Pitt welcomed an abundance of new hires and promotions this year

The flow of new hires and promotions has returned at Pitt, after a near freeze in hiring last year.

Below is a listing of just some of the people who have joined the University or moved to new administrative positions this year. In most cases, the names and positions listed were provided by the schools or units as key changes they wanted to highlight.

DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES

New faculty:

Amanda Boston: Assistant professor, Africana Studies                  

Rory Carroll: Lecturer, Biological Sciences

Sherwin Cedeno: Lecturer, Statistics

Darlene Dubuisson: Assistant professor, Anthropology

Anna Ettinger: Research assistant professor (previously staff), Psychology

Reem Hannun: Research assistant professor, Geology and Environmental Science

Keila Grinberg: Professor, History    

Muhammad Khan: Assistant professor, Economics

Sara Magrin: Associate professor, Philosophy

Saoirse McSharry: Lecturer, Biological Sciences

Angie Ocampo: Assistant professor, Political Science

Thomas Pendlebury: Assistant professor, Philosophy         

Daniel Perrefort: Research assistant professor (previously graduate student), Physics and Astronomy

David Outomuro Priede: Lecturer, Biological Sciences

Jacob Rosen: Associate professor, Philosophy

Sara Sannino: Research assistant professor (previously post doctoral associate), Biological Sciences

Michael Sawyer: Associate professor, English          

Sergei Sheludiakov: Research assistant professor, Physics and Astronomy

Zi Tong: Research assistant professor, Chemistry

Gabriel Tourek: Assistant professor, Economics

The Dietrich School also added some faculty members who transitioned from visiting status:

Nancy Fultz: Lecturer, Sociology

Jessica FitzPatrick: Lecturer, English

Kyle Parks: Laboratory instructor, Biological Sciences

Jennifer Roccisana: Laboratory instructor, Biological Sciences

Patrick Shirey: Assistant professor, Geology and Environmental Science

Apanchanit Viranuvat: Instructor, Hispanic Languages & Literatures

COMPUTING AND INFORMATION

New faculty:

Malihe Alikhani: Assistant professor, Department of Computer Science

Arjun Chandrasekhar: Teaching assistant professor, Department of Computer Science

Na Du: Assistant professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

Morgan Frank: Assistant professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems and Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship

Chelsea Gunn: Teaching assistant professor, Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship

Kuo-Ting (Tim) Huang: Assistant professor, Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship

Ahmed Ibrahim: Teaching assistant professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

Xiaowei Jia: Assistant professor, Department of Computer Science

Rebecca Morris: Teaching associate professor, Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship

Kaushik Seshadreesan: Assistant professor, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

Longfei Shangguan: Assistant professor, Department of Computer Science

New chairs/directors

Mary Kay Biagini: Chair, Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship

Eleanor “Nora” Mattern: Director, Sara Fine Institute

EDUCATION

Visiting professors: The new visiting professors are associate professor George Barganier (associate professor in criminal justice studies at San Francisco State University), visiting assistant professor Camilla Bell (graduate of the Syracuse University Ph.D. program in cultural foundations of education), Colleen Eddy (graduate of the University of Missouri Ph.D. program in counseling psychology), and visiting assistant professor Tom Ralston (former superintendent of Avonworth School District). Ralston is also the new director of the school's Forum for Western Pennsylvania School Superintendents. 

In addition, Pitt Education has hired the following six assistant professors: 

M. Beatrice Dias: Assistant professor of Digital Media, Learning, and Leadership

Heather McCambly: Assistant professor of Critical Higher Education Policy

Lisa Ortiz: Assistant professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture

Watufani Poe: Assistant professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture

Veena Vasudevan: Assistant professor of Digital Media and Learning

Hayley Weddle: Assistant professor of Educational Policy

HEALTH SCIENCE LEADERSHIP

Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences, announced several leadership changes over the past several months.

New to Pitt:

Uduak S. Ndoh: Inaugural vice chancellor and deputy chief information officer for the Health Sciences. He will lead the Health Sciences IT strategy to develop technologies and platforms that support education, research and clinical activities. Ndoh comes to Pitt from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, where he serves as associate dean for information technology and as chief information officer.

Page B. Pennell: Chair of the Department of Neurology in our School of Medicine. Pennell comes to Pitt from Harvard Medical School, where she served as a professor and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Neurology.

Internal promotions:

Thomas Berkhoudt: Associate vice chancellor for grants and awards in the Health Sciences

Timothy Billiar: Associate senior vice chancellor for clinical academics

Jaime R. Cerilli: Associate vice chancellor for strategic space planning and management in the Health Sciences and director of strategic space planning for the School of Medicine

Michael Gaber: Associate dean of finance for the School of Medicine

Mark T. Gladwin: Associate vice chancellor for science strategy and associate dean for physician-scientist mentoring

Richard Henderson: Associate vice chancellor finance management in the Health Sciences

Deborah Kollar: Associate vice chancellor for administration and HR management & policy in the Health Sciences, and director of human resources for the School of Medicine

Joon Sup Lee: Vice dean for clinical affairs in the School of Medicine

William J. Madden: Vice chancellor for finance and administration, Health Sciences, and vice dean for administration, School of Medicine

LAW

Charles Kotuby Jr.: Executive director, Center for International Legal Education. Kotuby is an international law counsel who represents multinational corporations in complex international disputes.

SpearIt: Professor of law. SpearIt is an internationally recognized scholar and teacher. SpearIt graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Houston; a masters of theological studies at Harvard Divinity School, Ph.D. in religious studies at University of California Santa Barbara, and J.D. from University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Anjali Vats: Associate professor of law with a secondary appointment in the Department of Communications in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences. She has taught at Boston College Law School, UC Davis School of Law and Indiana University. Before becoming a professor, Vats clerked for the now retired Chief Justice A. William Maupin of the Supreme Court of Nevada.

Christian Sundquist: Professor of law. Sundquist formerly served as the associate dean of faculty research and scholarship and a professor of law at Albany Law School, where he co-founded The Institute for Racial Justice Research and Advocacy. He teaches Evidence, Criminal Law and Racial Justice courses and serves as an inaugural faculty affiliate with the Pitt’s Social and Racial Determinants of Equity and Well-Being Cluster.

HEALTH AND REHABILITATION SCIENCES

Reivian Berrios Barillas: Assistant professor of physical therapy

Leland Clark: Executive director of student affairs

Christina Davis: Assistant professor of physician assistant studies

Shelly DiCesaro: Associate professor in Sports Medicine and Nutrition’s athletic training program

Clive D’Souza: Assistant professor of rehabilitation science and technology

Pamela Dunlap: Assistant professor of physical therapy

Devin Kielur: Assistant professor in Sports Medicine & Nutrition’s athletic training program

Kara Kobal: Associate professor of physical therapy

Michael Lebec: Professor of physical therapy

Erin Mathia: Assistant professor of occupational therapy

Elizabeth Narducci: Assistant professor of physical therapy

Kim Nixon-Cave: Professor of physical therapy and program director for the new hybrid DPT program

Mark Malacarne: Assistant professor of physical therapy

Tara McSwigan: Assistant professor of physician assistant studies

Melissa Ruscetta: Assistant professor and externship coordinator for the audiology program in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders

Adam Sterczala: Research assistant professor at the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory and Warrior Human Performance Center

Lauren Taylor: Assistant professor of physician assistant studies

Daniel Tolomeo: Assistant professor of physician assistant studies

Yanshan Wang: Vice chair of research and assistant professor of health information management

Toni Wilson: Assistant professor of physician assistant studies

PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Melinda Haas: Assistant professor. She studies law and international security, with her current research focusing on how congressional regulation can have unintended effects on the types of covert action used in U.S. foreign policy. Haas received a Ph.D. from Princeton University in politics, a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a B.A. in mathematics and political science from Bucknell University. 

Erica Owen: Promoted to associate dean. Owen, a specialist in international political economy, began her new appointment July 1. She has been a faculty member at GSPIA since 2018. In her new position, she will serve as chief academic officer of the School, fostering the development of faculty and research, while working to implement the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy and initiatives related to curriculum. 

Nicola Foote: The new dean of the Honors College also has joined GSPIA as a full professor.

SOCIAL WORK

Victor Figuereo: Assistant professor whose work focuses on racialization, the intersections of race and ethnicity, and access to health and mental health care as it pertains to the psychological well-being and distress of Latinx individuals living in the United States. He completed his master’s degree in social work and doctorate degree at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Genevra (Nev) Jones: Assistant professor and community engaged mental health services researcher, with an interdisciplinary academic background in social and political philosophy, community psychology and medical anthropology. She comes to Pitt from the University of South Florida. 

Brooke Rawls: Assistant professor and academic coordinator for the Child Welfare Education for Baccalaureates program. Rawls received her Ph.D. from Robert Morris University in Instructional Management and Leadership. She also has more than 11 years of diverse experience within the field of social work.

SWANSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING                                               

Lei Fang: Assistant professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Alessandro Fascetti: Assistant professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Rajkumar Chinnakonda Kubendran: Assistant professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jourdain Bernard Lamperski: Assistant professor, Industrial Engineering

Qihan Liu: Assistant professor, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Mohammad Sadegh Masnadi Shirazinejad: Assistant professor, Chemical/Petroleum Engineering

Helen Schwerdt: Assistant professor, Bioengineering Department

Meng Wang: Assistant professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Peipei Zhou: Assistant professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering