More than 30 UTSA faculty earn tenure and promotion this fall

By Connor McBrearty
Student Writer, Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

(Oct. 14, 2014) -- The Office of the Provost and the Vice President of Academic Affairs announces the promotion of 32 members of the UTSA faculty. The promotions were approved by the UT System Board of Regents in August and effective Sept. 1.

"Our faculty play a crucial role both in the development of our students and in UTSA's development as a top-tier university," said John H. Frederick, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "It is my pleasure to be the first to congratulate these individuals -- both the junior faculty who have proven themselves as effective scholars and teachers, as well as our established faculty who have further demonstrated their far-reaching impact in the classroom and their respective disciplines."

Twenty assistant professors have been promoted to associate professor with tenure; tenure is granted to faculty who have established a high standard of excellence in the classroom and distinguished themselves through research and scholarship, as well in service to the community and university. In addition, 12 associate professors have been promoted to full professor with tenure in recognition of the sustained academic and civic impact they have made on the university and their students.

Finally, 10 retired or retiring faculty members have been granted the title of associate professor emeritus of professor emeritus. Emeritus is an honorary title selectively bestowed upon those who have made significant contributions to their field of study, served the university for an extensive period of time and have exemplified the highest of academic, professional and civic standards.

Promotion to Tenure (Assistant Professor to Associate Professor)

Mark Appleford, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Onur Bayar, Department of Finance
Nicole Beebe, Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security
Kathryn Brown, Department of Anthropology
Astrid Cardona, Department of Biology
Tansu Demir, Department of Public Administration
Teresa Eckmann, Department of Art and Art History
Suat Gunhan, Department of Construction Science
Zhechao Liu, Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security
Margarita Machado-Casas, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
Christopher Packham, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Branco Ponomariov, Department of Public Administration
Anand Ramasubramanian, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Peter Sayer, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
Corey Sparks, Department of Demography
Liang Tang, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Marie Tillyer, Department of Criminal Justice
Shuo Wang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Nicole Wicha, Department of Biology
Walter Wilson, Department of Political Science and Geography

Promotion to Full Professor

Eugene Dowdy, Department of Music
Carlos Garcia, Department of Chemistry
Richard LeBaron, Department of Biology
Juliet Langman, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
Gary Mabry, Department of Music
Mary McNaughton-Cassill, Department of Psychology
Stewart Miller, Department of Management
Thankam Sunil, Department of Sociology
Yufeng Wang, Department of Biology
Greg White, Department of Computer Science
Shouhuai Xu, Department of Computer Science
Yinlong Zhang, Department of Marketing

Associate Professor Emeritus

Stuart Birnbaum, Department of Geological Sciences
Robert Rustowicz, Department of Music
David Sebald, Department of Music
Rodolpho Sandoval, Department of Management

Professor Emeritus

Ronald C. Binks, Department of Art and Art History
Dwight F. Henderson, Department of History
Cynthia Lengnick-Hall, Department of Management (effective upon retirement in 2015)
Bonnie Lyons, Department of English
Andrew Martinez, Department of Biology
Dennis Olsen, Department of Art and Art History (effective upon retirement Dec. 31, 2014)

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