TAMEST Board of Directors Elects David Daniel President and Brendan Lee Vice President
At its January 2021 meeting, the TAMEST Board of Directors elected David E. Daniel, Ph.D. (NAE), President Emeritus of The University of Texas at Dallas, to serve as Board President for a two-year term. Dr. Daniel is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has served TAMEST as a board member, conference committee member and advisor to the TAMEST strategic plan.
Brendan Lee, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM), Robert and Janice McNair Endowed Chair in Molecular and Human Genetics and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine, was elected Vice President of the Board of Directors for a two-year term. Dr. Lee is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has previously served as TAMEST Treasurer and Chair of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine Subcommittee. Dr. Lee received the 2009 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine.
The TAMEST Board President and Vice President help coordinate and guide the TAMEST Board of Directors in planning strategy, programs and communications.
“I enter my role as Board President ready to expand on the wonderful path set forward by TAMEST’s strategic plan and Past President Amelie Ramirez,” Dr. Daniel said. “TAMEST will continue to call upon the state’s best brain power to address the most pressing issues that are touched by science, engineering, medicine, and emerging technology. We encourage convening, collaboration and aim to recruit more top STEM talent to Texas and into the national academies.”
The TAMEST Board gives special thanks to 2019-2020 Board President Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H. (NAM), UT Health San Antonio who helped steward TAMEST through completion of a new strategic plan and led the organization’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. She will continue to serve on the Board of Directors for two years in the position of Past President. Dr. Ramirez also serves as honorary chair for the January 2022 TAMEST Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Both the board and staff thank Dr. Ramirez for her outstanding leadership and dedication to TAMEST.
“TAMEST provides such a unique opportunity to encourage and support research in our state,” said Dr. Ramirez. “It has been a true honor to lead this organization through a strategic plan that will help TAMEST continue showcasing the great scientific advancements taking place in Texas. Drs. Daniel and Lee both share a deep knowledge and admiration for supporting science and research in a time when we need it most – I look forward to seeing what their experience and leadership will bring to our organization.”
Learn more about Drs. Daniel and Lee:
David E. Daniel, Ph.D. (NAE)
Dr. David E. Daniel is President Emeritus of The University of Texas at Dallas. He earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.
As a nationally recognized engineering professor, Dr. Daniel is known for his major contributions to the engineering practice involving landfills and waste containment systems, and widely recognized for his contributions to higher education in Texas. He has published more than 100 technical articles and authored or edited five books.
Dr. Daniel’s administrative career began in 1996 when he moved to the University of Illinois to serve as the first Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and later as Dean of Engineering. He was appointed the fourth President of The University of Texas at Dallas in 2005 and served in that role until 2015. In 2018, he served as Deputy Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer of The University of Texas System in Austin. Recently, Dr. Daniel was named Chair of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Gulf Research Program Committee.
Honors include the Normal Medal, Croes Medal, Middlebrooks Award, Presidents Award, Opal Award for Education, and Geotechnical Hero’s Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2000.
Brendan Lee, M.D., Ph.D. (NAM)
Dr. Lee is the Robert and Janice McNair Endowed Chair in Molecular and Human Genetics and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. He earned his B.S. from City University Of New York, Brooklyn College and his M.D. and Ph.D. from State University Of New York Downstate Medical Center.
As a pediatrician and geneticist, Dr. Lee studies structural birth defects and inborn errors of metabolism. He identified the first genetic causes of human skeletal dysplasias and their implications for cancers of the skeleton. In the area of metabolic disease, he has studied nitric oxide dysregulation and developed new treatments for maple syrup urine disease and urea cycle disorders.
Honors include the 2009 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Medicine, the E. Mead Johnson Award for “Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Pediatrics,” the Michael E. DeBakey Excellence in Research Award and the American Philosophical Society’s Judson Darland Prize for Patient-Oriented Clinical Investigation. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in 2013.
