(Aug. 17, 2017) -- UTSA will begin a new academic year with more than 30 new assistant, associate and full professors joining its ranks. The new faculty members bring their talent from a host of prestigious institutions from around the nation and world.
Unique to this year's faculty cohort is that it includes five new department chairs: James Bray in Psychology; Eric Brey in Biomedical Engineering; David Dampier in Information Systems and Cyber Security; Michael Smith in Criminal Justice; and Tulio Sulbaran in Construction Science.
“Just as UTSA is a first-choice university for bright students, we continue to recruit and attract both promising and accomplished scholars who are equally excited about becoming Roadrunners,” said C. Mauli Agrawal, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “I am very impressed with this new cohort of faculty and am delighted to welcome them to UTSA.”
The new faculty members chose UTSA for a variety of reasons:
"UTSA has excellent infrastructure, especially in my research field, nanotechnology," said Mahmoud Abdelwahed, who joined the UTSA Department of Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. "The university offers great opportunities for collaboration with expert researchers and scientific industry."
"I have chosen to come to UTSA for the diversity of the campus and community and the national reputation of the university and program," said David Nguyen, who joined the UTSA Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from a tenure-track position at the University of North Dakota.
UTSA accounting alumus Juan Manuel Sanchez '06 chose to return to his alma mater from an endowed professorship at Texas Tech University. "I want to be a part of UTSA's exciting and bright future...history in the making," he said.
"I want to be a part of a growing institution. I felt my research and enthusiasm for physics would have the most impact at UTSA," said Elizabeth Sooby Wood, who joined the UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy from a postdoctoral fellowship with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
This year's new faculty members come from institutions such as Baylor College of Medicine, Columbia University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin, Cairo University in Egypt, the University of British Columbia in Canada, and Vindico Pharmaceuticals in Spain.
UTSA has more than 1,400 faculty members overall. In addition to welcoming its new faculty, UTSA will welcome more than 8,000 new students at the start of the 2017-2018 academic year.
UTSA is ranked among the top 400 universities in the world and among the top 100 in the nation, according to Times Higher Education.
Learn more about UTSA's new faculty.
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This event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
