service as founding Editor of Teaching for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics (since 2009, with service 2014-2025 as the sole Associate Editor), and Editorial Board member of the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (2006-present)
Served 2011 on the NCTM’s Professional Development Services Committee, by appointment of the President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Designated in 2009 (by Frontera Women’s Foundation) as a TITLE IX Champion
Executive Committee member of my department during 2008-09
Presented with plaque at my plenary keynote for the 2009-10 annual conference (March 2010) of Greater El Paso Council of Teachers of Mathematics by GEPCTM President Glen Torguson “In recognition of your support and promotion of high-quality mathematics teaching and ongoing professional development throughout the preparation and careers of teachers of mathematics.” (note: I also received such a plaque from GEPCTM President Nancy Arroyo when I gave the plenary keynote for GEPCTM’s annual conference in 2006)
Awarded certificate in 2007 from Miriam Leiva, (founding) president of the national NCTM affiliate organization TODOS: Mathematics for All, for “exemplary contributions as a leader in TODOS 2006-07.”
Publicly recognized by Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics as a Finalist for 2001 Gladys M. Thomason Distinguished Service Award for “distinguished service in the field of mathematics education at the local, regional and state levels. Criteria shall include: significant services rendered, service beyond the normal job requirements and services primarily for the improvement of mathematics instruction.”