Mark Ouimette, professor and head of geological and environmental sciences at Hardin-Simmons University, has received the inaugural AAPG Holland Award of Excellence.
AAPG Foundation Trustee Associate David “Scotty” Holland presented the award in a special ceremony in the Holland Health Science Building on the HSU campus in Abilene, Texas.
The award was established by Scotty Holland and his wife, Jacque, through the AAPG Foundation to honor faculty members at the Holland School of Sciences and Mathematics at HSU. The award, intended for “professional development and enrichment,” is intended to “make the best in the classroom better at the Holland School of Sciences and Mathematics.”
“I am very honored to receive this award,” said Ouimette, whose 14 years of hands-on teaching at HSU give students an appreciation for fieldwork and an authentic context for geological sciences.
“I am truly thankful to Dr. Holland and the AAPG for making it available,” he added. “The award is an affirmation of the learning environment we provide here at Hardin-Simmons – you won’t find the attention to detail directed toward a student’s future at any public institution like what we have here.”
Most of the award will go toward the purchase of much needed equipment for the department, including a high quality microscope and a digital visual device for lectures (known as ELMO). The remainder will be used to send Ouimette to meetings focused at geoscience department accreditation.
Holland, an industry leader as well as an entrepreneur, is president of Holland Holding Inc., Holland Energy Inc. and Post Oak Petroleum. He started with Pennzoil in the mid-1960s as a senior exploration geologist, and ultimately became president and chief executive officer of Pennzoil Exploration and Production. He was group vice president of the Pennzoil Company until his retirement in 1990.
In addition to being a member of the AAPG Foundation, Holland also serves on the boards of the Houston Museum of Natural Science and The Geology Foundation of the University of Texas.
In 1997 the Hollands established the Endowed Holland Geology Scholarship Fund; in 2000, they funded the major endowment for the HSU School of Sciences and Mathematics; and recently, their financial gift led to the Holland Award of Excellence at Hardin-Simmons University.
Recently, they were instrumental in funding the $3.9 million Holland Health Science Building, the location of a “first of its kind” high school health sciences magnet school built and maintained by HSU.