Year after year, semester after semester, day after day, faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin embody the University’s academic mission by creating high-impact research and innovating in the ways we teach and develop our students. In recognition of these efforts and to facilitate even more world-changing advances, more than 130 assistant, associate and professional-track professors were promoted or granted tenure starting this academic year.
“Our faculty are hardworking, passionate members of our community, and they are essential to our mission and function as a University,” said Sharon L. Wood, executive vice president and provost. “The promotion and tenure process is extremely rigorous, and all aspects of performance and impact are considered when making these important decisions. We are so proud of this year’s newly promoted faculty members and look forward to their continued excellence in teaching and research.”
For 2023, 44 assistant professors were promoted to associate professor with tenure; 50 tenured associate professors were promoted to full professor; and 44 professional-track faculty members were promoted.
Here are just a small sample of some of our outstanding newly promoted professors:
Dean Almy
Promoted to full professor
School of Architecture
Dean Almy is a professor in the School of Architecture and serves as the program director for urban design. He employs scenario-based urban design practices to ask questions, re-frame issues, test spatial strategies and visualize design results. He has used his talents and expertise to make meaningful differences for the City of Austin, including leading planning efforts for the Austin South Central Waterfront, Rusk State Hospital, Austin Convention Center and St. John’s Neighborhood. He received his bachelor of architecture from Cornell University and his master of architecture from UT Austin. Learn more »
Tracey Flores
Promoted to associate professor
College of Education
Tracey Flores is an associate professor of language and literacy in the College of Education. Through her research, she has developed family- and community-based literacy practices, including language and literacy workshops for Latina girls and their mothers, and after-school family writing projects for students in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. She has partnered with schools in South Austin to implement her work. Flores previously worked for eight years in K-8 schools in Arizona. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a bachelor’s degree in multilingual/multicultural elementary education, a master’s of education in language and literacy, and a Ph.D. in English education, all from Arizona State University. Learn more »
Edmund T. Gordon
Promoted to full professor
College of Liberal Arts
Ted Gordon is Executive Director of the Contextualization and Commemoration Initiative, which guides the design and construction of new commemorative initiatives on UT’s campus, including the East Mall project to recognize the Precursors. He is the founding chair of the African & African Diaspora Studies Department in the College of Liberal Arts. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology from Swarthmore College, a master’s in social anthropology from Stanford University, a master’s in marine sciences from the University of Miami, and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Stanford. Learn more »
Shalene Jha
Promoted to full professor
College of Natural Sciences
Shalene Jha is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology in the College of Natural Sciences. Her work examines how global land use change influences gene flow, foraging patterns and population viability for plants and animals, including a focus on the role of bees as plant and ecosystem pollinators. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Rice University and her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Michigan. Learn more »
Shelli Kesler
Promoted to full professor
School of Nursing
Shelli Kesler is a professor in the School of Nursing, with specific expertise in neuroimaging, neuropsychology, biostatistics, machine learning and computer programming. She uses clinical tools that use brain-based biomarkers to diagnose and predict brain health outcomes. She serves as director of statistical services in the Cain Center for Nursing Research. Kesler received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, both from Brigham Young University. Learn more »
Leticia Moczygemba
Promoted to full professor
College of Pharmacy
Leticia Moczygemba is a professor of health outcomes in the College of Pharmacy. Her research focuses on working with communities and health systems to mitigate health disparities by developing innovative, patient-centered interventions to optimize medication use and health outcomes. She routinely uses qualitative and quantitative techniques, program evaluation and the science of quality improvement to advance the health of people experiencing homelessness, low-income adults and people living in rural areas. Moczygemba received her Pharm.D. and her Ph.D. from UT Austin. Learn more »
Richard Murphy
Promoted to associate professor
College of Liberal Arts
Richard Murphy is an associate professor in the economics department in the College of Liberal Arts. His primary field of interest is the economics of education, including the effect of class rank on student outcomes, interventions to improve outcomes in primary and secondary schools and the impact of different school funding methods. Murphy received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southampton and his master’s and Ph.D. from University College London, all in economics. Learn more »
Manuel Rausch
Promoted to associate professor
Cockrell School of Engineering
Manuel Rausch is an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics in the Cockrell School of Engineering. His research is focused on soft tissue biomechanics, with a specific focus on the right cardiovascular system and blood clot mechanics and modeling. Rausch received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. Learn more »
Daniella Rempe
Promoted to associate professor
Jackson School of Geosciences
Daniella Rempe is an associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences in the Jackson School of Geosciences. A hydrologist and geomorphologist, she uses a variety of field techniques to probe the interior of hillslopes to understand how surface and subsurface processes influence water resources to vegetation, rivers and the atmosphere. Rempe received her bachelor’s degree in geosystems and hydrogeology from UT Austin, her master’s degree in environmental engineering and her Ph.D. in earth and planetary science, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Learn more »
Adrian Ward
Promoted to associate professor
McCombs School of Business
Adrian Ward is an associate professor in the marketing department in the McCombs School of Business. His work primarily focuses on understanding how consumers’ relationships with technology and other people influence attention, knowledge and decision-making. Prior to joining UT, Ward received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University and spent two years as a senior research associate in the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Learn more »
William Wolesensky
Promoted to professor of instruction
College of Natural Sciences
William Wolesensky is a professor of instruction in the math department in the College of Natural Sciences. He is known as an outstanding instructor who teaches many of the math department’s introductory calculus courses and also serves as an undergraduate research mentor. Wolesensky received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska, all in math. Learn more »
