Alumni News 2019

Thornton Earns Ph.D., Teaches in Abu Dhabi

For the first 17 years of his life, Brian Thornton wasn't all that different from most young people trying to figure out life. But life has a way of throwing curve balls dripping with fate at unexpected times and in the most unexpected ways. And Thornton sure got a pitch he wasn't expecting. In his late teens, Thornton was diagnosed with dual forms of macular degeneration. Now at 42, he is legally blind with no cure currently available. What the Lubbock native and three-time Texas Tech Department of English graduate—B.A., M.A. and Ph.D.—has done to manage that major hurdle is inspiring, and he is quick to credit his alma mater for playing a major role in his unconventional success story. To read how Brian Thornton earned his doctorate, became a photographer, authored a book of poetry and moved his family to Abu Dhabi so he could teach at Zayed University, follow this link.

Kerrick Appointed to Board of Regents

Ginger Kerrick (BS Physics '91, MS Physics '93) was appointed to the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents March 6, 2019, by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Kerrick, who is a resident of Webster, Texas, is the Flight Integration Division Chief for NASA, Johnson Space Center, and has served in other various roles and capacities in human space flight and training for over 27 years. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers, volunteer coordinator for Triumphant Trails Inc., and the annual emcee for the Galveston Polar Plunge benefitting Special Olympics. More about Kerrick's appointment may be found at this link.