5K raises money for Texas Oncology Foundation
The Longview Arboretum and Nature Center’s 2nd Annual Pyler McLemore Memorial 5K Run raised $12,500, which will be donated to the Texas Oncology Foundation to help cover cancer treatment costs for local patients.
The donation was presented Dec. 4 at Texas Oncology on North Fourth Street in Longview, with Arboretum board members and staff, McLemore’s family and Texas Oncology physicians in attendance.
Texas Bank & Trust is pursuing three initiatives
Texas Bank & Trust announced three promotions. Jeff Wyatt will become Chief Technology Officer. Jesse Roddy joins as senior vice president and network and systems architecture manager. Roxanne Johns becomes Director of Business Development.
Mr. Wyatt joined the Bank in May 2017 as Deputy Chief Information Officer. Prior to that, he worked as an IT systems consultant at Coastal States Bank, where he also previously served as the bank’s chief information officer and information security officer.
Roddy joined the bank in 2023 and has 22 years of experience in information technology in both service provider and enterprise environments.
Mr. Johns joined the Financial Management department in 2021 as a customer service specialist.
East Texas nonprofit wins grant
Twelve nonprofit organizations serving Gregg, Rusk, Smith and Upshur counties received grants totaling $100,000 from the TJ and Laverne Plunkett Foundation.
“The Plunkett Foundation has a generous history of supporting East Texas charities,” said East Texas Community Foundation President Kyle Penny. “We are honored to continue our work to provide grants to worthy nonprofit organizations that serve our neighbors in need.”
Rusk County Friends Helping Friends received funding to provide prescription assistance and medical transportation to residents across the county. The organization helps connect eligible applicants with prescription assistance programs and low-cost or free medications.
“This grant is expected to be utilized in early 2025,” said Shannon Forgey, the organization’s executive director. “Low-income people, especially those who are uninsured or underinsured, or seniors on fixed incomes with high medical costs, cannot afford prescription drugs. We will be able to work directly with companies to deliver the prescriptions they need to improve health outcomes, reduce emergency department visits, and improve the quality of life for the patients we serve.”
Other 2024 grant recipients are:
Rusk County: Rusk County Boys and Girls Club, general administrative support. Rusk County Christian Women’s Employment Group, general operational support. Henderson Food Pantry, general operational support. Keeping Henderson a beautiful, special needs playground at Yates Park. Rusk County Friends Helping Friends, Medical Transportation and Prescription Assistance Program. Salvation Army Henderson Texas Unit, General Operations Support.
Gregg County: Longview Salvation Army, Groceries and Food Pantry. Texas Shakespeare Festival Foundation, supporting all operations for the 2025 season.
Smith County: Champions for Rusk County Children, teacher training programs and professional development. Discovery Science Place, a mobile planetarium exhibit for Rusk County schools. Texas Lamp Project, purchase materials to build up to 12 lamps.
Upshur County: Support of Gilmont Presbyterian Camp and Circle of Friends Camp.
UT Tyler names Dean
The University of Texas at Tyler announced that Dr. Sue Cox has been appointed chair of the School of Medicine. Cox has been the school’s interim dean since September.
Prior to becoming interim dean, Cox served as dean of planning for the School of Medicine, where he continued to lead accreditation, strategy, and quality improvement initiatives.
Cox is trained as an obstetrician-gynecologist and has shaped medical education across the United States for more than 30 years, UT Tyler said.
Prior to joining Tyler Tech, he served as associate dean and director of medical education at the Dell School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the lead designer of Dell Med’s curriculum and co-chaired the Certification Steering Committee.
Kilgore University professor recognized
Danny Durden, professor of computer and information technology at Kilgore College, has been selected as a member of the 2024-25 Fellows of the National Science Foundation-funded Community College Presidents Initiative in STEM (CCPI-STEM) project. Ta.
Darden is one of five fellows nationwide selected to participate in the third group of this effort. This group aims to strengthen the leadership skills of doctoral students and candidates serving as community college faculty and administrators, while promoting growth and diversity in the STEM technology workforce.
Darden is enrolled as a doctoral student in the Hunan Resource Development Program at the University of Texas at Tyler.
CCPI-STEM is part of the broader Community College President’s Initiative in STEM, which supports graduate-level researchers dedicated to STEM education and workforce development within the community college system.
