UHCL Associate Dean of CSE named 2024 Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network Higher Education Professional of the Year
Dr. David Garrison, Associate Dean of University of Houston- Clear Lake’s (UHCL) College of Science and Engineering, has been named the 2024 Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network (SSMN) Higher Education Professional of the Year. The award recognizes an outstanding Sloan Scholar alumnus who has made significant contributions to their field. Garrison has dedicated 22 years of his career to UH-Clear Lake, making substantial contributions through his roles in research, teaching, and administration. This recognition reflects his passion, dedication, and innovative efforts to the field of STEM.
“I felt honored to be the recipient,” Garrison said. “There are a lot of highly qualified sloan alumni who could’ve won the award. To get selected out of the group is very impressive to me.”
Since Garrison’s arrival, UHCL and the College of Science and Engineering has transformed in numerous ways. He served twice as president of UHCL’s faculty senate, as director of graduate programs, and as chair of the Physical Science Program and Physics Program, which he founded. He also helped establish the Center for Faculty Development.
Garrison successfully developed and oversaw the approval of various programs, including a revised bachelor's degree in physical science, a bachelor's degree in physics, an engineering physics sub-plan, a master’s degree in physics, a Computational Physics sub-plan, a professional Master of Physics sub-plan in Technical Management, and a collaborative Ph.D. program in physics. He initiated a distinguished lecture series featuring industry experts from NASA and the community, such as Neal Lane, President Bill Clinton’s science advisor, and Jim Gates, a distinguished professor from The University of Maryland. His research in computational and theoretical physics includes work in numerical relativity and cosmology.
Garrison discovered his love for STEM at an early age, attending science camp every summer and visiting the Museum of Science and Industry in his hometown Chicago. He always wanted to explore how things worked, solve the mysteries of the field, and use his creativity to advance STEM.
“I was experimenting a lot with science, radio-controlled airplanes and computers at a pretty young age,” said Garrison. “The museum was my favorite place to go in Chicago,” he continued. “When we moved to Missouri, I was always at the science center. There was always a progression of the things I wanted to pursue.”
Garrison chose to work at UHCL because he believed he could cultivate the College of Science and Engineering program at UHCL with his ideas.
“In higher education, ideas can be debated and discussed. There is academic freedom and ideas can be pursued,” said Garrison. “When I was in graduate school, I wasn’t thinking about a career in higher education. I was looking at working in a government lab as a researcher,” Garrison explained. “What inspired me to get into higher education was the thought of building an academic program and shaping what people were going to learn, building the knowledge they will have, and what they can do with that knowledge.”
Many of Garrison’s students have graduated from the program and have found success in their professional careers under his leadership. He believes it is a leader’s obligation to study leadership and constantly learn how to be the best leader possible.
“As a faculty member, especially a physicist, someone gives you a problem and you solve it,” said Garrison. “As a physics instructor, you give students problems and walk them through solving it,” Garrison continued. “As an administrator, you have to talk to people involved in a problem and those who are affected by it to get their perspective, and come up with a solution together. It’s not a simple thing, and this is what I’ve learned over the decades that went into the award.”
Garrison also highlighted UHCL’s unique relationship with non-traditional students, setting the College of Engineering a part from other universities. A program once mainly filled with students who work at NASA has grown to include students from various backgrounds.
“How we relate to our students, how we teach them, the environment, and knowing their priorities makes a difference. Students feel more comfortable at our university, and it’s something we do an excellent job with that no one can touch us on.”
Garrison said the field is full of opportunities to advance and amazing things to discover that people thought weren’t possible, and STEM researchers make them work.
“I like to solve problems that no one else can solve,” said Garrison. “I love challenges, and to know that research is something we can ‘sink our teeth into’ makes me happy.”
Garrison continues to research, teach, and publish, aiming to bring more innovative practices to UHCL.
For more information about UHCL’s College of Science and Engineering, visit www.uhcl.edu/science-engineering/.
