{"id":2152,"date":"2017-10-23T14:04:44","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T14:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2017-10-23T14:04:44","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T14:04:44","slug":"employee-spotlight-robert-hernandez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2152","title":{"rendered":"Employee Spotlight: Robert Hernandez"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – For 17 years Robert Hernandez has dedicated himself to educating students and guiding them to a successful career in the chemical environmental field. It is this commitment and his enthusiasm that has earned him the Texas State Technical College October Employee Spotlight honor.<\/p>\n

The Houston native is the lead instructor for the Chemical Technology program at TSTC and comes to the college with extensive experience in the field.<\/p>\n

The 48-year-old\u2019s passion for chemistry began in high school at a Houston-area magnet school he attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in a part of Houston where I saw chemical plants flourish,\u201d said Hernandez. \u201cI was always curious and when I received the opportunity to intern at Shell as a senior, I knew in an instant this is what I was meant to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in Chemistry.<\/p>\n

He quickly rose through the ranks in the field accepting job offers with Shell\u2019s research center in Houston and later with the Department of Health in Austin as a chemist testing environmental, fish and drinking water samples.\"Robert<\/a><\/p>\n

While Hernandez had a successful career in industry, the father of four said it was time to be closer to family, making the move to Harlingen nearly two decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly feel like this move was meant to be,\u201d he said. \u201cThe career change came at the right time and TSTC and the program was a great fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez said he has been at TSTC for so long that he considers the Chemical Technology program his baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important for me to see this program and my students succeed,\u201d he added. \u201cThe chemical field is expanding and so are the opportunities, and my team and I are ready to meet that demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is this enthusiasm that his colleagues say make him the outstanding instructor and person they love.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cares for the chemistry department with all he has. He will do anything in his power to solve all issues and he does it gracefully,\u201d read one comment on Hernandez\u2019s certificate.<\/p>\n

Another read, \u201cHe goes above and beyond for his students and staff by bringing cupcakes, pizza and doughnuts to celebrate someone\u2019s special day all out of his own pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lastly, \u201cRobert is the most kindhearted individual you\u2019ll ever meet. He is a great instructor and goes to great lengths to ensure that his students learn and understand the material they are given and is always receptive to questions. He never turns away a student or team member seeking help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez said he is grateful to hear all of the kind words his colleagues have for him. He calls this award a true honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many wonderful, dedicated people on this campus and to be recognized as one of them is so meaningful. It makes this reward that much more rewarding,\u201d said Hernandez. \u201cThank you to those that nominated me, it is truly an honor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – For 17 years Robert Hernandez has dedicated himself to educating students and guiding them to a successful career in the chemical environmental field. It is this commitment and his enthusiasm that has earned him the Texas State Technical College October Employee Spotlight honor. The Houston native is the lead instructor for the Chemical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2154,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/2154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}