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 [email protected].
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Thomas Latino, executive director of the Professional Development Office
Michelle Yingling, director of admissions
Anjali Vats, associate professor
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
Kerri J. Meeks-Griffin, director of recruitment and admissions
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
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