FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas hired 59 new tenure-track faculty members to begin teaching in the fall 2015 semester. The new faculty represent all six undergraduate colleges and the University Libraries.

Six new tenure-track faculty members are also scheduled to begin teaching in the spring 2016 semester. 

“It’s a great pleasure to welcome these new faculty members to the University of Arkansas,” said Ashok Saxena, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Each college has been engaged in searching for the best possible scholars to enhance our teaching and research, and their searches have been highly successful. As our student body has grown, it is important that we continue to grow our high-caliber faculty and their resources as well, which helps us move closer to being recognized as a top 50 public research institution.”

Academic information about each of the new faculty members is available in the U of A’s New Tenure-Track Faculty booklet, published by the Office of the Provost.

In addition, 20 current tenure-track faculty members received tenure and promotions for the 2015-16 academic year. Another 20 tenured faculty members also received promotions.

NEW TENURE-TRACK FACULTY

Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

• Winifred E. Newman, professor and department head

Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

• Sabrina Peterson Trudo, associate professor, School of Human Environmental Sciences 
• Jennifer N. Becnel, assistant professor, School of Human Environmental Sciences
• Clemencia M. Rojas, assistant professor, plant pathology
• Yan Huang, assistant professor, animal science
• James E. Koltes, assistant professor, animal science
• Di Fang, assistant professor, agricultural economics and agribusiness

J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences

• Lindsey Aloia, assistant professor, communication
• Shawn M. Austin, assistant professor, history
• Jason Burrow, assistant professor, theatre
• Jee Young Chung, assistant professor, journalism
• Hugh Churchill, assistant professor, physics
• Todd Cleveland, assistant professor, history
• Robert Coridan, assistant professor, chemistry and biochemistry
• Sean Dempsey, assistant professor, English
• Kelly A. Hammond, assistant professor, history
• Bret Lehmer, assistant professor, physics
• Paolo Mantero, assistant professor, mathematical sciences
• Raymond McCaffrey, assistant professor, journalism
• Xavier Medina Vidal, assistant professor, political science
• Mahmoud Moradi, assistant professor, chemistry and biochemistry
• Jeffrey Allen Murdock Jr., assistant professor, music
• Venkatesan Ram Natarajan, assistant professor, anthropology
• Wenbo Niu, assistant professor, mathematical sciences
• Michael Adam Siepielski, assistant professor, biological sciences
• Brett E. Sterling, assistant professor, world languages, literatures and cultures
• Johanna Thomas, assistant professor, School of Social Work
• Shaun Thomas, assistant professor, sociology and criminal justice
• Gilles Viennot, assistant professor, world languages, literatures and cultures
• Yun Yao, assistant professor, world languages, literatures and cultures
• Qingyang Zhang, assistant professor, mathematical sciences

Sam M. Walton College of Business

• Brian Fugate, associate professor, supply chain management
• Hung-Chia Scott Hsu, assistant professor, finance
• Jason Ridge, assistant professor, management
• Andy Brownback, assistant professor, economics
• Kenneth L. Bills, assistant professor, accounting
• Jonathan Shipman, assistant professor, accounting
• Peter McGee, assistant professor, economics

College of Education and Health Professions

• Kevin Brady, associate professor, educational leadership, curriculum and instruction
• Julie Hoff, associate professor and director of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing
• Audrey J. Weymiller, associate professor of nursing, Eleanor Mann School of Nursing
• David Christian, assistant professor, rehabilitation, human resources and community disorders
• Stephen Burgin, assistant professor, curriculum and instruction
• Erin Kern, assistant professor, rehabilitation, human resources and communication disorders
• Suzanne Kucharczyk, assistant professor, curriculum and instruction
• Xinya Liang, assistant professor, rehabilitation, human resources and communication disorders
• Kaitlin Gallagher, assistant professor, health, human performance and recreation
• Marilou Shreve, assistant professor of nursing, Eleanor Mann School of Nursing
• Kelly Vowell-Johnson, assistant professor of nursing and associate director of academic affairs, Eleanor Mann School of Nursing

College of Engineering

• Morten Jensen, associate professor, biomedical engineering
• Haitao Liao, professor, industrial engineering
• Xiaoqing Frank Liu, professor and department head, computer science and computer engineering
• Zhong Chen, assistant professor, electrical engineering
• Sarah Hernandez, assistant professor, civil engineering
• Sarah Nurre, assistant professor, industrial engineering
• Kyle Quinn, assistant professor, biomedical engineering
• Yue Zhao, assistant professor, electrical engineering

University Libraries

• Jozef Laincz, assistant librarian/assistant professor, geosciences and maps
• Jonathan M. Torres, assistant librarian/assistant professor

FACULTY PROMOTIONS AND TENURE

The following faculty members were promoted to the position of Distinguished Professor:

• Kimberly G. Smith, biological sciences
• Terence J. Siebenmorgen, food science
• Lutishoor Salisbury, University Libraries
• Linda A. Myers, accounting
• Jay P. Greene, education reform

The following faculty members were promoted to the position of University Professor:

• Kevin M. Fitzpatrick, sociology and criminal justice
• Douglas Duane Rhoads, biological sciences
• Jerome C. Rose, anthropology
• Jeannie M. Whayne, history
• Amy Farmer, economics

The following faculty members were promoted to the position of professor:

• Andrew J. Dowdle, political science
• Matthew Feldner, psychology
• Mark R. Johnson, mathematical sciences
• Benjamin J. Pierce, music
• Susanne Striegler, chemistry and biochemistry
• Suresh Thallapuranam, chemistry and biochemistry
• Patrick George Williams, history
• Michael R. Thomsen, agricultural economics and agribusiness
• Chris Rosen, management
• Vikas Anand, management

The following faculty members received tenure and were promoted to the position of associate professor:

• William E. Foster, law
• Matt T. Clay, mathematical sciences
• James J. Gigantino II, history
• J. Laurence Hare, Jr., history
• Lisa Ann Hinrichsen, English
• Daniel John Kennefick, physics
• Angie Maxwell, political science
• Martin Nedbal, music
• Bret J. Schulte, journalism
• Cory Cassell, accounting
• Jingping Gu, economics
• Brent Williams, supply chain management
• Richard A. Coffman, civil engineering
• Chase E. Rainwater, industrial engineering
• David A. Zaharoff, biomedical engineering
• Matthew Stueck Ganio, health, human performance, and recreation
• Frank Jacobus, architecture
• Kimball Erdman, landscape architecture

The following faculty members received tenure and were promoted to the position of clinical associate professor:

• Sara J. Collie, social work
• Deborah A. Brown, curriculum and instruction

 

 

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.