Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approves 2017 promotions, tenure, continued appointments

The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approved the following promotions, tenure, and continued appointments at its June 5 meeting.

Promotion to associate professor with tenure:

Catalina Andrango-Walker, foreign languages and literatures;

Aaron Ansell, religion and culture;

Bryan Brown, biological sciences;

Tanyel Bulbul, building construction;

Margaret Cowell, School of Public and International Affairs;

Alexander Dickow, foreign languages and literatures;

Priya Dixit, political science;

Adam Dominiak, economics;

Esteban Gazel, geosciences;

Julia Gohlke, population health sciences;

Travis Head, School of Visual Arts;

Deborah Kelly, biological sciences;

Leigh-Anne Krometis, biological systems engineering;

Amanda Morris, chemistry;

Andrew Neilson, food science and technology;

Zhange (Nicole) Ni, religion and culture;

Robert Oliver, geography;

Sarah Ovink, sociology;

James Owen, horticulture;

Michael Persia, animal and poultry sciences;

Michelle Rhoads, animal and poultry sciences;

John Richey, psychology;

Brian Romans, geosciences;

Walid Saad, electrical and computer engineering;

Emily Sarver, mining and minerals engineering;

Yang Shao, geography;

Michael Sorice, forest resources and environmental conservation;

Natasha Staley, School of Performing Arts;

Pablo Tarazaga, mechanical engineering; and

Jin Xu, Finance, insurance and business law.

Promotion to professor with tenure:

Jonathan Black, aerospace and ocean engineering;

Michele Borgarelli, small animal clinical sciences; and

Mitsuhiro Murayama, materials science and engineering.

Tenure at the currently held rank of associate professor:

Rolando Burgos, electrical and computer engineering;

Michael Fox, biological sciences;

Kevin Kochersberger, mechanical engineering; and

Mark Van Dyke, biomedical engineering and mechanics.

Promotion to professor:

Sheryl Ball, economics;

John Barrett, biological sciences;

Sudip Bhattacharjee, accounting and information systems;

Daniela Cimini, biological sciences;

Thomas Clancy, electrical and computer engineering;

Rami Dalloul, animal and poultry sciences;

Michael Ermann, School of Architecture and Design;

Daniel Gallagher, civil and environmental engineering;

Zhen (Jason) He, civil and environmental engineering;

Nicholas Loehr, mathematics;

Kramer Luxbacher, mining and minerals engineering;

Andrew McCoy, building construction;

Elizabeth McNair, engineering education;

Biswarup Mukhopadhyay, biochemistry;

Anderson Norton, mathematics;

Alexey Onufriev, computer science;

Michael Roan, mechanical engineering;

Shane Ross, biomedical engineering and mechanics;

Igor Sharakhov, entomology;

Yong Xu, electrical and computer engineering;

Kurt Zimmerman, biomedical sciences and pathobiology; and

Lei Zuo, mechanical engineering.

Promotion to advanced instructor:

Alexa Gardner, human development; and

Nicholas Robbins, mathematics.

Promotion to senior instructor:

Ellington Graves, sociology;

Joseph Guthrie, agricultural technology; and

Barbara Leshyn, horticulture.

Promotion to clinical associate professor:

Sunshine Lahmers, small animal clinical sciences; and

Theresa Pancotto, small animal clinical sciences.

Promotion to associate professor (continued appointment):

Nathan Hall, University Libraries;

Tonya Price, Virginia Cooperative Extension; and

Julie Speer, University Libraries.

Promotion to professor (continued appointment):

Zhiwu Xie, University Libraries.

Promotion to senior Extension agent:

Jennifer Thompson, Louisa County Cooperative Extension; and

John Thompson, Fluvanna County Cooperative Extension.

Promotion to Extension agent:

John Benner, Augusta County Cooperative Extension;

Brittany Council, City of Richmond Cooperative Extension;

Jeremy Daubert, Rockingham County Cooperative Extension;

Rebecca Davis, Frederick County Cooperative Extension;

Ursula Deitch, Northampton County Cooperative Extension;

Crysti Hopkins, Louisa County Cooperative Extension;

Katrina Kirby, City of Petersburg Cooperative Extension;

Jeannie Layton-Dudding, Bland County Cooperative Extension;

Laura Maxey-Nay, Hanover County Cooperative Extension;

Caitlin Miller, Prince Edward County Cooperative Extension;

Robbie Morrison, Campbell County Cooperative Extension;

Kathryn Overby, Prince Edward County Cooperative Extension;

Theresa Pittman, Accomack County Cooperative Extension;

Christina Ruszcyk-Murray, Northampton County Cooperative Extension;

Kelli Scott, Montgomery County Cooperative Extension;

Rebecca Sheffield, Culpeper County Cooperative Extension;

Glenn Sturm, Gloucester County Cooperative Extension; and

Thomas Woodson, Amelia County Cooperative Extension.

Promotion to advanced Extension specialist:

John Ignosh, biological systems engineering.

The Office of the Provost provided the information for this story. Content-related questions should be directed to Cyndi Hutchison at 540-231-2350.