University of North Texas 
2023 Emeritus Recognition
- Emeritus
- 2026 Emeritus Recognition
- 2025 Emeritus Recognition
- 2024 Emeritus Recognition
- 2023 Emeritus Recognition
- 2022 Emeritus Recognition
- 2021 Emeritus Recognition
- 2020 Emeritus Recognition
- 2019 Emeritus Recognition
- 2018 Emeritus Recognition
- 2017 Emeritus Recognition
The following faculty members earned the honorary title of Emeritus in 2023 in recognition of their distinguished service to the University of North Texas.
Joseph Banowetz
Professor Emeritus, Keyboard Studies
Dr. Joseph Banowetz enjoyed a long and illustrious career as an international piano virtuoso and leading authority on the study and performance of piano repertoire. He is widely regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on piano performance and pedagogy. Dr. Banowetz mentored hundreds of students who went on to enjoy successful careers as concert pianists and teachers at universities in the U.S. and abroad. He authored two definitive books on piano performance published and translated into seven languages and recorded over 50 critically acclaimed commercial CDs. His other scholarly contributions include numerous authoritative pedagogical editions of piano masterpieces published by major music publishing companies. With hundreds of thousands of followers on the Spotify music internet site, he has amassed a truly international audience. Dr. Banowetz supported the profession by serving on international competition juries and boards of advisors, as well as performing and delivering masterclasses in many countries. His decades of service to UNT include service on numerous committees and dedicated support of divisional activities. Dr. Banowetz retired from UNT in May 2022.
Mary Curtis
Professor Emerita, Accounting
Dr. Mary Curtis was a highly respected member of the faculty of the Department of Accounting in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business for 23 years. She assisted numerous students in launching their accounting or academic careers and made significant contributions to the accounting discipline through research publications in the top tier of accounting and business journals. Dr. Curtis was an especially active researcher and contributor within the accounting discipline. Her research consistently appeared in premier business and accounting journals including The Accounting Review; Accounting, Organizations and Society; and the Journal of Business Ethics. A leading researcher in the fields of accounting information systems, ethics, and audit practice, Dr. Curtis published over 50 articles during her career and actively mentored junior faculty members and doctoral students. Many of her publications and conference papers are co-authored with UNT doctoral students or collaborating faculty. In addition to her extensive university service, Dr. Curtis amassed a record of exceptional service to the accounting discipline. She served as a senior editor of one of the leading accounting journals, Journal of Information Systems, and as a reviewer for several top tier accounting journals. Her outstanding service to the discipline was widely recognized through the receipt of three Distinguished Service Awards from the American Accounting Association's Accounting Information System section. Dr. Curtis played a key leadership role in the college and in the ITDS Department during her tenure as a UNT faculty member. She served for 10 years as department chair, and under her leadership the ITDS department launched graduate degree programs in business analytics and information systems and technology. These programs laid the foundation for significant growth in graduate enrollment for the college and the university. Within the information technology discipline, she demonstrated an extensive record of service as an editor or editorial review board member for journals such as the Journal of Information Technology Management and Journal of Internet Commerce, a reviewer for several of the top journals in the information systems field, and as a committee member for several national professional organizations. Dr. Curtis retired from UNT in September 2022.
Rebecca Glover
Professor Emerita, Educational Psychology
Dr. Rebecca Glover served UNT for 27 years as a faculty member in the Department of Educational Psychology. This includes full-time status from 1995 to 2019 and on modified service from 2019 to 2022. Dr. Glover contributed to the advancement of the teaching, service, and research missions of UNT in broad, impactful ways. During her tenure at UNT, Dr. Glover led the graduate and undergraduate programs in Human Development and Family Science for many years as well as functioned as the assistant chair in the Department of Educational Psychology. In addition, she served many years on multiple important committees at the college and university levels, most notably the Institutional Review Board and the Graduate Council. Dr. Glover's research agenda demonstrated a continuous focus on various aspects of moral functioning, in addition to exploration of other areas of development, and led to numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Glover's service to the profession incudes membership on the executive committee for the Association for Moral Education, tenure as president of the Society for Research in Human Development, a role as reviewer for the Journal of Moral Education, and service as associate editor for Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography. Dr. Glover retired in July 2019.
Mary Jones
Professor Emerita, Information Technology and Decision Sciences
Dr. Mary Jones played a key leadership role in the college and in the Information Technology and Decision Sciences (ITDS) department during her 20 years as a UNT faculty member. She served for 10 years as department chair, and under her leadership the ITDS department launched graduate degree programs in business analytics and information systems and technology. These programs laid the foundation for significant growth in graduate enrollment for the college and the university. While Dr. Jones was chairperson, the department solidified its national leadership in the mainframe program and became internationally recognized in this area with students routinely winning national competitions. She also worked to develop and strengthen corporate relations and proved highly successful in expanding the department's advisory board and raising funds to support student scholarship and faculty research. Dr. Jones established a stellar record of research excellence. She published 55 peer reviewed journal articles with several appearing in top ranked journals such as MISQ, Information and Management, and Decision Support Systems. Her research was widely recognized and impactful, as evidenced by presentations at over 30 academic and professional conferences. Dr Jones served as the principal investigator on seven grants totaling more than $50,000. She worked closely with her doctoral students and was especially effective in assisting them in their publishing efforts. Within the information technology discipline, she demonstrated an extensive record of service as an editor or editorial review board member for journals such as the Journal of Information Technology Management, and Journal of Internet Commerce, a reviewer for several of the top journals in the information systems field, and as a committee member for several national professional organizations. She retired in December 2021.
Leon Kappelman
Professor Emeritus, Information Technology and Decision Sciences
Dr. Leon Kappelman's 30-year academic career was devoted to educating and inspiring future information technology leaders. He helped students build close connections with IT leaders, preparing them for long-term career success. He was a transformational leader for the Information Technology and Decision Sciences department. In his four and a half years as department chair, Dr. Kappelman launched a Master of Science in Information Systems and Technology which, combined with M.S. and M.B.A. programs in business analytics, grew ITDS graduate enrollment by a factor of 10. He hired 11 faculty members, guided faculty through the promotion and tenure process, and built a truly cohesive team. He was a bold and visionary leader who inspired and motivated those who worked with him. Dr. Kappelman's contribution to the information sciences discipline includes over 60 academic publications, including many in top infrastructure service journals such as MIS Quarterly and Management Information Systems. Many of his articles were co-authored with doctoral students. He also made a lasting impact on the information technology management profession through his thoughtful leadership, trade publications and his involvement with the Society for Information Management, an association of senior IT executives. Dr. Kappelman's engagement with SIM brought numerous industry connections to the ITDS department and its students. As a SIM fellow, Dr. Kappelman led a multi-year SIM-sponsored Chief Information Officer IT Trends study, one of the longest running and most comprehensive longitudinal studies of IT management trends. Dr. Kappelman retired in December 2021.
Kent McGregor
Professor Emeritus, Geography and the Environment
Dr. Kent McGregor was a devoted, proud UNT citizen for nearly four decades. When Dr. McGregor was hired, UNT was a directional, teaching school with a different name — North Texas State University. It is estimated that he taught over 30,000 students during his career, with nearly half of those in Introduction to Earth Science. Three fundamental qualities demarcated Dr. McGregor's career: 1) his care for engaging students in direct learning experiences; 2) his deep, gentle compassion and kindness for everyone he spent time with; and 3) his unmistakable ability to make intelligent, informed choices. The choice that embodied all three qualities was his dedication to stay true to his original motivation in academia: To enrich the lives of students. Dr. McGregor's style remained kind and interactive, bolstered by high, well-reasoned expectations. He taught many different classes in many different formats. During his career, the world of teaching changed dramatically from chalkboards to overheads and 35mm slides to PowerPoint projections, Blackboard, and Canvas. Dr. McGregor never stopped evolving as an educator, all the while pursuing a thread of impactful research. His willingness and ability to teach a large number of courses provided underlying support that allowed newer faculty to become highly productive researchers. Dr. McGregor retired in September 2020.
Marilyn Morris
Professor Emerita, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Marilyn Morris was a member of the UNT Department of History from 1991 to 2022. Dr. Morris earned her Ph.D. from the University of London and then worked as an assistant editor of the Benjamin Franklin Papers at Yale University before accepting a position at UNT as an assistant professor. A specialist in 18th century British political and cultural history, Dr. Morris published The British Monarchy and the French Revolution (Yale, 1998) and Sex, Money and Personal Character in Eighteenth-Century British Politics (Yale, 2014) in addition to numerous book chapters and articles in journals including Gender and History. Her research was supported by the Huntington Library, the Lewis Walpole Library, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Harry Ransom Center, among other institutions. Dr. Morris performed foundational work to advance the study of sexualities and LGBTQ studies at UNT. Between 2003 and 2014, she held leadership positions on campus building and promoting these fields. In honor of this work, the Women and Gender Studies Program created the “Marilyn Morris Award for Outstanding Academic Contributions to LGBTQ Studies,” naming her the first recipient of the award in 2019. Dr. Morris retired in July 2022.
Erin O'Toole
Librarian Emerita, University Libraries
As a science librarian, Erin O'Toole's expertise in providing research support to faculty, students, and colleagues, was demonstrated by her vast knowledge of science journals, databases, blogs, and book collections. She created highly used subject and course guides that connected faculty and students to the resources they needed. She taught numerous library instruction sessions and workshops, helping hundreds of students develop effective search strategies as they began their library research. As the Libraries' support contact for RefWorks, a web-based reference manager that gives researchers a centralized place for their research resource materials, she assisted students and faculty with developing their RefWorks databases. As a scholar, her portfolio includes four book chapters, three conference proceedings, three encyclopedia articles, 10 journal articles, an academic blog, over 30 presentations given at state and national conferences, 13 posters, and two grants. Her service includes serving as a Faculty Senate Senator, co-chair of the Neurodiversity Professional Network, program organizer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, chair of the Texas Library Association's Reference Roundtable, faculty mentor, and serving on numerous library and university committees. She also served as faculty advisor for Eagle Chat: Support Group for Neurodiverse Students. Her outstanding dedication to supporting students and faculty was recognized by the George and Ruth Christy Award in May 2020, an award given by the UNT Libraries to honor exemplary service. Erin O'Toole retired in June 2022.
Ian Parberry
Professor Emeritus, Computer Science and Engineering
Dr. Parberry is a pioneer of academic game development education and research who began teaching game programming to UNT undergraduates in 1993, when he established the Laboratory for Recreational Computing. Dr. Parberry authored over 100 technical publications which have been cited thousands of times. His works include two research monographs and five books. He was named an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Distinguished Member in 2015. Dr. Parberry's notable research achievements include foundational proofs regarding the speed of algorithms, including that conventional computers can be exponentially faster than neural networks (planar Hopfield networks), which were early theoretical models of artificial intelligence, and proving two problems are NP-complete, meaning that these problems cannot be solved within any reasonable time frame, regardless of the speed of a computer. Dr. Parberry's current research interests range from procedural content generation to cognitive assessment of video gameplay using research methods from neuropsychology. He served as editor of ACM SIGACT News, the quarterly newsletter of the ACM Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory, from 1991 to 2002. He also served on the editorial boards of several journals. He served from 2009 to 2014 as a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Advancement of the Science of Digital Games, which organizes the annual Foundations of Digital Games conference. Dr. Parberry was interim chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering from 2009 to 2011. He retired in September 2022.
Carol Wickstrom
Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita, Teacher Education and Administration
Dr. Carol Wickstrom served as a full professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Administration from 2000 to December 2021. She taught numerous undergraduate and graduate students, chairing 21 doctoral committees and serving as a committee member for 33 graduate students. While at UNT, Dr. Wickstrom was recognized with a variety of teaching and service awards including the UNT Distinguished Teaching Professor Award, President's Council Teaching Award, J. H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award, UNT Minnie Stevens Piper Professor nomination, and other college and department teaching awards. She received the Outstanding University Teacher Award from the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (TCTELA), the Jean Greenlaw Literacy Award for Outstanding Literacy Leadership from the Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading, State Leadership in Literacy Award from the Texas Association of Literacy Educators, and the Dr. Edmund J. Farrell Lifetime Achievement Award from TCTELA. Dr. Wickstrom established the North Star of Texas Writing Project (NSTWP) in 2003 and remained its director until her retirement. She acquired more than $1.4 million in grants and contracts for tuition, books, and professional development for NSTWP participants. Dr. Wickstrom served the university on the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Faculty Senate, and other committees. At the college level, she served on the Academic Affairs, College Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee (RPT), Scholarship Committee, and Faculty Affairs Committee. She also served as the interim department chair from 2008 to 2009. Dr. Wickstrom retired in December 2021.
Timothy Wilson
Professor Emeritus, Dance and Theatre
Dr. Timothy Wilson served almost 20 years of distinguished service to UNT in the Department of Dance and Theatre. When he joined UNT as department chair, he was already a critically acclaimed educator. While at UNT, he built a reputation for directing and staging a wide variety of plays, being a stalwart in departmental service, and challenging his students to exceed their expectations in movement classes. His teaching portfolio included specialized courses in movement for theatre (from introductory to advanced levels), theatre and the Holocaust, and theatre for social change. For performances on the UNT stage, Dr. Wilson directed Hair: The Musical, Bent, Reefer Madness: The Musical, Ghetto, and The Pearl. He also served as movement/stage combat coach for The Siege of Numancia, Merry Wives, The Philadelphia Story, Marisol, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and Slasher. After stepping down as chair, he was regarded as the colleague who provided the important service on high profile department committees. Dr. Wilson retired in September 2020.
Yolanda Flores Niemann
Professor Emerita, Psychology
Dr. Yolanda Flores Niemann held several important administrative roles while at UNT, including department chair, dean, vice provost, and senior vice provost for academic affairs. Dr. Flores Niemann taught a wide range of courses in the field of psychology, all with consistently high teaching evaluations. At UNT, she introduced two new courses: Psychology of Race in the U.S. (at the graduate and undergraduate levels), and Professional Development (graduate level). Dr. Flores Niemann's scholarship focused on critical race psychology and, more specifically, on the role that macro, socio-ecological, and contextual forces play in tokenization of faculty of color; faculty development and job satisfaction; the recognition and impact of microaggressions; the generation and maintenance of stereotypes; intergroup perception and relations; pedagogy for courses on social psychology and race. She authored and/or edited nine books, including the influential Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. The book is a highly regarded account of the institutional racism and sexism commonly faced by women of color in academia. Dr. Niemann also authored or co-authored 54 peer reviewed journal articles and/or book chapters. Another book, Surviving and Thriving in Academia: A Guide for Members of Marginalized Groups, was published by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Flores Niemann retired in September 2021.