TTUHSC honors Class of 2024 graduates at commencement ceremonies

Odessa American, Texas
·3 min read

May 21—The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) hosted commencement ceremonies for all schools for its 1,555-member Class of 2024.

"We are extremely proud of our graduates and congratulate them for reaching this important career milestone," TTUHSC President Lori Rice-Spearman, Ph.D., said in a news release. "They have trained with the best and I'm confident they will make an impact in improving access to care. We wish them all the best as they move forward."

The Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health honored its 32-member Class of 2024 graduates, including students from the Master of Public Health program. Award honorees included Erum Inamdar (Outstanding Public Health Student Award), Alexis Grasso (Outstanding Applied Practice Experience Award) and Traylor Moses (Outstanding Community Service Award).

The School of Nursing honored 425 members in its Class of 2024, which included students who earned their degrees in the school's Post-Master's DNP, MSN, R.N. to BSN and Traditional BSN programs. Award recipients included Nikki Wilborn (Excellence in Nursing Award, DNP Program), Ena Osmanvoic (Excellence in Nursing Award, MSN Program), Vanessa Camarena (Excellence in Nursing Award, R.N. to BSN Program) and Taylor Emmons (Excellence in Nursing Award, Traditional BSN Program).

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Class of 2024 consisted of 42 graduates, which included students who received their degrees in the school's Biotechnology M.S., Graduate Medical Education Sciences, Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. and Pharmaceutical Sciences M.S. & Ph.D. programs. Peyton Dees Presto, Ph.D., was named recipient of the K. Wyatt McMahon Outstanding Graduate Student Award and Valeria Mucharraz Rodriguez, M.S., received the Dean's Recognition Award.

The School of Health Professions honored its 806-member Class of 2024 across its five departments and 21 degree programs. Award honorees included Jeralyn Rose Wiatrek (Undergraduate Award, B.S. in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences), Makinna Rae Morgan (Graudate Award, M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology) and Justin Minh Le (Research Award, B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science).

The School of Medicine recognized its 2024 graduating class of 165 candidates. Recipients of the John Aure Buesseler, M.D., Founding Dean Memorial Awards include Cassandra Kruczek, Ph.D., (Outstanding Basic Science Faculty Award), Felix Morales, M.D., (Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award) and Alex Collins (Outstanding Senior Award). Bridget Boeger (Amarillo), Emily Stephens (Lubbock) and Kyle McDaniel (Odessa) received the Dean's Recognition Awards. The 2024 recipient of the Gold Headed Cane Award, selected jointly by students and faculty as the individual who best exemplifies those attributes that are most desirable in the competent and caring physician, was Michelle Onuoha.

The Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy Class of 2024 comprised 88 graduates. Award recipients from the school included Jenna Do (Wolters Kluwer Award of Excellence in Clinical Communication), Jacob Sanchez (Superior Patient Care Award), Daniel Tran (Community Outreach Award of Excellence), Vivian Pham (Viatris Excellence in Pharmacy Award) and Rebecca Jean Moore (Hannah Thompson Resilience Award). Sarah Tran received the Banner Bearer Award for having the highest GPA in the graduating class. Gracie Daniels earned the Bowl of Hygeia Award, an honor that is awarded to the student who best exemplifies the qualities most desirable in a pharmacist.

TTUHSC graduates the most health care professionals in the state of Texas. To date, the university has trained more than 28,000 health care professionals who are serving patients and driving medical discovery in tangible, life-changing ways — both for the 2.75 million people in our immediate service area and around the world.