Program led by Florence native earns state award

The Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University, led by Florence native Dr. Ronald J. Kendall, has received the 2009 Environmental Excellence Award in Education — Texas’ top environmental award — from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Kendall, who also serves as professor and chairman of the university’s Department of Environmental Toxicology, graduated from Florence’s McClenaghan High School in 1970 and the University of South Carolina in 1974. He is the son of Lorraine B. Kendall and the late Haynes L. Kendall.

An external review board also recently ranked the Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech, located in Lubbock, Texas, as one of the country’s best environmental toxicology graduate programs. The institute’s researchers have partnered with nearly 20 federal agencies and some of America’s leading manufacturers.