Meet the 2019 Hall of Honor Inductees
Three College of Natural Sciences alumni were selected for induction into the college's 2019 Hall of Honor.
Three College of Natural Sciences alumni were selected for induction into the college's 2019 Hall of Honor.
Dr. Nikhil Advani, Tyrrell Flawn and Dr. Forest Baskett received the distinction for their outstanding career accomplishments and lasting commitment to the college.
The Nonprofit Leader
Tyrrell Flawn has improved mathematics education through her involvement in the U.S. Department of Education, doubled the size of the National Institute of Health's Children's Inn and directed the MD Anderson Cancer Center's volunteer services. She received the Distinguished Service Award at this year's Hall of Honor in recognition of these accomplishments and her more than 30 years of experience as a nonprofit leader and education advocate.
Today Flawn serves on the advisory councils of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the College of Natural Sciences and the School of Human Ecology. She is the first "second-genearation winner" of a Hall of Honor Distinction. Both of her parents previously won the award: her father, the late Peter T. Flawn, former President of the University of Texas at Austin, was inducted in 1993, and her mother, the late Priscilla Pond Flawn, noted education advocate and UT booster, was inducted in 1998. Tyrell Flawn received her bachelor's degree in nutrition from UT.
The Advocate for Wildlife, People & the Planet
Dr. Nikhil Advani works with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a director of climate, communities and wildlife, where he leads WWF's initiatives that help at-risk species and people adapt to climate-caused environmental changes. His current projects include WWF's Climate Crowd, an initiative that crowdsources data on climate change impacts to biodiversity and surrounding communities.
Advani earned his bachelor's degree and PhD from UT in ecology, evolution and behavior. He wrote his thesis on how certain species respond to the impacts of climate change. He was awarded the Emerging Leader Award at the Hall of Honor ceremony.
The High-Tech Innovator
Dr. Forest Baskett was responsible for several breakthroughs in computing, playing a role in the underlying technology for a number of commercial products and large-scale projects, from the original workstation from Sun Microsystems to the operating system for the original Cray-1 computer, built at the Los Alamos National Laboratory building. He earned his PhD in computer science from UT and later became a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford University. He also founded a digital equipment research company and joined Silicon Graphics, Inc. as a vice president and chief technology officer.Following these roles, Baskett joined investment firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 1999, where he is now a general partner. He was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni at this year's Hall of Honor ceremony.
