Three new distinguished alumni named

His last trip to San Antonio took Robert C. “Bob” Garcia through his old neighborhood. The church was still there, but now a beautiful new plaza made it the focal point of the neighborhood instead of the old buildings Garcia remembered. Next to the church, a large new building stood. When he looked closely at it, Garcia was filled with emotion suddenly. He was staring at the Margarita R. Juantes Learning and Leadership Development Center. At that moment, he realized the truth of the woman who had helped him as a child.

“I thought I was the only one,” he says.

“She always made me feel like I was the only one, and here this center was named after her.”

Having benefited from Juantes’ mentorship, along with the help of a child-advocacy organization, Bob knew early on that he wanted to give back to the community.

“I always wanted to be like Margarita. Communities In Schools is the perfect vehicle for that,” he says.

Garcia joined Darla Schneider McKitrick and Lucille Pack Gedies as recipients of the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award. University alumni and community friends gathered at the annual UHCL Alumni Celebration in October to honor the three distinguished alumni as well as recipients of the Early Achievement Award and the new Outstanding Professor Award.

After two tours of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy, Garcia went to school on the GI Bill, working shifts at Dow Chemical Co. in Freeport. He graduated from UHCL in 1976 and took a managerial position with Dow. Immediately he began volunteering with youth organizations, co-founding Head Start in Brazoria County and several youth sports groups. Garcia has also been an active participant in organizations like LULAC, United Way and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America.

When he retired from Dow in 1997, he took on a leadership role with Communities In Schools of Brazoria County, which he co-founded. By 2001, he had created a joint venture with the CIS organization in Southeast Harris County. Today, it is the fifth-largest Communities In Schools organization in Texas. He also is president emeritus of Head Start in Brazoria County.

Although Garcia remains as busy as ever since his official retirement, he insists he is not working.

“I got into all of it for the kids — I haven’t worked since I took this job,” he says.

McKitrick shares a passion with Garcia — a passion to help make the community better. In addition to involvement with the Bay Area Alpha Xi Delta and Clear Lake Area Panhellenic Association — both social and philanthropic organizations — McKitrick has volunteered for the Assistance League of the Bay Area for 10 years. While volunteering with the league, she has offered her time and talent to Operation School Bell, which helps underprivileged children prepare for school.

When she’s not volunteering in the community, McKitrick serves as an assistant professor and clinical coordinator in the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston’s School of Dental Hygiene where she has been sharing her skills and talent with future dental hygienists for more than 20 years. Although she had an early interest in art, in college she turned her thoughts to dentistry and on becoming a dental hygienist.

“Today, I could have easily decided to become a dentist, but back then not many women went to dental school, so I chose to become a dental hygienist,” says McKitrick.

She quickly returned to school to gain a Bachelor of Science in Education, knowing that she wanted to teach dental hygiene. Eventually, she moved to the Houston area and, in 1992, completed her education by attaining a Master of Science in Teaching College from UHCL. The added degree allowed her to teach full time, which was her dream.

“Things just fell into place,” says McKitrick. “I began my degreeand positions opened — It was meant to be. I enjoy the students, and I enjoy teaching my courses.”

Gedies once considered becoming a math teacher and loves the learning process, which is apparent in her educational history. Claiming to be “always in a hurry,” Gedies graduated from high school early but things slowed for her during her first attempt at college. During her last semester at Marshall University, located near her hometown of Wayne, W.Va., Gedies saw her luck run dry when, as a single mom, her house burned down.

She packed her bags, moved to Texas and finished her Bachelor of Science in Accounting at UH-Downtown. Gedies eventually made her way to UHCL where she earned her Master of Business Administration in 1993.

“UH-Clear Lake makes it easy to incorporate education into life,” says Gedies.

One day while walking in downtown Houston, Gedies walked past South Texas College of Law and felt a calling to return to school a third time and, in 2003, received her Juris Doctor degree in just three years while working full time. For the past 20 years, Gedies has worked in the aerospace industry, moving up the ladder to become director of financial planning and analysis with United Space Alliance.

In addition to her work, Gedies still manages to fit community service into her busy schedule by offering free income tax assistance and volunteering as an English as a Second Language tutor. She also serves as a member of Clear Creek Independent School District Citizens Financial Advisory Committee.

She has received the United Space Alliance Superior Achievement and Recognition Award for her contributions to the Change Process Improvement Team and the NASA Group Achievement Award for the SPACEHAB STS 101/106 Integration Team.

About her most current designation as a UHCL Distinguished Alumna, Gedies admits to being “totally surprised” when she learned that she had won the award.

Says Gedies, “That was quickly followed by feeling humbled and honored by the recognition.”

In addition to being honored at the annual Alumni Celebration, the three will be recognized with photos permanently displayed at the university.

recognizing leadership Chris Wagner In addition to honoring the 2006 Distinguished Alumni, UHCL’s Alumni Association recognized two other exceptional members of the university family with the Early Achievement Award and the Outstanding Professor Award. Alumnus Chris Wagner received the Early Achievement Award. The award recognizes alumni, age 45 or younger, for significant accomplishments in business or professional life, or for service to the university and/or the UHCL Alumni Association. Wagner, who serves as a senior information systems analyst with ExxonMobil, graduated from UHCL in 2002 with his Master of Science in Management Information Systems, after receiving his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Baylor University in 1998. “One thing that gave me an edge was the classes I took at UHCL,” says Wagner. Wagner’s work at ExxonMobil includes helping to create proprietary software for the company. He joined the company in 2003 as an advanced IS analyst, then moved to his current senior-level position within a year. While attending UHCL, Wagner was instrumental in creating the Management Information Systems Networking Lab/Program and lent his expertise to networking the lab. Maintaining his ties with his alma mater continues to be important to Wagner who is vice president of the Management Information Systems Alumni Organization. Charles McKay Offering guidance to future scientists for more than 30 years, Professor of Software Engineering Charles McKay became the natural choice for the first Outstanding Professor Award. McKay, who served as dean of the School of Science and Computer Engineering for 11 years, joined the university during its first year of operation making him a charter faculty member. While at UHCL, he served as the first program director of Advanced Industrial Technologies, later named the High Technologies Laboratory. McKay provided his expertise to students and researchers as an author of several textbooks and numerous articles on microprocessors. He has partnered with NASA Johnson Space Center on several projects and offered his expertise in the fields of computer science, electronics and software engineering to industry leaders like Phillips Petroleum, Boeing, IBM and Lockheed-Martin. While serving as dean, he oversaw the addition of several new degrees such as the Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems Engineering, Master of Science in Systems Engineering and Master of Science in Biotechnology, as well as played an integral role in changing the name of the school to the School of Science and Computer Engineering, which better reflects its degree offerings. “I was surprised; I was elated; I was honored; and I was humbled,” says McKay about receiving the award. “I am still cycling through the emotions. “I truly believe that this is an outstanding university, especially for one that is only 32 years old, with a rich heritage of outstanding professors. Therefore, to be selected by our alumni for the first Outstanding Professor Award leaves me in awe because I recognize that I am only a representative of all the outstanding professors at UHCL — past, present and future.”