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Gold Nugget Award
The Gold Nugget Award recognizes exceptional graduates from each of the university’s colleges and schools who have distinguished themselves in their profession and life, given back to their communities and alma mater, and serve as inspiration for future generations of Miners. The honorees will be recognized during the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner, Friday, October 3, 2009. Please click here for more information.
The University of Texas at El Paso and the UTEP Alumni Association are proud to announce the 2008 recipients of the Gold Nugget Award.
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College of Business Administration
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 Francisco “Pancho” Uranga
B.B.A., Marketing, ’86
As a young man, Francisco “Pancho” Uranga wasn’t sure what he wanted to study, but he knew he had a strong desire to learn as much about the American culture as possible.
UTEP provided Uranga the perfect opportunity to study in the United States and still be close to his home in Chihuahua, Mexico.
“UTEP was like Disneyland for me. It was nothing like home,” said Uranga, who earned his bachelor’s in marketing in 1986. “It opened my eyes to a different world and I loved it.”
From 1998 to 2004, he served as Secretary of Industrial Development for the state government of Chihuahua, Mexico. Previously, he served as deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff for Mexican Commerce and Trade Secretary Herminio Blanco, where he actively participated in implementing NAFTA and in negotiating key agreements with the Mexican government as part of the country’s trade liberalization.
Today, he serves as corporate vice president and chief business operations Officer for Latin America at Foxconn, a Taiwanese conglomerate considered the largest electronic manufacturing services company in the world.
A Lifetime Member of the UTEP Alumni Association who also serves on UTEP’s Centennial Commission, Uranga aspires to one day become a key player in the economic development of the El Paso-Juárez region.
“I fell in love with this region when I was a student. I really care what happens and know the potential,” he said. “I would love the opportunity to apply what I have learned around the world.”
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College of Education
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 Pauline A. Dow
B.A. History, ’84; M.A. History, ’87;
M.Ed., Instructional Specialist, ’89;
Ed.D., Education Leadership/Administration,’08
Pauline A. Dow could be considered a professional student. She jokes that she loves UTEP so much—she earned four degrees there—that she continues to look for opportunities to come back.
“When I first began attending UTEP, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on. I had amazing history professors, and so I decided to pursue my bachelor’s and master’s in history, but finding a job was difficult,” she said. “I was either overqualified or underqualified.”
She decided to take advantage of UTEP’s alternative certification program, which allowed her to teach while earning her certification and her master’s in education.
Coupled with her education, her early childhood experiences inspired her to become a passionate leader and advocate in bilingual education. She served as bilingual program director in the Canutillo Independent School District in El Paso County before being appointed associate superintendent of the 5,600-student system in 2006.
She recently was named chief academic officer for the Ysleta Independent School District.
“Growing up, my dad was trilingual, speaking Spanish, English and Arabic, but my mom only spoke Spanish,” said Dow, whose first language was Spanish.
Professionally, Dow said, UTEP helped put her on the road to success. Personally, the rewards are immeasurable, she says.
“UTEP has been a place of tremendous personal and professional growth,” Dow said.
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 Paulette Wingo
B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies, ’92;
M.Ed., Guidance and Counseling, ’96
Paulette Wingo’s desire to help children succeed academically has served as the motivation for her own achievements.
With only a high school diploma in hand, Wingo began her teaching career by working as a tutor at the Lee & Beulah Moor Children’s Home, a child placement agency in El Paso. She realized it would take a college degree to make a difference.
Wingo credits her UTEP education for her professional successes.
“The education I received from UTEP is the cement of my foundation,” Wingo said.
While teaching in the public school system, Wingo volunteered as a tutor for children in her community.
As demand increased, she started her own tutoring business. In an effort to share her hands-on experiences, she wrote the book, Learning Doesn’t Have to be Complicated: A Parent’s Survival Guide for the School Years.
Wingo, founder and president of Roadmap Publishing, serves as a lecturer and advocate for children, speaking at various staff training and community events at the Center Against Family Violence, the Center for Children, La Fe Clinic and the Lee & Beulah Moor Children’s Home.
“My desire to help children and parents reach their potential has taken me on an amazing journey,” she said. “Through the love and support of my husband, daughters, family, friends, parents and numerous students, I remain devoted to changing lives – one family at a time.”
Her husband, Bob Wingo (B.B.A. Marketing, ’73), CEO of Sanders\Wingo Advertising Inc., was the recipient of the 2002 Gold Nugget Award from the College of Business Administration.
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College of Engineering
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 Oscar E. Venegas
B.S.C.E., ’73
Oscar E. Venegas was inspired to study engineering when he heard from professionals in the field during high school career days.
“I found it intriguing and so I decided to take a drafting class. I later realized I enjoyed it and was good at
it, too,” he said.
Venegas began competing in and winning drafting contests. After high school, he looked to UTEP for his degree in civil engineering and the education and experience needed to succeed. His UTEP education not only helped him get his foot in the door with his first job, but it also helped him work with and compete against other graduates from around the nation.
“Early in my career, I worked with graduates from around the country and found that many of them relied on me and the knowledge and skills I obtained while working toward my degree at UTEP,” he recalled.
Today, Venegas serves as president of Venegas Engineering Management and Construction, LP (VEMAC) in El Paso and works with his son, David, also a UTEP civil engineering graduate who serves as vice president of VEMAC.
Vengas also is married to a UTEP graduate—Martha E. Venegas (B.B.A. Accounting, ’80)—and has a daughter, Mary.
Venegas’ company has been involved in several UTEP projects, including the construction of the Larry
K. Durham Sports Center, improvements to Sun Bowl Stadium, and the transformation of Seamon Hall into the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts.
Personally, Venegas continues his relationship with UTEP by serving as an advisor to the Department of Civil Engineering.
“I look forward to being a part of UTEP’s continued growth,” he said.
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College of Health Sciences
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 Sandra Hatfield Clubb
B.B.A., Marketing, ’87;
M.Ed., Instructional Specialist/Kinesiology, ’89
Sandy Hatfield Clubb’s journey to success began at the age of 19, a self proclaimed “lost young woman” traveling from Maryland to West Texas in search of “some meaning to life.”
Her grandmother encouraged her to enroll at UTEP, and paid her first semester’s tuition.
“She literally enrolled me into UTEP and only asked that in return I work hard,” Hatfield Clubb said.
That she did. After her first semester, she had earned a 4.0 GPA and turned to the Office of Scholarships for financial help the rest of the way. She earned a bachelor’s in business administration in 1987, but not before being offered a teaching and research assistantship in the College of Education’s kinesiology and physical education departments. She later earned a master’s in education with a specialization in kinesiology.
Hatfield Clubb said the opportunity changed her career aspirations and “opened up a newly found passion” for working in physical education. She used her business and education backgrounds in collegiate athletics.
She began her career as a management intern in the office of athletics at Arizona State University, where she worked for 16 years and last served as senior associate athletic director. During her tenure at ASU, Hatfield Clubb created a life skills program for student-athletes, which gained national recognition as a Program of Excellence by the Division 1A Athletic Directors Association.
In 2006, she was appointed director of athletics at Drake University, becoming the first woman to run a Division 1 program in Iowa.
“Attending UTEP fundamentally changed my life and exposed my passion for working with student athletes,” she said. |
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College of Liberal Arts
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 Alfredo Corchado Jimenez
B.A., Journalism, ’87
Alfredo Corchado Jimenez chose to attend UTEP to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an investigative journalist and serve as a foreign correspondent for a major media outlet.
“I cannot imagine a better education anywhere else,” he said. “UTEP provided a binational laboratory perfect for developing the skills needed to be a successful foreign correspondent. As a journalist, it has helped me specialize in my field, providing me with an edge over my competitors.”
Corchado Jimenez has dedicated his life to bridging the gap between the United States and Mexico. For more than 15 years, he has served as the Mexico Bureau Chief for The Dallas Morning News.
He was the lead reporter for The Dallas Morning News during the 2000 presidential election in Mexico, and the first to interview President Vicente Fox following his historic win.
His work covering Mexico, U.S.-Mexico relations, immigration, border violence and other border issues has earned him numerous accolades and recognitions. Among them is the prestigious Maria Moors Cabot Prize for outstanding reporting in Latin America from Columbia University in New York in 2007.
He was named a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2009. Corchado Jimenez remains close to UTEP.
“The dedicated professors at UTEP helped me understand that my success wasn’t just about me, but about future generations of student journalists,” said Corchado Jimenez, who regularly visits his alma mater to speak with students and connect with professors.
“I am honored that UTEP has allowed me the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge with students.”
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College of Science
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 James W. Handschy
B.S., Geological Sciences, ’83;
M.S., Geological Sciences, ’86
Jim Handschy began his career at the El Paso Natural Gas Company while earning his bachelor’s degree in geological sciences at UTEP.
“I had the opportunity to take what I learned in the classroom and apply it in the field,” Handschy said.
“I received an outstanding fundamental education, which helped prepare me for my future in the petroleum industry.”
After completing his doctorate in geology and geophysics from Rice University, Handschy joined Shell
Exploration and Production Company, where he worked on exploration, production and research projects around the world for 10 years. He later joined Phillips Petroleum Co., last serving as chief geologist for worldwide exploration and production.
In 2002, he served as manager of global geology for ConocoPhillips Upstream and now serves as global chief geologist with ConocoPhillips.
Throughout his distinguished career, Handschy has been a leader in the petroleum industry, actively working to support forums for sharing knowledge. In addition to publishing numerous papers in international geological journals and books, Handschy has served as a reviewer for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union. He also has served as editor of a special volume of AAPG Bulletin.
Handschy shares his knowledge with current UTEP students by participating in colloquiums for the UTEP Department of Geological Sciences.
“The opportunity to learn from rocks in the field, as well as from experienced faculty members, makes
UTEP an outstanding school for geoscience education,” he said.
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 Larry R. Wollschlager
B.S., Biological Sciences, ’71;
M.S., Geology, ’75
Larry Wollschlager said studying in the mountains and desert around UTEP while earning his degrees in biology and geology was the foundation for his success.
Being only minutes away from multiple and unique geological study sites provided an excellent opportunity for Wollschlager to understand and apply what he learned in books and in the classroom.
“My education in the classroom and in the field gave me a significant advantage over geologists from other schools,” he said. “I was able to gain experience while learning.”
As president and CEO of Wolf Energy, Inc.—a private, family-owned independent oil and gas exploration company based in Midland, Texas— the geologist credits inspirational faculty members and UTEP’s unique location for his success.
“At the time, I didn’t appreciate the high quality of education I was receiving, but after beginning my professional career, I became more aware,” Wollschlager said.
Wollschlager’s confidence in the caliber of education he received at UTEP is confirmed through the scholarships he helps provide for UTEP students, as well as the professional positions he makes available to the University’s graduates.
“Our company philosophy is ‘Be where the oil and gas are,’” he said. “To do this, I rely on the education I obtained at UTEP.” |
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School of Nursing
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 Barbara J. Bruno
B.S.N., Nursing, ’74
Army Col. Barbara Bruno took a practical approach to deciding her career path.
“When I was thinking about school and what I wanted to study, I looked for degrees that would be in demand,” said Bruno, who earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from UTEP in 1974.
It was at UTEP that nursing evolved from a job to a passion.
“My clinical experiences taught me what it took to be a nurse,” Bruno said. Looking to do more, she joined the Army and earned three master’s degrees—in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, in nursing from The University of Kansas, and in systems management from the University of Southern California.
“I was looking for a deeper purpose. I knew that if I wanted to be in a position to effect change, I would need to continue my education, and the Army was willing to pay for it. It was a win-win,” said Bruno, who this summer retired as deputy chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps after 27 years of military service.
Bruno served in various clinical nursing and leadership positions, earning the Legion of Merit and the
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters.
In a proclamation to President George W. Bush, Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye described Bruno’s accomplishments as “an eloquent testimony to her talent, dedication, loyalty and determination to see that the best possible nursing care is always available to our soldiers, their family members and our deserving retirees.”
Bruno said she would recommend UTEP to aspiring nurses who want to make a difference in the health of those who are serving their country.
“I had the honor of working with a remarkable team to care for soldiers while growing professionally and traveling around the world,” she said. “It was an amazing experience.”
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 Cindy A. Stout
M.S.N., Nursing Administration, ’94
Cindy A. Stout looked to UTEP to pursue her graduate studies in nursing and jumpstart her career. She is giving back tenfold, supporting and promoting the nursing field and the University’s School of Nursing.
As chief nursing officer at Del Sol Medical Center, she has created a working environment where nurses can flourish.
Her hard work and dedication earned Del Sol Medical Center the Pathway to Excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a designation that has been awarded to only 70 organizations nationwide.
Stout continues to take an interest in promoting the University and its efforts to provide the best education to future nurses.
She led the initiative to open a UTEP/Del Sol Simulation Lab for nursing and allied health students.
She has been a nursing advocate and mentor, offering guidance to graduate students in UTEP’s Master’s of Science in Nursing program, and frequently encourages and assists staff members who are interested in pursuing degrees.
“I am proud of my degree from UTEP,” said Stout, who earned her bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio and her M.S.N., with a concentration in nursing administration, from UTEP.
Stout’s husband, Ronnie C. Stout (M.S.N., Nursing Administration, ’93) also earned his nursing degree from UTEP. Their children are Melody, Nicholas and Summer.
“My experience at UTEP was invaluable. It allowed me the opportunity to share experiences, philosophies and management techniques with colleagues around the city,” Stout said. “This provided me with leadership skills that I have been able to apply throughout my career.” |
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