To be considered for any one of the following special awards, the nominee must be ranked among the top 5 candidates in one of the established categories. The Selection Committee will forward the nomination package to the Selection Committee Chair (SCC) for consideration in one of the four special award categories. These prestigious awards are not presented annually. They are only presented when the SCC has determined that a candidate's achievements merit this special recognition.
The Chairman’s Award is presented to engineers, scientists, or educators who have used the highest standards of their profession to make exceptional contributions to their profession or to their community, thereby significantly advancing the positive image of science, mathematics, engineering professionals in our society. The Chairman’s Award honoree may or may not come from the pool of nominees (i.e. The debut of the movie, Stand and Deliver impacted educational excellence in math, thereby meeting Great Minds in STEM's Mission. The Chairman’s Award was presented to math teacher Jaime Escalante, who was not a nominee).
Past winners of the Chairman’s Award include: physicist Albert V. Baez, Ph.D., internationally -known researcher, educator, and humanitarian; Jaime Oaxaca, UTEP alumnus, former Vice President, Northrop Corporation and President, Wilcox Electric, and Presidential appointee to the National Science Board; Michael Carroll, Ph.D., former Dean of the School of Engineering, Rice University; and the Hon. Carlos M. Ramirez, P.E., former mayor of the City of El Paso.
The Albert V. Baez Award was established in 1995 to honor engineers and scientists with outstanding technical achievements and service to humanity. A retired physicist, Albert V. Baez is noted for his pioneering research in X-ray optics. As an educator, he spearheaded curriculum reform in third world countries for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), As a humanitarian, he continues to help others improve their lives though Vivamos Mejor, USA.
Past winners of the award include: Ellen Ochoa, Ph.D., research physicist and NASA astronaut and the recipient of HENAAC’s 1989 Most Promising Engineer award; George Castro, Ph.D., physicist; and Raphael Bras, Ph.D., Department Head, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Pioneer Award is presented to an individual whose professional achievements in science, engineering and technology or in careers impacting science, engineering and technology, have broken traditional societal, political, economic or professional barriers, thereby opening doors and setting a new course for others to follow.
Recipients of HENAAC's Pioneer Award include: Linda Garcia Cubero, who was not only in the first class of women to graduate from a military academy, she was also the only Hispanic woman in this pioneering group of graduates, making her also the first Hispanic woman to graduate from a military academy; Nitza Margarita Cintron, Ph.D., M.D., NASA's manager of the medical operations and activities of the International Space Station; and Dr. Zulma R. Toro-Ramos, the first woman chancellor at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez.
The Vanguard Award was established in 2007 to honor individuals who do not have a technical background however they are making huge progress in promoting STEM education and careers in their community, state and county. A Vanguard Award recipient has the ability to convene large groups of stakeholders to change public policy on STEM. They must also be willing to positively change current paradigms around STEM and the Hispanic Community. The first recipient of the Vanguard Award in 2007 was Dr. J. Michael Ortiz, President of California State University Polytechnic University, Pomona.
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