Austin, TX

Electrochemistry Pioneer and Texas Science Legend Allen Bard Dies

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2024

Electrochemistry Pioneer and Texas Science Legend Allen Bard Dies

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin community is mourning the loss of Allen J. Bard, known around the world as the father of modern electrochemistry. He was 90.

During nearly 65 years as a faculty member at UT, Bard received many of science’s most prestigious awards, among them a 2013 National Medal of Science and the 2019 King Faisal International Prize in Science, in recognition of his thought leadership and development of technology used by generations of electrochemists. As a result, according to President Emeritus Larry Faulkner, who was also a former student of Bard’s, he was “the most important scientist to have developed at UT through an entire career.”

“The phrase ‘What starts here changes the world’ is underpinned by innumerable life-changing discoveries made by UT Austin researchers, and perhaps none more impactful than the discoveries of Allen Bard,” said President Jay Hartzell. “It is well documented that Allen’s work transformed his field. Yet equally important was his devotion to his students and preparing them to impact our world for the better. Today, we mourn Allen’s passing but also celebrate his contributions to modern-day science and his lifelong commitment to The University of Texas.”

Bard was born in New York City in 1933 and launched his academic career at UT shortly after completing a Ph.D. at Harvard University. His development of the scanning electrochemical microscope brought the world an analytical tool that has been used to discover new materials for technologies such as solar cells and batteries, to probe the inner workings of biological cells, and to show dynamic chemical activity at very high resolution. Scientists can use the scanning electrochemical microscope to rapidly analyze numerous samples, detect cancer cells and make contributions to energy research. Bard published more than 1,000 academic papers, wrote and co-wrote three books and received more than 30 patents. A range of advances in biological testing, chemistry research, physics and engineering can be traced back to Bard’s contributions.

Allen Bard with chemistry student. Photo by Marsha Miller.

The winner of such top awards as the Enrico Fermi Award, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the Olin-Palladium Award, the Priestley Medal and the Welch Award in Chemistry, as well as being a fellow of both the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Bard nonetheless liked to say that among his proudest achievements was mentoring more than 75 doctoral students and 150 postdoctoral fellows. He was humble about his work and place in science history.

“We all work on this [science] because we like it and because we understand that we’re building a structure,” Bard said in 2014 speaking on NPR’s “Science Friday.” “And we each put in a little brick here and there. If everybody puts in the right bricks and everybody works hard at it, you build a big structure of science, and it’s not so important who put the bricks in.”

“All of us who got to work with Allen Bard also got to have an inspiring glimpse of someone who is not only a preeminent researcher and among the best scientists of a generation but also one of the most dedicated mentors you could ask for,” said David Vanden Bout, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and a professor of chemistry. “He could speak as deeply about his philosophy of training future researchers for leading ethical, excellent and high-impact scientific careers as he could about electrochemistry.”

Electrochemistry involves the relationship between light, electricity and chemicals, and Bard’s contributions to the field were globe-spanning. Additionally, he developed electrogenerated chemiluminescence, a chemical reaction that produces light, which led to analytical tools for clinical diagnostics, biomedical research, DNA sensors, biodefense sensors, drug screening, food and water safety and environmental monitoring.

Photos of Allen Bard are available here: utexas.box.com/s/68w8cgz379zeu2so3v97clivssxdwsap.

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Austin, TX

Taylor residents sue to halt proposed data center

Published

17 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Taylor residents sue to halt proposed data center

TAYLOR, Texas — A proposed data center in Central Texas is getting a lot of pushback from residents. Approximately 40 minutes north of Austin, a group of neighbors in the city of Taylor sued the data center. They are pushing back against the data center that could soon be under construction roughly 500 feet from their neighborhood.

“This property is supposed to be deeded for parkland,” said Pamela Griffin, a resident in the neighborhood next to where the data center will be built. “This land was given to this community.”

The 87-acre land near Griffin’s community is embroiled in a legal battle between her and Blueprint Data Centers.

“We do not need a data center,” Griffin said. “I’m not against them, but we don’t need them in our community.”

Despite Griffin’s land deed lawsuit, a Texas judge has ruled in favor of the proposed project.

“When a judge dismisses a lawsuit because the plaintiff or the plaintiffs lack standing, what the judge means is you’re not a person who has the legal authority to bring this lawsuit,” said Mike Golden, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Griffin and other neighbors argue the data center will take away natural resources like water and what was supposed to be the future site of a park, so her fight is not over.

“We are going to the appellate court now,” Griffin said. “We did file.”

Griffin is passionate about advocating for the community because it’s the neighborhood she was born and raised in. Her grandmother bought property there in the early 1960s, and the community became a safe haven for Black people in Taylor.

“We weren’t allowed to be in the city limits at that time because they would not sell to the Black and brown community, so my grandmother realized they had to buy land outside,” she said.

She worries about the future of her small community now that construction of a 135,000-square-foot data center will begin within the next year.

It’s a project the city says will bring millions in revenue to Taylor.

“What data centers do to a community is it brings an influx of new revenue to all the taxing entities, including the city, the county and especially the school district,” said Ben White, the president and CEO of the Taylor Economic Development Corporation.

He explained how the revenue might benefit the city.

“City council will have the ultimate say on how those revenues are spent, but it could involve new parks for citizens, improve streets for the citizens, improve programs for the citizens,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of variety of different uses of those funds the council could decide to use them on.”

White also addressed the controversy surrounding the deed when asked about it by Spectrum News.

“We feel comfortable that EDC, we did everything correctly on our side,” he said.

Griffin now awaits the Third Court of Appeals to decide on her case.

“I’m asking for the community and the Taylor people to stick together and understand my fight against this data center coming into our community,” Griffin said.

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Austin, TX

How history has treated Texas Longhorns when underdogs against Aggies

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Press Room

How history has treated Texas Longhorns when underdogs against Aggies

Even before the invention of color television, savvy businesspeople were using the Texas versus Texas A&M football rivalry to bring patrons through the door.

Back in 1940, movie theaters made front-page news by offering Texans an opportunity to relive that year’s Lone Star Showdown.

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“UT To Beat A&M All Over Again,” read a small headline on the Nov. 29 edition of the Austin Statesman. The brief news story called the Longhorns’ victory “better drama than the fictional screen ever unfolded,” and declared that movie-goers would be treated to supplemental scenes from Texas’ 7-0 win over the Aggies on Nov. 28.

Texas Longhorns defensive back Jelani McDonald (4) yells in celebration after making an interception in the third quarter of the Longhorns’ game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 22, 2025.

Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman

The unlikely nature of Texas’ victory helped fuel that over-the-top public response. Scoring the only points of the game on their first drive, the Longhorns snapped a 19-game Texas A&M winning streak, unseated the defending national champions and denied the Aggies a place in the Rose Bowl.

For just the second time since that Thanksgiving day in 1940, Texas A&M is coming to Austin in 2025 with a perfect record. A place in the SEC championship game, which the Aggies have never participated in since joining the conference in 2012, is at stake.

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The Longhorns are underdogs, the bookmakers say. Most popular sportsbooks made Texas A&M a 2.5-point favorite heading into Friday’s clash at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Texas’ players aren’t exactly in a rush to adopt that narrative, though.

NO. 16 TEXAS VS. NO. 3 TEXAS A&M

When/where: 6:30 p.m. Friday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

TV/radio: ABC; 1300 AM, 1370 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)

“I think we know what we’re capable of,” Texas defensive end Ethan Burke said. “Who does the sportsbooks? Have they ever played college football? Probably not.”

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Burke won’t be the only Longhorn unaccustomed to viewing the Aggies as the favorites in this longstanding rivalry. Texas holds a 77-37-5 all-time advantage over Texas A&M in the series, which dates all the way back to 1894. Texas has won 10 of the 13 matchups played this century, including last year’s tilt in College Station.

MORE: How Longhorns used Arch Manning differently against Arkansas

But, throughout history, the Longhorns have occasionally shown up to the Lone Star Showdown looking to spoil Texas A&M’s fun, as they did back in 1940.

On 28 occasions, the Aggies have entered rivalry week with at least two more victories on their ledger than Texas. When that is the case, Texas holds a 10-16-2 record. Its most recent victory under those circumstances came in 1998, when Ricky Williams broke the NCAA’s all-time rushing yards record with a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

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Texas Longhorns receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. (0) gets into a verbal argument with Texas A&M defensive back Will Lee III (26) during the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024 in College Station, Texas.

Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman

That year, the 7-3 Longhorns built a 23-7 lead over the 10-1 Aggies, but saw A&M break off 17 unanswered points to take a one-point lead with 2:20 remaining. That necessitated some heroics from quarterback Major Applewhite and kicker Kris Stockton, who booted through a 24-yard field goal with five seconds remaining for the win.

In recent history, that’s just about the only upset success the Longhorns have managed over the Aggies. Since 1960, Texas A&M is 11-1 against Texas when entering Thanksgiving week with two or more victories than Texas. Coaches Jackie Sherrill and RC Slocum routinely bested some bad Texas teams. Between 1986 and Mack Brown’s hiring before the 1998 season, the Longhorns lost five or more games nine times.

MORE: Why Longhorns appealed targeting call on Ty’Anthony Smith

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Before 1960, though, Texas often upset A&M teams with records that looked better on paper, holding a 9-5-2 mark against Aggies teams that held at least a two-game advantage in the win column. In 1938, a winless Texas team turned up at Memorial Stadium and beat the middling Aggies 7-6.

“Not a handful of fans, huddled against the autumn chill inside the huge horseshoe where an Aggie team had never won, dreamed it could happen,” the Austin American’s Weldon Hart wrote in the next day’s edition.

This year’s Longhorns don’t face the same odds. Texas, at 8-3, was the preseason’s No. 1-ranked team and has already beaten two top-10 foes on the year.

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Upsetting the unbeaten Aggies won’t require a miracle, but it would certainly make a lasting memory.

“We’ve got to prepare really well so we can play our best football,” Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Because our best football will be needed next Friday night.”

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