Forty-five UTSA faculty earn tenure, promotion this fall

(Sept. 4, 2019) -- UTSA Academic Affairs announces the promotion of 45 faculty members, effective Sept. 1, 2019.

Twenty-eight faculty members were promoted to associate professor with tenure. Tenure is awarded to faculty who distinguish themselves in the areas of teaching; research, scholarship or creative activities; and service to the university and community; and who further demonstrate strong potential for continued excellence in these areas. Seventeen faculty members were promoted to full professor in recognition of sustained professional accomplishment.

“Our students benefit directly from the exciting research and discoveries generated by our faculty as they are exposed to this new knowledge first-hand in the classroom, lab, and other interactions with their professors and do not have to wait for it to appear in the textbooks of tomorrow,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, UTSA provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “Please join me in recognizing these exceptional scholars on this significant professional achievement.”

Faculty promoted to associate professor with tenure: 

• Alfonso Apicella, Department of Biology
• Matthew Brogdon, Department of Political Science and Geography
• Deepa Chandrasekaran, Department of Marketing
• Whitney Chappell, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
• Candace Christensen, Department of Social Work
• Ronald Ellis, Department of Music
• Nikolaos Gatsis, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Bryan Gervais, Department of Political Science and Geography
• Wassim Ghannoum, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering*
• Marcio Giacomoni, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Alexis Godet, Department of Geological Sciences
• Abraham Graber, Department of Philosophy and Classics
• Crystal Kalinec-Craig, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
• Andrew Konove, Department of History
• Dina Krasikova, Department of Management
• William Land, Department of Kinesiology, Health and Nutrition
• Kristen Lindahl, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
• Harrison Liu, Department of Accounting
• Mark McCoin, Department of Art and Art History
• James McDonald, Department of Communication
• Nathern Okilwa, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
• Mihai Popa, Department of Mathematics
• Derek Robertson, Department of Counseling
• Heidi Rueda, Department of Social Work
• Victor Villarreal, Department of Educational Psychology
• Melissa Wallace, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
• Xiaoyin Wang, Department of Computer Science
• John Zarco, Department of Music

Faculty promoted to professor:

• Richard Armendariz, Department of Art and Art History
• Thad Bartlett, Department of Anthropology
• Nicole Beebe, Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security
• Kathryn Brown, Department of Anthropology
• Natasha Burns, Department of Finance
• Guadalupe Carmona, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
• Michael Cepek, Department of Anthropology
• Andrey Chabanov, Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Turgay Korkmaz, Department of Computer Science
• Huy Le, Department of Management
• Chris Packham, Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Fidel Santamaria, Department of Biology
• Howard Smith, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
• Johnelle Sparks, Department of Demography
• Robert Tillyer, Department of Criminal Justice
• Alistair Welchman, Department of Philosophy and Classics
• Juyan Zhang, Department of Communication

Also this year, 27 retired faculty members have been awarded emeritus status in honor of their years of valued service and contribution to the university mission.

Associate professor emeritus:

• Rita Linard, Department of Music (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Saeid Mahdavi, Department of Economics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Michael Ryan, Department of Psychology (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Raydel Tullous, Department of Management Science and Statistics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• John Warren, Department of Information Systems and Cyber Security (retired May 31, 2018)
• Kenneth Weiher, Department of Economics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)

Professor emeritus: 

• Eugene Dowdy, Department of Music (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Matthew Dunne, Department of Music (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Robert Fuhrman, Department of Psychology (passed away in June 2019)**
• Jeffrey Halley, Department of Sociology (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Daijin Ko, Department of Management Science and Statistics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Ken Little, Department of Art and Art History (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Gary Mabry, Department of Music (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Raquel Marquez, Department of Sociology (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Josie Mendez-Negrete, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• John Merrifield, Department of Economics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Lalatendu Misra, Department of Finance (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Amaury Nora, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Elizabeth Pate, Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Harriett Romo, Department of Sociology (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Paul Schutz, Department of Educational Psychology (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Carmen Tafolla, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies (retired Jan. 31, 2019)
• Dale Truett, Department of Economics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Lila Truett, Department of Economics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)
• Maggie Valentine, Department of Architecture (retired Aug. 1, 2018)
• Gregory Wene, Department of Mathematics (retired Aug. 31, 2019)

Dean and professor emeritus:

• Daniel Gelo, Department of Anthropology (retired Aug. 31, 2019)

* promoted from associate professor without tenure to associate professor with tenure
** awarded posthumously

— Glynda Steele

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