UAH announces promotion, tenure awards for 2026-27 academic year, grants of emeritus status

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recognized newly promoted and tenured faculty members as well as faculty who have recently been recognized with emeritus status upon their retirement on April 23, 2026, during the 2026 University Awards for Excellence ceremony. The event was held in the ballroom of the Student Services Building, shown here in a campus panorama.

Michael Mercier | UAH

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) announced awards of tenure and/or promotion for 20 faculty members and recognized nine others who were recently granted emeritus status at the University Awards for Excellence celebration on April 23 at the Student Services Building ballroom. UAH is a part of The University of Alabama System.

“It gives me great pleasure to recognize faculty members who receive tenure and/or promotion and rank this spring,” said Dr. David Puleo, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “Decisions on promotion and tenure are not taken lightly and are the result of extensive reviews by faculty colleagues at the department, college and university levels, and in many cases include evaluations by distinguished colleagues from other academic institutions.”

The tenure and promotion awards begin with the 2026-27 academic year. These faculty members include six who were promoted to professor, five who were awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor, one promoted to clinical professor, two promoted to clinical associate professor, one promoted to clinical assistant professor and five promoted to senior lecturer.

PROMOTION TO PROFESSOR

• Yongchuan “Kevin” Bao – Marketing
• Bryan Mesmer – Industrial and Systems Engineering and Engineering Management
• Maria Pour – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• William “Joey” Taylor – English
• Ryan Weber – English
• Tingting Wu – Civil and Environmental Engineering

AWARD OF TENURE AND PROMOTION TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

• Joshua Booth – Computer Science
• Jennifer Bruzek – Curriculum and Instruction
• Ahmed Lawan – Biological Sciences
• Avimanyu Sahoo – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Lingling Zhao – Space Science

PROMOTION TO CLINICAL PROFESSOR

• Darlene Showalter – Nursing

PROMOTION TO CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

• Dilcu Barnes – Management Science
• Bethany Gilbert – Nursing

PROMOTION TO CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

• Katherine Morrison – Nursing

PROMOTION TO SENIOR LECTURER

• Keka Biswas – Biological Sciences
• William “Ryan” Brown – English
• Elizabeth Hardin – English
• John Saunders – Communication Arts
• David St. John – English

“These newly promoted and tenured faculty have achieved high levels of excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service,” Puleo said. “They are a tribute to the faculty who recruited them, mentored them and encouraged them along the way. We look forward to their continued success at UAH for many years to come.”

Puleo then acknowledged the faculty who have recently been recognized with emeritus status upon their retirement:

RECOGNITION OF EMERITUS

• Ann Bianchi – College of Nursing
• Letha Etzkorn – College of Science
• Susan Friedman – College of Nursing
• Wenzhang Huang – College of Science
• Emil Jovanov – College of Engineering
• Mark Lin – College of Engineering
• Shankar Mahalingam – College of Engineering
• Jeffrey Weimer – College of Engineering and College of Science
• Wolfram Verlaan – College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences