TSUS names 2 Regents’ Professors, Regents’ Scholar at Texas State

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
November 23, 2016

The Texas State University System Board of Regents has named Texas State University faculty members Dennis Dunn and Dittmar Hahn Regents’ Professors and student Bethany Bradshaw Regents’ Scholar.

The Regents’ Professor designations honor exceptional and outstanding members of the System’s professoriate who have achieved excellence in teaching, research and publication, and community service, while demonstrating an unwavering dedication to their students, their university, and their community. Dunn and Hahn are now the 12th and 13th TSUS Regents’ Professors so honored at Texas State out of the 26 TSUS Regents’ Professors.

It is a lifetime designation bestowed by the Board of Regents upon tenured faculty who have been acknowledged as exceptional by their peers and students and recommended by the TSUS Foundation Board of Directors, the chancellor, and their university president.

“These recognitions illustrate the standard of excellence our faculty and students represent, and reflect the commitment the university has to outstanding teaching and research,” Texas State President Denise Trauth said.

Dunn, Director of International Studies, came to Texas State in 1970 from Cleveland State University. In more than 45 years on the Texas State faculty, he has become an internationally-recognized historian and preeminent authority on the Catholic Church in Russia and founded the Center for International Studies in 1984. He has produced hundreds of publications, including six highly-acclaimed books, one of which was nominated for the prestigious Dillon Award for best book on American diplomacy.

Dunn has won numerous scholarly awards, including a Ford Foundation Fellowship and two Kennan Institute Fellowships. He has also earned multiple teaching awards, including the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society Favorite Professor Award and the Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching Award.

Hahn, chair of the Department of Biology, came to Texas State in 2004 from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, including 47 since joining Texas State. He has served on the editorial boards of three major international journals in microbial ecology and environmental microbiology and received 33 research grants, totaling more than $5.7 million in funding.

Hahn has enhanced the effectiveness of Texas State’s biology programs by seamlessly combining basic sciences with teaching excellence into courses that promote deep student understanding of complex interdisciplinary subject matter. He has mentored 40 graduate students, including supervising five doctoral dissertations and eight master’s theses since joining Texas State. Hahn has developed and directed the department’s doctoral program in Aquatic Resources, a unique field that integrates policy and management with the underlying science.

Bradshaw, the first-ever Regents’ Scholar at Texas State and the third in the Texas State University System, is a junior from Universal City majoring in family and child development. Regents’ Scholars are selected by the chancellor based on their outstanding academic achievement and scholarship, leadership abilities, and contributions to the institution and their community. In addition to a framed resolution and medallion, Regents’ Scholars receive $2,500 credited toward their educational expenses.

Bradshaw has a cumulative grade point average of 4.0, has earned Dean's List recognition every semester, and received several prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Terry Foundation Scholarship, Terry Scholar of the Month Award for September 2014, Outstanding Family and Child Development Student Award for the Spring 2016 semester, and selection into the Honors College. In addition to her academic pursuits, Bradshaw volunteers her time with a number of campus and community groups.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,849 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 170,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.