[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E780-E781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF DR. ANN STUART

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 2014

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a person very 
important to our district. Ann Stuart, Ph.D., personifies the American 
dream that education is access to opportunity. She was born as an only 
child into a middle class family of loving parents, Frank and Laura 
Stuart. They were determined to make possible for their child a college 
education, so she completed her Bachelor's degree in Education at the 
University of Florida, her Master's in English at the University of 
Kentucky, and her Ph.D. in English at Southern Illinois University. Ann 
began her teaching career first as a middle school teacher, then taught 
high school, and later became a tenured Professor of English at the 
university level. She is a published scholar in the field of English 
Literature and technical communication. Her administrative career began 
as Dean of Arts and Sciences at East Stroudsburg University in 
Pennsylvania. She then became Provost and Vice President of Academic 
Affairs at Alma College in Michigan followed by the Presidency of 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Graduate School in Connecticut.
   Dr. Stuart was named Chancellor and President of Texas Woman's 
University in 1999 and still currently serves in that position. Her 
administrative leadership during her time at TWU has brought 
transformational change: Enrollment has grown by 80%. TWU has produced 
during her tenure more than 20,000

[[Page E781]]

graduates in critical fields. The university has received national 
recognition for its quality, value and diversity. Dr. Stuart has raised 
more than $220 million for facilities, scholarships and faculty 
development and led the implementation of advanced technology and 
teaching tools that mirror the workplace and improve learning.
   She led the construction of new facilities that position TWU at the 
forefront of workplace development. The TWU Institute of Health 
Sciences-Houston Center (2006)--located in the renowned Texas Medical 
Center--was built at no cost to the state. The TWU T. Boone Pickens 
Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center (2011)--located in the heart 
of the Southwestern Medical District--brings together to one location 
health care programs previously located at separate sites enabling TWU 
to emphasize the team approach to patient care. The Ann Stuart Science 
Complex in Denton (2011), which doubled the university's science 
laboratory and classroom space, is helping meet the state's need for 
skilled professionals in the STEM fields (science, technology, 
engineering and mathematics). TWU students are high achievers in their 
academic fields and are successful graduates in critical professions 
that return value to this state and its citizens.
   Through her vision, innovation and leadership, TWU is well-
positioned for a strong future. Business and community leaders 
throughout the state and members of the legislature call upon her and 
her administration to serve as experts on boards and to testify on 
issues critical to higher education.
   Dr. Stuart will leave a lasting legacy as a private citizen at TWU, 
in Denton, and in Dallas. She and her late husband Ray Poliakoff, who 
were first generation graduates of higher education, both said often it 
was their education that enabled them to pursue the opportunities that 
enriched their lives.
   To honor Ray's memory and their shared commitment to providing 
educational opportunities for young people, Chancellor Stuart has 
established and funded the following at TWU:
   The Ann Stuart and Ray R. Poliakoff endowed scholarship for 
undergraduate students with high academic achievement and financial 
need,
   The Chancellor's Alumni Excellence Award, through a 20-year program 
of funding, annually brings exceptional graduates back to the 
university to share their expertise with faculty and students,
   The Ann Stuart and Ray R. Poliakoff Celebration of Science Series, 
through a commitment of two decades of funding, provides the 
opportunity for the TWU Departments of Biology and Chemistry/
Biochemistry to develop a sustained program of promoting and 
celebrating the wonders, truths, and mysteries of science.
   In Denton, Dr. Stuart in her husband's memory, made a lead gift for 
the construction of a new Animal Care and Adoption Center. She also 
underwrites a weekly adoption program for dogs and cats from the 
current shelter.
   As a private citizen in Dallas, Dr. Stuart provided funds for a 
courtyard garden at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. 
Furthermore, she has made a multi-year commitment to a dog therapy 
program at Baylor Scott & White Health as well as an animal nutrition 
program at the Dallas Zoo. Additionally, she has given a sustained gift 
of funding to KERA programming.
   Dr. Stuart exemplifies the profile of those selected for the Texas 
Women's Hall of Fame. She clearly has improved the institution she now 
leads while at the same time contributed to the larger discussion of 
improving higher education in the state of Texas. Through board 
appointments, legislative and Coordinating Board involvement and 
workforce impact, her service clearly has benefitted the state of 
Texas.

                          ____________________