UNT Health hosts inaugural Presidential Awards Dinner
Each spring, the faculty of UNT Health Fort Worth gather for their faculty assembly to celebrate the year and honor those who went above and beyond. In years past, faculty were nominated and one winner was announced during the assembly. However, this year, five awards were given at the faculty assembly - the Provost’s Outstanding Awards for teaching, service, research, clinical and community engagement.
The recipients of these awards were as follows:
- Outstanding Teaching Award – Dr. Crystal Hodge
- Outstanding Research Award – Dr. Abe Clark
- Outstanding Service Award – Dr. Adenike Atanda
- Outstanding Clinical Award – Dr. Christina Robinson
- Outstanding Community Engagement Award – Dr. Emily Spence
On Tuesday, April 21, members of UNT Health Fort Worth’s community celebrated these five faculty members at the inaugural Presidential Awards. The dinner was held at Bowie House to honor their hard work and announce the overall Distinguished Faculty Award, as well as the Distinguished Alumni Award.
Distinguished Faculty Award
The Distinguished Faculty Award went to Dr. Crystal Hodge.
Hodge is an associate professor of infectious disease in the UNT System College of Pharmacy. She was nominated by her peers for her excellence in teaching, especially her compassionate approach to her students.
“Dr. Hodge is an educator whose teaching excellence is evident not only in student outcomes, but in the thoughtful design, continuous refinement, and scholarly evaluation of her instructional practices,” said Adenike Atanda-Oshikoya PharmD, BCACP, CDCES, CTTS, associate dean of pharmacy student success and academic performance, and associate professor of pharmacotherapy. “She has demonstrated exceptional impact in teaching while also contributing meaningfully to scholarship, service, clinical education, community engagement and professionalism.”
Hodge received her PharmD from The University of Texas at Austin and completed a PGY-1 pharmacy practice residency at Emory University Hospital followed by a PGY-2 infectious diseases residency at Emory University Hospital Midtown and Emory University Hospital.
She is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist with a teaching certificate from Mercer University. Hodge is actively involved in numerous organizations including the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Kappa Epsilon Professional Pharmacy Fraternity, Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.
Distinguished Alumni Award
The nominees for the Distinguished Alumni Award are chosen by an internal committee.
The committee provided a list of nominees to Dr. Kirk Calhoun, UNT Health president,
along with a recommendation on the award winner. This award recognizes graduates whose
professional accomplishments, leadership and service exemplify the institution’s mission
and values.
This year’s Distinguished Alumni award went to Dr. Rick Lin.
“Dr. Lin is an exceptional physician with a resume to prove it,” Calhoun said. “Not only does he have an impressive career, but he is also still involved with our Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine as the program director of the South Texas Dermatology Residency Program that is sponsored by TCOM and HCA Corpus Christi Medical Center. His work with this program has helped graduate more than 20 dermatologists.”
Lin is a board-certified dermatologist practicing in McAllen, Texas, since 2006. He is the only board-certified Mohs Micrographic Surgeon and board-certified pediatric dermatologist in the Rio Grande Valley.
Lin holds multiple academic appointments and in 2014 was named a Fellow of Distinction by the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.
He has also held fellowships with the American Society for Mohs Surgery and the American Academy of Dermatology. Lin has authored numerous publications across national dermatology journals, including works in the Archives of Dermatology, JAAD and AOCD journals.
Lin is the owner of Oasis Dermatology Group, PLLC with six locations across the Rio Grande Valley. His practice offers medical residencies, clinical fellowships and a physician assistant training program, and is a primary research site for clinical trials.
Congratulations to the winners of our Presidential Awards! We are so proud of, and thankful for, all your hard work.