April 16, 2026

42 faculty members earn tenure, promotion

The SIU Board of Trustees today, April 16, approved promotions in academic rank and tenure for 42 tenure-track faculty members effective with the 2026-2027 academic year or the 2027 fiscal year beginning in July.

Receiving promotions/tenure, shown with department or school, are:

  • Lourdes Albuixech, professor, School of Language and Linguistics.
  • Iraklis Anagnostpopulos, professor, School of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering.
  • Jeb Asirvatham, professor, School of Agricultural Sciences.
  • Sean Boyle, professor, School of Automotive.
  • Lavern Byfield, professor, School of Education.
  • Mary Louise Cashel, professor, School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences.
  • Hossein Eslamiat, tenured associate professor, School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering.
  • Habibollah Fakhraei, tenured associate professor, School of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering.
  • Nusrat Farah, tenured associate professor, School of Accountancy.
  • Eric Farr, tenured associate professor, School of Architecture.
  • Karla Gage, professor, School of Agricultural Sciences.
  • Matthew Gluck, tenured associate professor, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences.
  • Karen Hammer, tenured associate professor, School of Africana Studies and Multicultural Studies.
  • Brandon Hirsch, tenured associate professor, School of Health Sciences.
  • Qian Huang, professor, School of Architecture.
  • Ajay Kalra, professor, School of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering.
  • Tamara Kang, tenured associate professor, School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences.
  • Jia Liu, professor, School of Civil, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering.
  • Chao Lu, professor, School of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering.
  • Justin McDaniel, professor, School of Health Sciences.
  • Irene Miller, tenured associate professor, School of Aviation.
  • Cinzia Padovani, professor, School of Media Arts.
  • Brent Pease, tenured associate professor, School of Forestry and Horticulture.
  • Debra Penrod, tenured associate professor, School of Health Sciences.
  • Sandra Pensoneau-Conway, professor, School of Communication Studies.
  • Jeffrey Punske, professor, School of Language and Linguistics.
  • Amir Sadeghpour, professor, School of Agricultural Sciences.
  • Mohtashim Shamsi, professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences.
  • Anna Sicari, tenured associate professor, School of Literature, Writing and Digital Humanities.
  • Geoffrey Swift, tenured associate professor, School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering.
  • Jennifer Walker, tenured associate professor, School of Health Sciences.
  • Kelli Whittington, tenured associate professor, School of Health Sciences.
  • Ning Yang, tenured associate professor, School of Computing.

School of Medicine

  • Joseph Cheatwood, professor, Biomedical Sciences-Carbondale.
  • Francesca Monn, tenured associate professor, Surgery.
  • Susan Olivo-Marston, tenured associate professor, Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology.
  • Ben Richardson, tenured associate professor, Pharmacology.
  • Diaana Sarko, professor, Biomedical Sciences-Carbondale.
  • Richard Selinfreund, tenured associate professor, Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology.
  • Marit Tweet, tenured associate professor, Emergency Medicine.
  • James Waymack, professor, Emergency Medicine.
  • Andrew Wilber, Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology.