Pro Bene Meritis

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The Pro Bene Meritis award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. The purpose of the award is to honor individuals who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service related to the College of Liberal Arts. In addition to expressing appreciation to those distinguished individuals so honored, the College of Liberal Arts, through this award, is seeking to heighten public awareness of the critical role played by the liberal arts in education and society today.

The award is presented annually at a dinner in the fall. The alumni, faculty, students and staff of the college take pride in these individuals and the legacy of their character and achievements.

Pro Bene Meritis Award

The award is presented annually at a dinner in the fall. The alumni, faculty, students and staff of the college take pride in these individuals and the legacy of their character and achievements.

Pro Bene Meritis Dinner - View Recording Here

Vice Admiral (ret) Raquel C. Bono, MD

Served with honor and distinction as a highly respected Naval Officer and the first woman surgeon in the military to hold the rank of Vice Admiral. As the former chief executive officer (CEO) and director, Defense Health Agency (DHA), Vice Admiral (Dr.) Bono led a joint, integrated combat support agency that enabled all branches of the U.S. military – Army, Navy, and Air Force – medical services to provide health care services to combatant commands. Dr. Bono integrated an unprecedented $50 billion worldwide health care enterprise composed of 50 hospitals and 300 clinics that provide care to 9.5 million military beneficiaries; oversaw the Department of Defense (DoD) deployment of the electronic health record (EHR) system; and advanced the development of the largest federated health system with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Bono received her bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin; her Master of Business Administration from Washington State University, Spokane; and her medical degree from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, Lubbock. She completed her surgical internship and residency at the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA and performed a trauma and critical care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine, Norfolk. Shortly after training, Bono saw duty in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as head, Casualty Receiving Fleet Hospital Five in Saudi Arabia from August 1990 to March 1991.

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Richard P. Meier, Ph.D.

Educated at the University of Chicago (B.A., Anthropology), Washington University in St. Louis (M.A., Anthropology), and the University of California, San Diego (Ph.D., Linguistics). His postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1982-1984) and at Stanford (1984-86) was in Psychology. He joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in 1986 and has served in a number of leadership roles since then. From 1996 through 1999, he was Associate Vice President for Research for the university. He was responsible for bringing American Sign Language (ASL) instruction into the Department of Linguistics, and from 2000 to 2010 directed the ASL language program. In 2006, he became Chair of the Department of Linguistics, and has served in that role ever since (with the exception of being on leave 2014-2015 and fall 2021). Professor Meier's research examines the linguistics of signed languages and their acquisition by deaf children. He has done groundbreaking work on, among other topics, the similarities and differences in first language acquisition between native signers and speakers and the linguistic characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder in native signing children. He is a Fellow of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) and the winner of the 2022 LSA Mentoring Award.

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Rashmi S. Mullur, MD

A board-certified internist, endocrinologist and integrative medicine physician. She received a BA in Plan II Honors at The University of Texas at Austin, a medical degree at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, and then completed a residency and Chief residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis. She completed her endocrinology fellowship at the VA Greater Los Angeles and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  She completed additional training fellowships in clinical research, medical education, and integrative medicine.  Her clinical practice uses integrative approaches in the management of patients with diabetes and hormonal disorders. She has pioneered several clinical, research, and educational programs utilizing integrative medicine and digital technology in the management of chronic disease.

Dr. Mullur is an Associate Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine.  She currently serves as the Chief of Telehealth at the VA Greater Los Angeles, where she started the tele-yoga programs for veterans in 2012. She is a national leader on the use of integrative medicine in the virtual setting and led her health system in the transition to virtual care during the pandemic. She is inspired by the opportunity to leverage digital health technology to advance whole-person healthcare.

Dr. Mullur also serves as the Education director for the UCLA Integrative Medicine Collaborative. She has written several educational curricula focused on integrative medicine for a wide range of audiences including patients, staff, and medical trainees.  She serves on the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) BIPOC committee and is committed to promoting health equity in integrative medicine and whole health.

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