UCF Awards Promotion and Tenure to 104 Faculty

UCF faculty members across the university achieved significant career milestones in earning promotions and tenure for the 2023-24 cycle.

The 104 approved faculty — 63 for promotion, 40 for promotion and tenure and one for tenure — underwent a rigorous performance evaluation by peers, college and university leaders that took nearly an academic year.

The president and provost make final decisions on promotions following reviews and recommendations from individual colleges and units. The UCF Board of Trustees must approve tenure, which is a key factor in fulfilling UCF’s strategic plan of becoming a preeminent state university, a national top 25 public institution and the world’s leading public metropolitan research university. Aside from helping UCF recruit and retain exceptional faculty, tenure helps protect academic freedom and encourages faculty to focus on challenging and important problems to benefit society.

“These faculty members who earned promotion and tenure met a lofty and demanding bar in demonstrating excellence and high productivity over several years in teaching, research, and service,” says Michael D. Johnson, UCF’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “I am confident this group will make a significant contribution to UCF’s future success.”

The approvals take effect Aug. 8. Congratulations to the following faculty.

Promotion to Professor

• George Atia, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Yuanli Bai, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Parag Banerjee, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Kendall Cortelyou, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Damian Dechev, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Michael Dunn, College of Sciences

• William Hanney, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Masahiro Ishigami, College of Sciences

• Dana Joseph, College of Business Administration

• Jonathan Matusitz, College of Sciences

• Ryan McMahan, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Reid Oetjen, College of Community Innovation and Education

• David Poissant, College of Arts and Humanities

• Barbara Sharanowski, College of Sciences

• Laurene Tetard, College of Sciences

• Ladda Thiamwong, College of Nursing

• Annie Wu, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Margaret Zaho, College of Arts and Humanities

• Qipeng Zheng, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Shengli Zou, College of Sciences

Promotion to Professor of Medicine

• Robert Borgon, College of Medicine

• Kyle Rohde, College of Medicine

• Jihe Zhao, College of Medicine

Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

• Shaurya Agarwal, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Sergio Alvarez, Rosen College of Hospitality Management

• Vasileios, Anagnostopoulos, College of Sciences

• William Ayers, College of Arts and Humanities

• Louise Bishop, College of Arts and Humanities

• Timothy Brown, College of Arts and Humanities

• Alex Burtzos, College of Arts and Humanities

• Marjorie Ceballos, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Chen Chen, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Kenle Chen, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Kaitlyn Crawford, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• William Fogarty, College of Arts and Humanities

• Paul Gazzillo, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Zhaomiao Guo, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Rochelle Hurt, College of Arts and Humanities

• Yoon Hwang, College of Arts and Humanities

• Herbert James, College of Arts and Humanities

• Robert Jenkins, College of Sciences

• Titel Jurca, College of Sciences

• Theodora Karalidi, College of Sciences

• Christine Kolaya, College of Arts and Humanities

• Eunkyung Lee, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Lorraine Leon, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Yukun Li, College of Sciences

• Edwin Lohmeyer, College of Sciences

• Lidia Meshesha, College of Sciences

• John Murray, College of Sciences

• Boon Peng Ng, College of Nursing

• Julia O’Connor, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Carlton Patrick, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Xiaochuan Wang, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Lauren Bislick Wilson, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Jacqueline Woerner, College of Sciences

• Dazhong Wu, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Rui Xie, College of Sciences

• Mengyu Xu, College of Sciences

• Fan Yao, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine with Tenure

• Elena Cyrus, College of Medicine

• Mehdi Razavi, College of Medicine

• Justine Tigno-Aranjuez, College of Medicine

Tenure Awarded

• Jeffrey LaRochelle, College of Medicine

Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine

• Kersten Schroeder, College of Medicine

Promotion to Associate Scientist

• Duy Le, College of Sciences

Promotion to Senior Lecturer

• James Cooney, College of Sciences

• Christa Diercksen, College of Sciences

• Michelle Dusseau, College of Sciences

• Jason Fridrich, Rosen College of Hospitality Management

• Shahram Ghiasinejad, College of Sciences

• Steffen Guenzel, College of Arts and Humanities

• Gulnora Hundley, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Tian Tian, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Amanda Walden, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Danielle Webster, College of Health Professions and Sciences

• Lana Williams, College of Sciences

Promotion to Associate Lecturer

• Cristian Alecse, College of Business Administration

• James Brown, College of Business Administration

• Annabelle Conroy, College of Sciences

• Celina Dozier, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Ronald Eddy, College of Business Administration

• James Gallo, College of Business Administration

• Richard Jerousek, College of Sciences

• Sagnik Mazumdar, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Leigh Rosenthal, College of Business Administration

• Joel Schneier, College of Arts and Humanities

• Ashley Taylor, College of Arts and Humanities

• Limin Yang, College of Sciences

Promotion to Senior Instructor

• Frank Enrique Guerra, College of Business Administration

• Thomas Nedorost, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Philip Wessel, College of Community Innovation and Education

Promotion to Associate Instructor

• Steven Brinkman, Rosen College Hospitality of Hospitality Management

• Gisele Canova, Rosen College Hospitality of Hospitality Management

• Karin Markle, College of Engineering and Computer Science

• Evelin Pegoraro, College of Arts and Humanities

• Christopher Roda, College of Sciences

• Olga Russell, College of Community Innovation and Education

• Amy Thomas, College of Health Professions and Sciences

Promotion to Associate Instructor of Medicine

• Melissa Marthe, College of Medicine

Promotion to Senior Instructional Designer

• Amanda Major, Division of Digital Learning

Promotion to Associate Instructional Designer

• Joseph Lloyd, Division of Digital Learning

Promotion to Associate Librarian

• Katherine Miller, UCF Libraries

• Rachel Trnka, UCF Libraries