Honors and Awards

After earning his Bachelor of Science in Sociology in 2007, Jason Thomas Curtis has more than 17 years of experience with Sociology in the Houston - Clear Lake Area. As a Senior Police Officer for the Houston Police Department, Jason helped develop the Differential Response Team unit at the Clear Lake Division. During Jason's career at the Houston Police Department, he earned his Master Certification from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and the Certification as a Police Instructor. During Jason's time at the Houston Police Department, he worked as an investigator, mentor, and instructor in the Clear Lake Area. 

Jason's role as a DRT Unit Senior Officer has been instrumental in his desire to help the community. Jason has worked with the Southbelt area and assisted in the development of homeless coalitions within the City of Houston. Jason has volunteered his time to the Clear Creek Independent School District on family and community engagement educational initiatives: the Watch Dogs Program and Dads of Great Students. Jason also assisted Dr. Everette Penn from the University of Houston-Clear Lake with the T.A.P.S. program. The T.A.P.S program’s focus is to enhance and build a more trusting relationship between teens and police in the Houston area. 

Jason has been heavily involved within the community. He has worked with Southeast Memorial Hospital to be the location for the Positive Interaction Program to bring educational insight and trends in the community, as well as special presentations to educate the public on different areas of the Police Department, the National Night Out program, Community Meetings with local H.O.A.'s from Clear Lake City Community Association, and the Bay Oaks Association. 

Jason has received several awards throughout his career including DRT Officer of the Year Award, Police Officer of the Year Award, Distinguished Service Award. Jason has been recognized in the Southbelt Leader Newspaper, the Bay Area Houston Magazine, and the Space Center Rotary Club.

As a Wisconsin native, Jason Curtis relocated to the Houston area at a young age, he grew up in the local area. He was educated in the CCISD school system. After graduating high school from Clear Brook, Jason decided to pursue his undergraduate degree at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He has been married to his wife, Christine Curtis, for 22 years and has three beautiful children, Christian, Chloe and Peyton. In Jason's spare time, he loves spending it outside exercising, writing, and being with his family. 

Born in Germany and raised in India, Mitali Paul has two decades of experience in the healthcare industry. She is Administrator with Department of Surgery at Houston Methodist. Previous roles include opening a 41-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility, Sugar Land Rehab Hospital (now PAM Health Sugar Land) as CEO, and Vice President with Wiederhold & Associates. Mitali is also Adjunct Faculty at Texas Woman’s University for the Graduate Healthcare Administration program and an Instructor for the Physician Leadership & Management Certificate program for the University of Houston Clearlake.  

In prior roles, Mitali served as the CEO of Select Specialty Hospital and held leadership positions with Harris Health System, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. 

Mitali graduated from the University of Houston, ClearLake with a master's in healthcare and business administration and has a master's in hospital administration from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India. In 2022, she completed a Certificate in Strategic Management from the Wharton School of Business.

A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2011, Mitali currently Chairs the Management Series Editorial Board for ACHE National, Education & Events Committee and is Board Member for SouthEastTexasChapter. 

Katherine Rodriguez is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Moody National Bank.  Moody Bank is based out of Galveston and is a privately, family held 117-year-old institution with $1.7 billion in assets.  Moody has 15 locations, primarily in the surrounding Galveston/Houston area and has Austin and New Braunfels locations.  

Katherine came to the bank from a Big 4 public accounting firm in Houston, TX.  She has been with the bank for 20 years.  She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a Master of Business Administration in Banking and Financial Institutions from Sam Houston State University.  Katherine is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant and Certified Internal Controls Auditor.  

Katherine is very active in her chosen industry serving in the past on the Board of Directors of the Texas Bankers Association and chairing the Texas Bankers Association’s Bank Leadership Council.  She has participated in the Federal Reserve Banking on the Leaders of Tomorrow Program, the Texas Bankers Association's Management Development Program and served on the American Bankers Association's Emerging Leaders Council.  She currently serves on the Smith-Hutson Endowed Chair of Banking Advisory Board at Sam Houston State University and the Federal Reserve Community Depository Institution Advisory Council.  

Katherine has received several awards throughout her career including College of the Mainland Foundation's Board Member of the Year Award, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health Community Service Award and College of the Mainland Distinguished Alumni Award.  

Dr. Tabba is an alumnus of the University of Houston-Clear Lake, where he obtained a Master of Business Administration degree coupled with a Medical Doctorate degree from The University of Texas Health Sciences Center McGovern Medical School. He then completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital.

Beyond his academic achievements, Dr. Tabba has dedicated his professional endeavors to the convergence of public health, healthcare administration, and advocacy for marginalized communities. His commitment materializes through impactful leadership roles and advocacy triumphs, notably reshaping policies at the local, state, and national levels since 2018. His unwavering dedication has earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious National Minority Quality Forum 40 Under 40 in 2024, American College of Physicians Herbert S. Waxman Chief Resident Scholarship in 2024, the Andy Diehl On Being a Doctor Award in both 2022 and 2023, and the Texas Medical Liability Trust Scholarship in 2019.

Presently, Dr. Tabba is serving as an Academic Hospitalist and Assistant Program Director. As a recent graduate of the Texas Health Dallas Internal Medicine Residency Program, Dr. Tabba brings a unique understanding and perspective to education. He is committed to advancing the field of Medicine through research and advocacy and instilling this passion in budding physicians. Outside of his professional pursuits, he cherishes moments with family and friends, indulges in travel, and enjoys the sport of pickleball. 

Dr. Sadegh Davari, a Professor of Computer Science and the Chair of Department of Computing Sciences at UHCL is retiring on August 31, 2024, after more than 38 years of academic experience.

His service experience includes serving 7 years as department chair, 6 years as division chair and 3 years as interim dean. He has managed 7 large federal and state grants as a PI or co-PI worth over $10 million. He has over 40 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications.

His areas of research include Real-Time Systems, Distributed Systems, and STEM Education. He has supervised 14 MS thesis projects to completion. He has taught 5 different undergraduate level and 7 different graduate level courses.

Among other distinguished recognition and awards, Dr. Davari is the co-inventor of a patent on bandwidth allocation for token ring networks and the author of the best paper award of the 12th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems. He has received UHCL President’s Distinguished Teaching Award.