TWU graduate students to receive Virginia Chandler Dykes scholarships

Feb. 13, 2020 —DENTON—Five graduate students, one from each of the five colleges at Texas Woman’s University, will be awarded scholarships at the TWU Dallas Leadership Luncheon Feb. 20 at The Belo Mansion and Pavilion. The luncheon, which will honor Dallas City Councilmember Jennifer Staubach Gates with the 18th annual Virginia Chandler Dykes Leadership Award, is presented by Bank of Texas, TWU and the Texas Woman’s University Foundation.

This year’s scholarship recipients are Lou Ann Hintz of Lubbock, College of Health Sciences; Nisha Mathews of Houston, College of Nursing; Aubree Evans of Denton, College of Arts and Sciences; Alex Conner of Burleson, College of Business; and Lorna Durrant of Cleburne, College of Professional Education. Each student will receive a scholarship award worth $4,000.

Over the past 17 years, more than $1 million has been raised for scholarships from the proceeds of this luncheon.

About the scholarship recipients

Lou Ann Hintz, an assistant clinical professor for Texas Tech University Health Science Center, is pursuing her doctor in occupational therapy degree with plans to graduate this year. She has worked in rehabilitation hospitals, skilled nursing units, rural home health and schools. Her goal is to grow the next generation of occupational therapy students, helping them understand how occupation-based practice can enhance quality of life.

A member of the associate degree nursing faculty at San Jacinto Community College, Nisha Mathews will graduate this year with her Ph.D. in Nursing Science. Mathews, who is originally from Kerala, India, has worked in Dublin, Ireland, and Delhi, India. Her goal is to contribute to nursing research and to continue to grow as a nurse scientist, mentor and facilitator.

Aubree Evans is the director of professional learning at Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, a nonprofit organization that works with educator preparation programs at minority serving institutions. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in sociology with a concentration in social stratification and the sociology of higher education, and plans to graduate in 2021. Previously, she served on faculty at Zayed University in Dubai and worked at TWU. With her degree, she wants to affect teaching in a way that affords students more agency over their learning.

Alex Conner works in talent acquisition at Freese and Nichols in Fort Worth while pursuing an MBA in Human Resource Management. She plans to graduate in May and then continue to work as a human resources professional. She began her career as a lead teacher through Head Start of Greater Dallas. She also has worked as an employer relations specialist in the Career Development Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Lorna Durrant, originally from Jamaica and currently an instructor at TWU, is pursuing a Ph.D. in family studies with plans to graduate in May. Her dissertation focuses on the concerns of white fathers raising their black/white biracial sons. She plans to become a college professor and a certified family life educator.

About TWU

As the nation’s largest university primarily for women, Texas Woman’s University offers degree programs in the liberal arts, nursing, health sciences, the sciences, business and education to 15,800 students online and at campuses in Denton, Dallas and Houston. TWU is a Carnegie-classified doctoral research university with an expanding research portfolio that provides a “learn-by-doing” experiential learning environment and encourages student research at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The university’s student body is recognized among the most ethnically diverse in the country by U.S. News and World Report. For more information, visit twu.edu.

Page last updated 3:52 PM, October 9, 2023