In 2004, the Betty M. Unterberger Award for Outstanding Service to Honors Education was created and presented to Dr. Unterberger in recognition of her many years of service and significant contribution to the growth and development of honors education at Texas A&M. The 2021 recipient of the Betty M. Unterberger Award is Dr. Charles Conrad.
Dr. Conrad is a first-generation college student whose undergraduate work at Northwestern University was funded by the National Merit Corporation and the Alfred Harcourt Foundation. He received his MA and PhD in Rhetoric and Organizational Communication from the University of Kansas. He has received research awards from the National Communication Association (NCA) and the Southern Communication Association, and won more than a dozen college-and-university level teaching awards at UNC-Chapel Hill and TAMU, including the 2007 Honors Teacher/Scholar Award. In 2003 he received the Donald Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education, given annually to one person by the National Communication Association.
Dr. Conrad’s significant contribution to Honors has included teaching, research mentorship, and program administration. He has taught several Honors courses over the years including Public Speaking, Organizational Communication, Strategic Communication, and Communication, Organizations, and Society. Dr. Conrad has also served as thesis advisor for students completing the Undergraduate Research Scholars program and has served as faculty advisor for Explorations: The Undergraduate Journal. Most recently, Dr. Conrad served as the chair for the Communication Honors program.
Dr. Conrad responded to the news by saying, “I am honored to receive the Betty Unterberger Award, but somewhat surprised—there are so many excellent teacher/scholars at Texas A&M whose careers have made a major impact on our honors students. I met Dr. Unterberger soon after arriving in Aggieland in 1989. She gave me advice about how to meet the unique educational needs of honors students, and her excitement about working with them was infectious. She also served as a powerful role model—a person who strived for excellence in her own work and expected and elicited it from her students—as have the other winners of this award. It is both affirming and humbling to join their number.”
To view a list of previous recipients, please visit http://launch.tamu.edu/Academic-Excellence/Faculty-Recognition/Unterberger-Award.
From Promise to Achievement 