Texas A&M University Update on WTAW

Texas A&M Announces First Dean Of The School Of Performance, Visualization, And Fine Arts

Texas A&M has its first permanent dean of the school of performance, visualization, and fine arts. Tim McLaughlin has held the interim position since the school was founded two years ago and before that spent 13 years as a department head. The school’s academic programs includes visual and performing arts, visual computing, and humanities. A&M continues searches for two deans…at the school of architecture and the graduate and professional school…along with the ongoing search for the university’s next vice provost of faculty affairs. News release from Texas A&M: Tim McLaughlin has been named the dean of the Texas A&M University School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, and the inaugural recipient of the Ray Rothrock ’77 Endowed Dean’s Chair. McLaughlin has served as interim dean since the school was established in September 2022. “The School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts is a major component of the realization of Texas A&M’s commitment to being the premier land-grant public university in the country,” McLaughlin said. “Being selected as the first dean of the school carries an honor and a challenge.” Under McLaughlin’s leadership, the school has experienced growth in student enrollment and faculty and staff hiring, along with expansion of academic programs across the visual arts, performing arts, interactive media, visual computing and humanities. A new undergraduate Theatre degree is joining the existing majors Dance Science; Performance and Visual Studies; and Visualization in the fall semester. Additional degrees are moving through the approval process. Eight new minors have been added since the school began. “We’re elevating and bringing together the existing arts programs on campus,” McLaughlin said. “At the same time, we’re expanding offerings to all students and cultivating interdisciplinary practice within the school between the arts, science and technology.” The emerging Virtual Production Institute, which is part of the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, will open in the fall both on the main campus in Bryan-College Station and at Texas A&M-Fort Worth. The Texas Legislature appropriated $25 million for faculty, staff and equipment for the institute. The school is also developing extensions of its academic, research and creative works programs for the Fort Worth campus as well. McLaughlin was the founding head of the Department of Visualization from 2007 to 2020, with a focus on innovative approaches to blending art, design, computing and the humanities. He has been principal investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation’s Science Sandbox. McLaughlin’s research includes animation systems, remote collaboration in creative projects and expanding interest in visual computing. McLaughlin earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design from Texas A&M University in 1990 and a Master’s Degree in Visualization Sciences in 1994. He then worked in visual effects at Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm Animation until 2007, leading teams of artists and engineers in developing computer graphics techniques for digital creatures. His film projects include “Star Wars: Episode I,” “Van Helsing,” “War of the Worlds” and “Mars Attacks!” He also worked on “Project 880,” a virtual production proof-of-concept project for James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

College Station Mayor John Nichols on WTAW

College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW’s Scott DeLucia about Hurricane Beryl cleanup, the I Heart America celebration, street repairs, the debt service component of the budget, new water wells, upcoming budget workshops, the upcoming track and field meet, progress on the seventh fire station, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Listen to “College Station Mayor John Nichols” on Spreaker.

Brazos County Commission And Bryan City Council Approves Offering Property Tax Breaks To A Prospective $10 Billion Dollar, 1800 Employee Manufacturing Plant

Brazos County commissioners and Bryan city council members unanimously approve offering property tax breaks to a prospective $10 billion dollar, 1,800 employee manufacturing plant that would be built on the Texas A&M system’s RELLIS campus. Click HERE to read and download the tax abatement agreement that was approved during the July 9, 2024 Brazos County commission meeting. Click HERE to read and download the tax abatement agreement that was approved at the July 9, 2024 Bryan city council meeting. Click HERE to read and download additional information from the city of Bryan about the tax abatement agreement. Speaking at Tuesday’s (July 9) county commission and city council meetings was system chancellor John Sharp. He told the Bryan council that the company, identified only as Delaware based “America’s Foundry Bryan LLC”, is considering 16 locations. Sharp told council members and county commission members that this project would double the taxable valuation of the city of Bryan. Click below to hear comments from the July 7, 2024 Brazos County commission meeting. Listen to “Brazos County commission approves offering property tax breaks to land a $10 billion dollar, 1,800 employee manufacturing plant” on Spreaker. Click below to hear comments from the July 7, 2024 Bryan city council meeting. Listen to “Bryan city council approves offering property tax breaks to land a $10 billion dollar, 1,800 employee manufacturing plant” on Spreaker. Original story July 7, 2024: More steps are being taken to attract a $10 billion dollar, 1,800 employee manufacturing plant to the Texas A&M system’s RELLIS campus. The system’s board of regents approved during a special meeting on Wednesday (July 3), authorization for administrators to “negotiate and execute a development agreement, ground lease, and other related agreements regarding a manufacturing facility” that remains unidentified. Chancellor John Sharp told reporters after the regents meeting that he remains under a non-disclosure agreement. Before the regents meeting, Bryan mayor Bobby Gutierrez said on WTAW’s The Infomaniacs that he is also bound by the non-disclosure agreement. But he said Bryan was a finalist for something that could be built anywhere in the world. Friday afternoon (July 5), the city of Bryan and Brazos County released the agenda for the July 9th meetings of the city council and county commission. Both agendas includes a proposed ten year tax abatement agreement for what was described as a “high technology manufacturing plant”. Click HERE to read and download the proposed tax abatement agreement with the Bryan city council. Click HERE to read and download the proposed tax abatement agreement with the Brazos County commission. The agreement proposes the applicant would receive from both Bryan and Brazos County, an 80 percent break on property taxes in the first five years and a 50 percent abatement in the sixth through tenth years. Background information from the city of Bryan says even with the tax abatement, the city estimates collecting more than $164 million dollars in property tax revenue during the ten year period. The background information also says during the tax abatement period, the applicant would give the city five percent of what is being abated towards “the enhancement of the quality of life of Bryan citizens” that includes but are not limited “to infrastructure or programs for parks, recreation and exercise; libraries; aesthetic enhancements to public spaces; public education; senior citizen services; youth services; and healthy lifestyles.” Click HERE to read and download additional information from the city of Bryan about the proposed tax abatement agreement. Brazos County’s agenda did not provide additional information. Click below to hear comments from John Sharp and Bobby Gutierrez. Listen to “More steps are taken to attract a $10 billion dollar, 1800 employee manufacturing plant to the RELLIS campus” on Spreaker.