Educational Psychology Graduate Student Wins Murff Excellence Award - May 21, 2009

College of Education graduate student Fidel Zapata was awarded the 2009 Robert Murff Excellence Award for outstanding support of career services at The University of Texas at Austin.

Fidel Zapata, a graduate student in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology, has been honored with The University of Texas at Austin’s Robert Murff Excellence Award for outstanding support of career services at the university.

The Texas Campus Career Council (TC3) presents the award and, campus-wide, only two individuals were selected for the prestigious honor this year. Dr. Mary Jane Burson, professor and practicum coordinator for Human Development and Family Sciences, also was honored.

During the nomination process, Zapata was described as "dependable, reliable and fun to work with." Nominators also described Zapata as "a natural leader with a take charge and get it done" attitude" who has been "able to do all of this without overstepping boundaries."

“Fidel shows up for all of our career services activities and works so hard to help the career services office,” says Rita Moreno, a program coordinator in the College of Education’s career services and induction support office. “He’s not employed by us – he does all of this as a volunteer, and that is so awesome. We think he’s incredible.”

The awards will be presented on Thursday, May 14, at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center at the Annual Murff Awards & Appreciation Luncheon.

TC3 honors the many "career agents" who assist the university's individual career service offices by recognizing their contribution to the success of the student body. This is the 11th year the award has been presented, and it is named for the founder of the university's Career Exploration Center, Dr. Robert Murff, in recognition of his lasting contribution to campus career services.

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