School of Public Health announces Faculty Emeritus recognition

The Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Catherine Hawes, Ph.D., Charles Phillips, Ph.D., and Jerome Congleton, Ph.D., PE, as Faculty Emeritus. The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents formally awarded the Professor Emeritus status to all three during a recent meeting.

Hawes and Phillips have previously been honored as Regents Professors. Both received the Public Service Award from the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Reform and served for many years on the editorial board of The Gerontologist. They have also been recognized by the Institute for Scientific Information as leading scholars in their fields, among the top one-half of one percent of all published researchers worldwide in each of 21 categories “who have demonstrated great influence in their field” and “made fundamental contributions to the advancement of science” as measured by citations to their work.

Hawes is an internationally recognized expert in long-term care, with particular attention to quality of care. Her numerous awards and accolades are testament to her devotion to the quality of care for the elderly and infirm. She also led a team of researchers who developed an assessment system used in all U.S. nursing homes to develop resident’s care plans and evaluate the quality of care. This tool has been translated into 22 languages and is now used in 19 other countries.

Phillips is a gerontologist and public health professional specializing in long-term care policy and health services research. He also has a particular interest in measuring and evaluating quality of care and quality of life in care settings providing long-term care to the frail elderly and disabled.

Congleton is a professional engineer, certified professional ergonomist and Director Emeritus of the Ergonomics Center, which he founded. His main research interests are in human factors and ergonomics with attention to workplace design. He has excelled in teaching and mentoring having chaired 19 doctoral dissertations and 49 master theses and was advisor to an additional 40 master students. His mentorship has been instrumental in helping students find leadership positions while maintaining an outstanding record of research and service that led to eight patents and 38 journal publications.