The University of Texas at Austin welcomed over 200 new faculty members this year, coming to Austin from all over the world and bringing expertise across a wide range of high-impact areas. Learn more about the new faculty joining the University’s many colleges and schools:
School of Architecture
Three new faculty members joined the School of Architecture this year, bringing with them valuable knowledge and experience in the field and in academia. Among the newest additions to the school are Patrick Danahy, the 2023-2025 Emerging Scholar in Design, and Dora Epstein Jones, a renowned theorist and teacher of architectural culture.
McCombs School of Business
The McCombs School of Business had 12 new faculty members join its ranks for the 2023-2024 academic year. These lecturers will lend their expertise to one of the top-ranked business in the world on a variety of business disciplines, including accounting, finance, management and more. Just one example is Yifan Yu, who recently joined the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management. Yu brings his extensive knowledge of emotion artificial intelligence, social media networks and unstructured data analytics to the Unit of Information Management.
College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts welcomed several new faculty members, including Odine Chavoya, a leading figure in the field of Latinx art history and visual culture who joined the Department of Art and Art History. Susan Thomas, an award-winning Cuban and Latin American music scholar, was appointed the new director of the Butler School of Music. Rosemary Candelario is an esteemed writer and choreographer of Asian and Asian American dance, butoh, ecology and site-related performance who joined UT Austin’s Department of Theatre and Dance.
College of Liberal Arts
Nearly 30 new faculty members, both tenured/tenure-track and non-tenure-track, joined the College of Liberal Arts this fall. These expert scholars represent the vast number of departments the college has to offer. They include Rebecca Falkoff, a scholar of modern and contemporary Italian Studies and Comparative Literature joining the Department of French and Italian, and Corrine Occhino, a specialist in signed languages joining the Department of Linguistics.
Moody College of Communication
The Moody College of Communication attracted world-class faculty in the fields of advertising, communication, with some notable additions joining the college for 2023-2024. Glenn Griffin joined the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations as a professor of practice and the inaugural director of Texas Creative, a globally recognized program for aspiring art directors and writers in advertising. Chelsea Privette brings a love of language and early childhood education to the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Marina Fontolan, a new visiting assistant professor specializing in video game studies, joined the Department of Radio-Television-Film.
College of Education
The College of Education welcomed 18 new faculty members for the 2023-2024 academic year. Among them is Pablo Montero-Zamora, who brings his extensive research background in Latino youth substance use and mental health to the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education. Nathaniel Bryan, an expert in early childhood education, joined the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Cockrell School of Engineering
The Cockrell School of Engineering is welcomed more than 20 new faculty members. They bring extensive expertise in a variety of disciplines to UT Austin’s globally respected community of engineers.
Jackson School of Geosciences
Joining the Jackson School of Geosciences this fall are Miriam Barquero-Molina and Kenneth Befus. Barquero-Molina is a field geologist who brings years of experience teaching field-based courses to the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Befus will oversee the departmental spectroscopy and imaging lab, as well as curate the Jackson School’s gem and mineral collections.
Graduate School
Sam Boyer joined the Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies as a lecturer and visiting professor, following a career in copywriting.
School of Information
The School of Information welcomed new faculty members this fall, including Stephen Slota as one of its tenture-track additions. Slota is a postdoctoral researcher and Bullard Fellow specializing in sociotechnical and ethical dimensions of science and data policy.
School of Law
The School of Law welcomed two new faculty members — Jamein Cunningham and Stephanie Cagniart. Cunningham joined the school as an assistant professor with a research focus on the intersectionality of institutional discrimination, access to social justice, crime and criminal justice, and race and economic inequality. Cagniart, who earned her B.A. from UT Austin, returned to the Forty Acres as a recognized rising star in her law practice. She teaches Legal Analysis and Communication, and Persuasive Writing and Advocacy.
LBJ School of Public Affairs
Nine new faculty members joined the LBJ School of Public Affairs for the 2023-2024 academic year. The expertise they bring ranges from data science, economics and law to immigration, global geopolitics, and child protection policy. Among the school’s newest additions are Elizabeth Bell, who specializes in education and equity discrimination policy, and Katherine Rittenhouse, an applied microeconomist with research focusing on public and labor economics.
Dell Medical School
UT Austin’s world-class Dell Medical School welcomed 25 new faculty members for the 2023-2024 academic year, as well as 129 residents and 45 fellows this summer.
College of Natural Sciences
The College of Natural Sciences welcomed 35 new faculty members, including Gabriela Livas Stein, who also became the new chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences. Her research focuses on child psychology and mental health with an emphasis on marginalized youth for minority populations.
School of Nursing
Five new faculty members joined the School of Nursing this fall, lending their knowledge and experience to one of the nation’s leading nursing schools.
College of Pharmacy
The College of Pharmacy welcomed eight new faculty members for the new academic year, including new H-E-B residents Jenna Ference, Kendra McKee, Maliah Mayweather and Huynh Thien, as well as Denise Kelley to the Division of Pharmacy Practice, Tyler Kiles, who will teach and mentor PharmD students, and Travis J. Carlson to the Pharmacotherapy Division.
Steve Hicks School of Social Work
The Steve Hicks School of Social Work added several new faculty members, including the inaugural director of the school’s Moritz Center for Societal Impact, Jeanette Davidson, as well as Rebecca Gomez as the new associate dean for academic affairs.
