Dedication of Renovated Cissy McDaniel Parker Dean's Conference Room - April 5, 2007

The generosity of the College of Education’s advisory council was highlighted on February 16th with the dedication of an elegantly refurbished, technologically state-of-the-art dean’s conference room. The dedication of the Cissy McDaniel Parker Dean’s Conference Room was part of the College’s semiannual advisory council meeting.

Renovations to the conference area were made possible by a generous $136,000 donation from advisory council members Cissy and Bob Parker. Cissy Parker, who graduated from the College of Education in 1944, has been an avid supporter of its work through four deans, and she and her husband are responsible for funding the Catherine M. Parker Centennial Professorship in Education as well as the Cissy McDaniel Parker Faculty Fellows. With the Parker’s financial support, the College is able to reward outstanding faculty who have distinguished themselves through their research, teaching, scholarship and mentoring.

Friends and family of the Parkers attended the conference room dedication ceremony and were able to share in the honor.

“I am so personally grateful for the Parker’s generosity,” says Manuel J. Justiz, dean of the College of Education, “and for their decades of support and guidance. It truly was an honor to be able to recognize the work they have done for us and thank them for being such loyal friends of our College.”

In addition to the dedication ceremony, the advisory council meeting also included presentations by faculty members who research autism and offer autism workshops around Texas.

Dr. Mark O’Reilly is a professor of special education and a Fellow in the Mollie Villeret Davis Professorship in Learning Disabilities, and he directs the Department of Special Education’s graduate training programs in Autism and Developmental Disabilities. He and Caroline Oliver, development director for Moore Weis Children’s Center of Austin, discussed autism and developmental studies. Pam Buchanan and Dr. Jody Jensen, faculty members in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, explained the work of the University of Texas Autism Project, of which they are co-directors.

Agenda items for the advisory council meeting also included a luncheon as well as a question and answer session with a 12-member panel of Texas Exes Outstanding Teachers and remarks by University of Texas at Austin President William Powers, Jr.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910