Some friendly faces from the UTMB Pediatric Center at Bay Colony in League City.

From left to right: 

Hello from the UTMB Adult Primary and
Specialty Care Clinic in Texas City.

Back row: (left to right) Amy Kelm, Debbie Bartlett, Ana Ramirea, Suzanne Crumby, Genia Quiorga.

Vicki Freeman, professor and chair of the SHP Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Professor in the SOM Department of Pathology, has been appointed as holder of the Dr. and Mrs. AH Potthast Distinguished Professorship in Teaching Excellence.  The Potthast Professorship was established in 2003 by Dallas-based financier, John H. Massey and his wife, Elizabeth, to recognize teaching excellence and to honor the memory of Mr. Massey’s grandparents.

An internationally renowned advocate for excellence in health professional education,  Dr. Freeman’s work has focused on providing quality educational opportunities to all students, especially those from underserved areas and resource limited countries.

Patricia Ciejka, is serving as Interim Associate Vice President of Academic Resources and Director of Libraries, effective September 1. She succeeds Brett Kirkpatrick, who retired at the end of August after more than two decades of service to UTMB.

Ciejka joined UTMB in 1981 as a clinical librarian for Internal Medicine and has served in progressively responsible roles in the Moody Medical Library and Academic Resources. She has led the Academic Resources Leadership Team through library mitigation and upgrade projects and the establishment of the new student testing center in the former Children’s Hospital. 

Bruce R. Niebuhr, associate professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies-School of Health Professions and Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health-School of Medicine, has been appointed as holder of the Suzanne Brown Logan Distinguished Professorship in Teaching Excellence.  The endowment was established in 2006 by the estate of Lemuel M. Flanary, MD, as a rotating award designed to reward and recognize outstanding teaching faculty from UTMB’s four schools.

Niebuhr joined the UTMB faculty in 1978.  He currently serves as Director of Research and Evaluation for the Department of Physician Assistant Studies.  His teaching interests include research methods, statistics, computer applications, health promotion and disease prevention, and clinical problem solving.  Recognized for his educational contributions, Dr. Niebuhr was inducted into the UTMB Academy of Master Teachers and awarded the honorific title of Distinguished Teaching Professor by the University of Texas System.