138 Faculty Promoted Across the University

After going through a rigorous evaluation process, 138 UCF faculty have been promoted and 45 have been awarded tenure for the 2020-2021 cycle.

The process for promotion and tenure takes nearly an entire academic year as faculty are evaluated on three main areas: research, teaching and service. At UCF there are many types of faculty including librarians, instructional designers and clinical researchers.

“Tenure is necessary for UCF to retain and recruit our best and brightest faculty members,” says Michael Johnson, interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “It is a key factor in UCF’s drive to meet metrics for preeminence and to fulfill our vision for inclusive excellence and impact. I am confident these faculty members will make a significant contribution to UCF’s future success.”

Congratulations to these outstanding faculty members:

Professor

Reza Abdolvand, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sarah Bush, School of Teacher Education

Shannon Carter, Sociology

James Carter, Sociology

Debashis Chanda, Physics

Jacinta Gau, Criminal Justice

Zehra Basak Gurel, Mathematics

Scott Hall, School of Visual Arts and Design

Nan Hua, Hospitality Services

Dmitry Kolpashchikov, Chemistry

Edgard Maboudou, Statistics and Data Science

Lisa Mills, Nicholson School of Communication and Media

Mark Neider, Psychology

Patrick Pabian, School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy

Kerry Purmensky, Modern Languages and Literatures

Nazanin Rahnavard, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Kimberly Renk, Psychology

Vladimir Solonari, History

Gita Sukthankar, Computer Science

Asli Tasci, Tourism, Events and Attraction

Shannon Taylor, Management

Subith Vasu Sumathi, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

George Weremchuk, Music

Staci Zavattaro, School of Public Administration

Professor of Medicine

Abdo Asmar, Internal Medicine

Magdalena Pasarica, Medical Education

Julia Soulakova, Population Health (College of Medicine)

Associate Professor

Mehmet Altin, Hospitality Services*

Robin Back, Food Services and Lodging Management*

Jacopo Baggio, School of Politics, Security and International Affairs*

Jonathan Beever, Philosophy*

Andrew Boutton, School of Politics, Security and International Affairs*

Diego  Bufquin, Food Services and Lodging Management*

Michael Callaghan, Anthropology*

Laurie Campbell, Learning Science and Education Research*

Michael Caudy, Criminal Justice*

Bruce Caulkins, School of Modeling, Simulation and Training

Geoffrey Cook, Biology*

Nicole Damico, School of Teacher Education*

Victor  Davila, School of Visual Arts and Design*

Nicole Dawson, School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy*

Wesley Dierdorff, School of Visual Arts and Design*

Ivan Divliansky, Optics and Photonics

Adrienne Dove, Physics*

Luis Favela, Philosophy*

Ivan Garibay, Industrial Engineering and Management Systems*

Jeeyeon Hahm, Tourism, Events and Attraction*

Elizabeth Horn, Theatre*

Jacqueline Joe, Counselor Education and School Psychology*

Viki Kelchner, Counselor Education and School Psychology*

Kelly Kibler, Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering*

Amer Kobaslija, School of Visual Arts and Design*

Jacqueline LaManna, Nursing Practice*

Fei Liu, Computer Science*

Claudia Lynch, Theatre*

Matthew Mosher, Nicholson School of Communication and Media*

Amie Newins, Psychology*

Chung Park, Music*

David Reed, Theatre*

Alex Rubenstein, Management*

Farshid Safi, School of Teacher Education*

Eric Schmidbauer, Economics*

Joseph Schmidt, Psychology*

Sandra Sousa, Modern Languages and Literatures*

Mel Stanfill, English*

Sonia Stephens, English*

Ladda Thiamwong, Nursing Systems*

Jacqueline Towson, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders*

Dana Wallace, Accounting*

Adam Wells, School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy*

Stephanie Wheeler, Writing and Rhetoric*

Xiaohu Xia, Chemistry*

Yang Yang, Materials Science and Engineering*

Chia-Yuan Yu, School of Public Administration*

*These faculty were also granted tenure by the UCF Board of Trustees on April 22, 2021.

Associate Professor Medicine

Camilla Ambivero, Biomedical Sciences

Dorilyn Hitchcock, Biomedical Sciences

Denise Kay, Medical Education

Senior Lecturer

Janet Andreasen, School of Teacher Education

James Brown, Theatre

Jason Burrell, School of Visual Arts and Design

Matthew Chin, Psychology

Donovan Dixon, Chemistry

Amanda Groff, Anthropology

Stephen Heglund, Nursing Systems

Margarita Koblasz, Legal Studies

Stephanie Krick, School of Public Administration

Judith Levin, School of Teacher Education

Mark Llewellyn, Computer Science

Tammy Muhs, Mathematics

Pedro Patino Marin, Chemistry

Caroline Pratt Marrett, School of Teacher Education

Peter Sinelli, Anthropology

Sybil St.Claire, Theatre

Associate Lecturer

Norine Blanch, School of Teacher Education

Ian Cherry, Finance

Janel Cosby, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Karen Ehrhart, Management

Jason Fiesta, Legal Studies

Christy Flanagan-Feddon, Philosophy

Erica Kight, Nicholson School of Communication and Media

Tamra Legron-Rodriguez, Chemistry

Debra McGann, School of Teacher Education

Justin Nolan, School of Visual Arts and Design

Sudeshna Pal, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Nicholas Shrubsole, Philosophy

Kevin Smith, Nicholson School of Communication and Media

John Super, Counselor Education and School Psychology

Senior Instructor

Brian Barone, Modern Languages and Literatures

Mark Calabrese, Industrial Engineering and Management Systems

Leslie  Connell, Integrated Business

Iryna Malendevych, Criminal Justice

Lisa Peterson, Nicholson School of Communication and Media

Melvin Rogers, School of Public Administration

Kacie Tartt, Modern Languages and Literatures

Michael Terry, Food Service and Lodging Management

Associate Instructor

Douglas Blemker, Nicholson School of Communication and Media

Donna Breit, Nursing Practice

Therese Coleman, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Jonathan Conway, Nicholson School of Comm and Media

Nancy Duckworth, Nursing Practice

Powell Elswick, Health Management and Informatics

Roberta Fennessy, School of Public Administration

Abigail Ferreira, English Language Institute

Devin Ferreira, English Language Institute

Nikolas Gardiakos, Writing and Rhetoric

Marni Kay, School of Teacher Education

Megan Lambert, Writing and Rhetoric

Stephanie Luke, School of Teacher Education

Geraldine Luzincourt, Nursing Practice

Melissa Pompos, Writing and Rhetoric

Iradly Roche, School of Social Work

Deborah Weissberg, Hospitality Services

Librarian

Buenaventura Basco, UCF Library

Associate Librarian

Sandra Avila, UCF Library

Sara Duff, UCF Library

Associate Instructional Designer

James Paradiso, Center for Distributed Learning

Shelly Wyatt, Center for Distributed Learning

Associate Scientist

Erin Seney, Biology

Promotion/tenure is effective August 2021.