Tebuteb earns his master’s degree from UTSA

Eugene A. Tebuteb, a graduate of Marianas High School and resident of Chalan Kiya, Saipan, graduated with a master of science degree in Sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio on May 11, 2014.

He is the son of Thomas Tebuteb and Tapita Alokoa and husband of Rutha Mizutani. They have two children, Leah, 9, and Bella, 1 month.

Before pursuing an undergraduate degree in Sociology, Tebuteb served in the U.S. Army for four years. He then attended Texas A&M University in Killeen, where he received an Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award, which is exclusively awarded to top students in their respective areas of study. In May 2011, he graduated with summa cum laude honors and received his bachelor of science degree.

After working as an employee benefits coordinator for Central Texas College in Killeen, he moved to San Antonio to pursue a master’s degree in Sociology. Following one year of graduate school, he was elected by his peers to serve as vice president for Alpha Kappa Delta, a nationally recognized sociology honor society; he actively served for a full one-year term. His academic performance would soon elevate him to be in a position among the best and brightest students of UTSA, and was formally inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, one of the oldest, largest, and most selective collegiate honor societies for all academic disciplines in the U.S.

Eugene A. Tebuteb

In his final year at UTSA, Tebuteb co-authored a research paper involving the improvement of quality and care for minority low-income children vis-à-vis early childhood education. This scholarly work has been accepted for publication by a major journal—the American Sociological Association—and is slated for presentation at the 2014 ASA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. Tebuteb has also independently conducted research on Kindergarten readiness and has authored a paper that has been submitted to the ASA for publication.

Tebuteb graduated in the top 10 percent of his class and maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout graduate school.

He gives credit to a strong support system and extends his gratitude to his wife and children, parents, siblings, in-laws, extended families, friends, the G.I. Bill, CNMI Scholarship, SHEFA, and the CNMI Public School System. (PR)