DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND COMMUNICATION

TAMIU Faculty Dr. Roberto Heredia received the Regents Professor Award

Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) Professor of Psychology Dr. Roberto Heredia has been awarded as Regents Professor by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

The Board established the Regents Professor Awards program in 1996 and the Regents Fellow Service Awards program in 1998 to recognize employees who have made exemplary contributions to their university or agency and to the people of Texas.

Cliff Thomas, chairman of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, said the newest Regents Professors and Regents Fellows are vital members of the Texas A&M System family who bring with them unique skills and perspectives.

“These folks are integral to steering the System toward continued excellence,” Chairman Thomas said. “With them at the helm, the universities and agencies under The Texas A&M System can only keep improving.”

Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said the new Regents Professors and Regents Fellows have proven their commitment to The System’s success.

“The recently recognized professors and professionals represent the best of our great System and higher education in Texas,” Chancellor Sharp said. “Their work consistently elevates Texas A&M System campuses and agencies.”

Heredia said he feels honored to have been bestowed with Regents Professor award.

“It is such a great honor to be a recipient of this very exemplary award,” he said, “I am extremely happy; I am as happy as when I completed my dissertation. Back then, the Dean of the graduate school, at UC Santa Cruz, called me Dr. Heredia and I did not know who he was referring to.”

He continued, “As I reflect about my tenure here at TAMIU, I am honored and grateful for the support of a loving family, including my canine, feline, and avian, my wonderful colleagues, and the generation of students I have taught and learned from, in so many ways. This award is not the end but the progression into another phase of my academic life.”

The selection process for the awards begins with a call for nominations from the Chancellor, after which an internal selection committee is formed within each institution or agency. Final nominations are put forth to the chief executive officer of each respective entity. They are then subject to a System-level review consisting of academic vice chancellors and past recipients of the awards. Finally, nominations are forwarded to the chancellor and the board for final approval.

To date, 212 Texas A&M System faculty members have been recognized with the Regents Professor Award and 125 agency professionals have received the Regents Fellow Service Award.

Heredia, a native of La Piedad, Michoacán, México, has been a TAMIU faculty since 1998. He holds his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of California-Santa Cruz, and a post-doctoral position as a National Science Foundation Fellow at the University of California-San Diego. Most recently, he was named co-editor for Springer’s “Bilingual Mind and Brain” Book Series along with Dr. Anna Cieślicka, TAMIU associate professor of psychology. He and Dr. Cieślicka are authors of a book entitled, “Bilingual Figurative Language Processing,” by Cambridge University Press, and “Methods in Bilingual Reading Comprehension Research” by Springer Press.