The College of Arts and Sciences kicked off the fall 2025 semester by welcoming 62 new faculty members, reinforcing Texas A&M’s continued commitment to academic excellence and growth.
The college leadership team welcomed these new members of the Aggie family during a reception in August at the Kyle Field Ford Hall of Champions. Nearly all the 18 departments gained new faculty members, with research ranging from the sociological framework of human development to particle physics and operator dynamics.
This year’s cohort features 37 tenured/tenure-track professors, 14 academic professional track professors and 11 visiting professors.
“The addition of more than 60 new Arts and Sciences faculty members is the result of an incredible amount of work by our current faculty and staff during the months of searching, interviews and hiring,” said Senior Executive Associate Dean and Professor of Anthropology Dr. Cynthia Werner. “This group of exceptional researchers and teachers bring immense talent, expertise and innovation to our shared mission and vision for our college. Their efforts in our academic halls, laboratories and classrooms will advance the trajectory and impact of our instruction and scholarship, and with them the excellence of the College of Arts and Sciences and Texas A&M University.”
New faculty for the 2025 fall semester include:
Anthropology
Lawrence Monocello, Assistant Professor
Jo Osborn, Assistant Professor
Keegan Selig, Assistant Professor
Olivia Thomas, Visiting Lecturer
Atmospheric Sciences
Sreenath Paleri, Assistant Professor
Biology
Ugochukwu Anieto, Instructional Associate Professor
Dae Chung, Lecturer
Bhanu Tewari, Assistant Professor
College of Arts & Sciences/Leadership Studies
Peter Velesky, Professor of the Practice
Communication & Journalism
Justin Argo, Visiting Assistant Professor of the Practice
Andrea Baldwin, Instructional Associate Professor
Andrew Christjoy, Visiting Lecturer
Mark Hlavacik, Assistant Professor
Kylene Wesner, Visiting Lecturer
Yaojun Yan, Assistant Professor
Economics
Hiroshi Toma, Assistant Professor
Han Xu, Assistant Professor
English
Katie Adkison, Assistant Professor
Ashley Barros, Lecturer
Avery Blankenship, Assistant Professor
Bryan Jones, Visting Lecturer
Tyler Shoemaker, Assistant Professor
Geography
Hazem Abdelhady, Assistant Professor
Leila Character, Assistant Professor
Liz Sherman, Associate Professor of the Practice
Geology & Geophysics
Roger Creel, Assistant Professor
Qian Yuan, Assistant Professor
Global Languages & Cultures
Gavin Blasdel, Assistant Professor
Brendan Mooney, Visiting Lecturer
Daniel Runnels, Assistant Professor
History
Gregory Daddis, Professor
Rachel Moran, Professor
Mathematics
Justin Lacini, Assistant Professor
Tao Mei, Professor
Shahar Mendelson, Professor
Xiaochuan Tang, Instructional Assistant Professor
Adrian Van Kan, Assistant Professor
Oscar Zatarain-Vera, Instructional Assistant Professor
Oceanography
Justin Dodd, Associate Professor
Philosophy
Nevin Climenhaga, Associate Professor
Brittany Leckey, Instructional Associate Professor
Michael Nielsen, Assistant Professor
Physics & Astronomy
Aysenur Bicer, Instructional Assistant Professor
Kevin Huffenberger, Professor
Psychological & Brain Sciences
Matthew Alwood, Lecturer
Mayson Astle, Instructional Assistant Professor
Juan Balcazar, Lecturer
Solangia Engler, Clinical Assistant Professor
Ian Hughes, Assistant Professor
Adam Kabins, Visiting Professor of the Practice
Sandra Sunek, Visiting Lecturer
Sociology
Carlyn Graham, Assistant Professor
Liangfei Ye, Assistant Professor
Statistics
Saheed Akinbode, Visiting Instructional Assistant Professor
Austin Brown, Assistant Professor
Debangan Dey, Assistant Professor
Ciara Nugent, Visiting Instructional Assistant Professor
Hadi Salman, Instructional Assistant Professor
Jade Wang, Assistant Professor
See additional event photographs and learn more about faculty excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences.