A growing number of people have been added to Pitt’s payroll

The number of new hires at Pitt is definitely rebounding, after the hiring freeze during the height of the pandemic.

Below are the new people who have joined the University since January. The lists were submitted by each unit. If there are additions, contact the University Times at utimes@pitt.edu.

BRADFORD

New division chairs:

Helma de Vries-Jordan, Behavioral and Social Sciences

David Merwine, biological and health sciences

New people:

Michael Davila, vice president and dean of student affairs

Sarah Martin, associate dean of student affairs and director of residence life and housing

COMPUTING AND INFORMATION

Jon Misurda, teaching assistant professor, Department of Computer Science 

Angela Stewart, assistant professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems and research scientist in the Learning Research and Development Center

Pengfei Zhou, assistant professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

DENTAL MEDICINE

New chairs:

Wellington Rody was appointed chair and associate professor, of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.

Renato Silva was appointed chair and professor, of Endodontics.

Full-time faculty:

Professors: Banu Karayazgan

Assistant professors: MaryJane Anderson, Stavroula Antonopoulou, Martina Bertolini, Mariana Bezamat Chappel, Daniel Clark, Douglas Kistler, Andrea Ravida, Ana Rodriguez, Martina Bertolini, John Burnheimer, Mehri Zarekari, Camille Siqueira Nogueira, Steven Vukas, MaryJane Anderson, Andrea Ravida, Douglas Kistler, Stavroula Antonopoulou, Nyla Balakrishnan, and Mehri Zarekari.

Instructors: Katherine Gill and Adrien Roberts

Clinical professors: Mark Mooney

Part-time faculty:

Clinical professor: Eustaquito Arajuo

Clinical assistant professors: Michael Parenti, Herbert Ray, Christine Schmeler, Renu Saxena

Clinical Instructors: Arshia Ashjaei, Rachel Eglash, Haley Brose,  Desislava Dinova, Rachel Eglash, Christine Schmeler; and Mary Dorer.

Visiting professors: Ariadne Letra

Adjunct faculty:

Adjunct professors:  Joseph Fiorellini, 

Adjunct associate professor: John Tucker

Adjunct assistant professors: Nicholas Anzur, Amanda Clemente, Ryan Corbelli, Braxton Henderson, Benjamin Pritts, Mostafa Shehabeldin, Nicholas Anzi, Randall Paterson, 

Adjunct Instructors: Dana Bilohlavek, David Blinky, Sisshant Gaidhane, Ronald Proctor

New staff in Office of the Dean:

Sara Dicky, executive assistant to the dean

Amber Tepper, manager of talent management

DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Gillian Barker, Research assistant professor, History & Philosophy of Science

Maggie Beeler, teaching assistant professor, Classics

Srawan Kumar Bishnoi, teaching assistant professor, Statistics

Justin Bortnick, teaching assistant professor, English

Sophia Choukas-Bradley, assistant professor, Psychology  

Litzy Galarza, assistant professor, Communication  

Steven Thomas Goldstein, assistant professor, Anthropology        

Astou Fall Gueye, assistant professor, French & Italian Languages & Literatures

Xin Gui, assistant professor, Chemistry        

Daphne Henry, assistant professor, psychology

Alexandra Hidalgo, associate professor, English

Jennifer Hirsch, teaching assistant professor, Psychology   

Anastasia Rose Diamantis Lopez, instructor, Economics

Jennifer Muller, teaching Associate professor, Anthropology

Omid Shekari, assistant professor, Studio Arts         

Shushruth Shushruth, assistant professor, Neuroscience

Nikolas Siapoutis, teaching assistant professor, Statistics

Deirdre Madeleine Smith, teaching assistant professor, History of Art & Architecture

Sabrina Streipert, assistant professor, Mathematics           

Loring Taoka, teaching associate professor, Studio Arts

Tyler Tarr, research assistant professor, Neuroscience        

Fernando Arturo Tormos Aponte, assistant professor, Sociology

Wesley John Transue, visiting assistant professor, Chemistry

EDUCATION

Sirry Alang, associate professor, Black Communities and Social Determinants of Health

Richard Benson, associate professor, Black Radical Traditions in Urban Education and as associate Director of the Center for Urban Education

Joshua Bleiberg, assistant professor, Quantitative Policy

Martez Files, assistant professor, Black Studies in Teacher Education

Benjamin Gordon, assistant professor, Clinical Exercise Physiology

Michelle Miller, Michael Loughead and Heidi Ondek, interim co-directors of Tri-State Area School Study Council and affiliated/visiting faculty members

Watufani Poe, assistant professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture

Khirsten L. Scott, assistant professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture and the incoming director of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

Phillandra Smith, assistant professor, Special Education and Critical Disability Studies

Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, professor and associate dean for Equity, Justice and Strategic Partnerships

ENGINEERING

Bioengineering:

Timothy Chung, visiting research assistant professor

Kevin Bell, assistant professor

Bistra Iordonova, assistant professor

Kurt Beschorner, associate professor

Electrical and Computer Engineering:

Azime Can-Cimino, assistant professor

Juan Bazerque, visiting assistant professor

Industrial Engineering:

Taposh Banerjee, assistant professor

Taewoo Lee, assistant professor

Scott Streiner, assistant professor

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science:

Juan Jose Mendoza Arenas, assistant professor

Daniel Lamont, research assistant professor

Ashish Vighnahar Avachat, research assistant professor

Alison Hake, visiting research assistant professor

Zachary Daniel Harris, assistant professor

Soumya Srider, visiting research assistant professor

GREENSBURG

New faculty:

Christina Allaback, assistant professor of Theatre

Erin Divito, assistant professor of Chemistry

Sean DiLeonardi, assistant professor of English

Natalie Taylor, assistant professor of English

Adam Cilli, assistant professor of History

Danielle Mehlman-Brightwell, assistant professor of communications

Dave Newman, assistant professor of English, previously visiting faculty

Jessica Knepper, assistant professor of Education, previously visiting faculty

Cari Simpson, visiting instructor of Nursing

Laura Stolte, visiting assistant professor of Education

Dan Hitt, visiting instructor of English

Amber Bugajski, visiting instructor of Nursing

Staff changes:

R. Leigh Hoffman promoted from assistant dean of Student Services to dean of Student Services

Angela Coldren, new director of Human Resources & Title IX Liaison

GSPIA 

Huafang Li, assistant professor of Public and Nonprofit Management

Siyao Li, assistant professor of International Affairs, International Political Economy
Brooke Shannon, assistant professor of Public Policy Analysis & Evaluation

Rashad Williams, assistant professor of Race & Social Justice in Public Policy

HEALTH AND REHABILITATION SCIENCES

New chairs:

Juleen Rodakowski, department chair, Occupational Therapy

Catherine Palmer, interim department chair, communication Science and Disorders

New faculty:

Hari Bharadwaj, assistant professor, communication Science and Disorders 

Peter Coyle, assistant professor, Physical Therapy 

Julia Dubis, assistant professor, Physician Assistant Studies 

Ikenna Ebuenyi, assistant professor, Rehabilitation Science and Technology 

Leah Fabiano-Smith, professor and director of the Ph.D. program in Communication Science, communication Science and Disorders

Regan Harrell, assistant professor, Physical Therapy 

Avital Isenberg, assistant professor, Occupational Therapy 

Sarah Johnson, instructor, Emergency Medicine 

Cara Lekovitch, assistant professor, Occupational Therapy 

Christopher Matek, Instructor, Emergency Medicine 

Frances Mulligan, assistant professor, Physician Assistant Studies 

Ahmad Pahlavan Tafti, assistant professor, Health Information Management 

Michael Pramuka, associate professor, Counseling 

Valerie Shuman, assistant professor, Physical Therapy 

Sheldon Williams, assistant professor, Emergency Medicine    

New staff:

Paige Altman, education and training manager, Rehabilitation Science and Technology 

Alison Bank, research coordinator, Physical Therapy 

Faith Beckering, email marketing specialist, Dean’s Office 

Haleigh Biondo, senior finance administrator, Physical Therapy 

Jessica Boateng, research specialist, Rehabilitation Science and Technology   

Jill Bodnar, communications manager, Dean’s Office 

Allyson Danley, Program administrator for the Doctor of PA Studies Program, Physician Assistant Studies 

Made Dhanar Indhira Yoga, web and mobile programmer, Health Information Management  

Molly Dichairo, administrative assistant, Health Information Management 

Hunter Duwall, instructional media specialist, Dean’s Office 

Haley Ellison, enrollment specialist, Dean’s Office 

Rachelle Goldbach, administrative assistant, Dean’s Office 

Fuzexia Guo, evaluation project coordinator, Rehabilitation Science and Technology 

Meaghan Hazelet, research assistant, Sports Medicine and Nutrition 

Joshua Hughes, graphic and web designer, Dean’s Office 

Cheryl Jones, finance and personnel manager, Sports Medicine and Nutrition 

Alexandra Kemmerer, communication specialist, Rehabilitation Science and Technology   

Dominic Kramer, financial administrator, Physical Therapy 

Tim Marker, academic advisor, Dean’s Office 

Laura Martin, administrator of academic affairs and admissions, Communication Science and Disorders 

Katie Mullen, research occupational therapist, Occupational Therapy 

FNU Navdezda, research assistant, Sports Medicine and Nutrition   

Jonathan Nocket, research coordinator, Rehabilitation Science and Technology 

David Oniani, machine learning research scientist, Health Information Management  

Shirley Petropoulos, administrative assistant, Health Information Management 

Rachel San Pedro, research specialist, Occupational Therapy 

Jennifer Shanahan, research assistant, Sports Medicine and Nutrition   

Alex Sozansky, web developer, Dean’s Office 

Jessica Thomas, personnel & operations administrator, Dean’s Office 

Kristine Toth, executive assistant to the chair, Physical Therapy  

Ann Vinski, department and financial administrator, Health Information Management  

Melissa Wehler, instructional designer, Dean’s Office 

JOHNSTOWN

Charline Barnes Rowland, associate professor and chair, Education

Amanda Budzina, visiting clinical instructor, Nursing

Deepak Dahiya, visiting assistant professor, Computer Science

Michael Fletcher, visiting assistant professor, Philosophy, Division of Humanities

Julie Huston, visiting clinical instructor, Nursing

Stephanie Lesosky, visiting clinical instructor, Nursing

Christina LoBoi, visiting clinical instructor, Nursing

Ladan Momayez, visiting assistant professor, Mechanical Engineering      

Cynthia Ofori-Boateng, visiting assistant professor, Chemical Engineering

Stacy Roberts, visiting assistant professor, Marketing

LAW

Thomas Latino, executive director of the Professional Development Office 

Michelle Yingling, director of admissions

Anjali Vats, associate professor

PHARMACY

Aaron Devanathan, assistant professor, Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Sophia Herbert, assistant professor, Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Joni Carroll, assistant professor, Pharmacy and Therapeutics

Bailey Tobias, director of graduate programs

Nicole Kocon: assistant dean of Business and administration

SOCIAL WORK

Kerri J. Meeks-Griffin, director of recruitment and admissions

PUBLIC HEALTH

New chairs:

Mary Hawk, professor and chair, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences

Yan Ma, professor and chair, Biostatistics

New faculty:

Lucy Savitz, professor, Health Policy and Management

Jacqueline Ellison, assistant professor, Health Policy and Management

Guan Yu, associate professor, Biostatistics

Tina Ndoh, associate professor, Environmental and Occupational Health

Megan Marron, assistant professor, Epidemiology

Peng Gao, assistant professor, Environmental and Occupational Health

Sonja Swanson, associate professor, Epidemiology

New staff:

Thomas Thullen, research technician, Environmental/Occupational Health           

Nayck Feliz, building & community specialist, Infectious Diseases & Microbiology

Beth Junecko, project manager, Public Health Dynamics Lab          

Aaron  Parise, educational program specialist, Office of the Dean  

Kayleigh Adamson, programmer/analyst, Biostatistics       

Nancy  Linderman, personnel administrator, Infectious Diseases & Microbiology 

Johnson Kottakalil Paul, systems programmer, Public Health Dynamics Lab

Jacob Romanowski, executive assistant to the dean, Office of the Dean    

Adrian Gonzales, undergraduate academic advisor, Office of the Dean     

Michele Baum, senior science communications manager, Office of the Dean        

Andres Alvarez, training, website, marketing coordinator, Infectious Diseases & Microbiology    

Yi-Chin Chang, research technician, Environmental/Occupational Health   

Jenna Gillis, data management assistant, Epidemiology      

Patricia Mccoy, lab technician, Epidemiology          

Lauren Gibbs, clinic technician, Epidemiology          

Scott Szypulski, sponsored projects financial administrator, Human Genetics       

Allison Beck, lab technologist, Epidemiology

Mara Leff, program director, Public Health Initiatives, Office of the Dean  

Sara Parisi, senior statistician/research manager, Epidemiology     

Adam Cary, data management assistant, Epidemiology      

Sarah Papperman, research coordinator, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences        

Sabnum Pudasainy, senior data analyst, Health Policy & Management     

Deirdre Cuff, senior research manager, Infectious Diseases & Microbiology          

Kathleen Ali, executive assistant to the chair, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences  

Lingshu Xue, research scientist, Health Policy & Management       

Allen Lin, senior grants administrator, Biostatistics 

Jill Ruempler, events manager, Office of the Dean  

Katie Lambert, chair's assistant, Environmental/Occupational Health

Jacqueline Friedman, social and digital media specialist, Office of the Dean          

William Reynolds, data analyst, Infectious Diseases & Microbiology          

Allison Dignan, clinic technician, Epidemiology        

Helen Chen, academic administrator, Biostatistics  

Stephen Kralik, financial administrator, Behavioral & Community Health Sciences

Xiuxia Zhou, research scientist, Environmental/Occupational Health         

Michael Friend, communications specialist, Health Policy & Management

Alexis Mandell, research assistant, Public Health Dynamics Lab