The University of Minnesota is proud to congratulate the faculty and academic professionals officially awarded promotion, tenure or continuous appointments following the May 2026 Board of Regents meeting. After many years of dedication, focus and rigorous evaluations from department colleagues, deans, and national and international peers, the individuals below demonstrated outstanding intellectual distinction and reaffirmed the University’s commitment to statewide service and academic excellence.

Highlights

• 69 faculty promoted to associate professor with tenure 
  • $126 million in grants as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator
  • 37 books published 
  • 1,507 peer-reviewed publications 
• 5 associate professors tenured in rank 
• 77 promoted to full professor 
• 2 academic professional promotions with continuous appointment

Editor’s Note: We have recently updated this article to more accurately represent these important career milestones. 

Crookston campus

• Anas Al Fattal, Associate Professor, Business Department
• James Foss, Associate Professor, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education Department

Duluth campus

College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

• Ryan Bergstrom, Professor, Department of Environment, Sustainability, and Geography
• Jennifer Brady, Professor, Department of World Languages and Cultures
• Paula Gudmundson, Professor, Department of Music
• Kathryn Van Wert, Associate Professor, Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies
• Jeanine Weekes Schroer, Professor, Department of Philosophy

College of Education and Human Service Professions

• Jessica Hanson, Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences
• Jung Eun Lee, Professor, Department of Applied Human Sciences
• Jonathan Phillips, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work
• Ashley Thompson, Professor, Department of Psychology

Labovitz School of Business and Economics

• Ormonde Cragun, Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies
• Neil Wilmot, Professor, Department of Economics and Healthcare Management
• Wenqing Zhang, Professor, Department of Management Studies

Swenson College of Science and Engineering

• Lucas Busta, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Victor Lai, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
• Melissa Maurer-Jones, Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Ted Ozersky, Professor, Department of Biology
• Jomara Sandbulte, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
• Haiyang Wang, Professor, Department of Computer Science

Morris campus

• Danielle Bolland, Associate Professor, Division of Science and Mathematics
• Sarah Buchanan, Professor, Division of the Humanities
• Joshua Johnson, Associate Professor, Division of the Humanities
• Stuart Winikoff, Associate Professor, Division of Science and Mathematics

Twin Cities campus

Carlson School of Management

• Alan Benson, Professor, Work and Organizations Department
• Kartik Ganju, Associate Professor, Information and Decision Sciences Department
• Yicheng Song, Associate Professor, Information and Decision Sciences Department

College of Biological Sciences

• Mikael Elias, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics
• Trinity Hamilton, Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
• William Harcombe, Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
• Forest Isbell, Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
• A. Kelly Lane, Associate Professor, Department of Biology Teaching and Learning
• Suzanne McGaugh, Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
• Thomas Niehaus, Associate Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
• Allison Shaw, Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
• Daniel Stanton, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
• Heather Zierhut, Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development

College of Design

• Jessica Garcia Fritz, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design
• Richard Graves, Professor, Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design
• Bradley Holschuh, Professor, Department of Design Innovation
• Carlye Lauff, Associate Professor, Department of Design Innovation
• Eugene Park, Professor, Department of Design Innovation
• Benjamin Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design
• Dingliang Yang, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design

College of Education and Human Development

• Joshua Collins, Professor, Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development
• Marti DeLiema, Associate Professor, School of Social Work
• Nicole Dillard, Associate Professor, Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development
• J.B. Mayo Jr., Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
• Timothy Piehler, Professor, Department of Family Social Science
• Ceema Samimi, Associate Professor, School of Social Work
• Cassandra Scharber, Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
• Darrius Stanley, Associate Professor, Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development
• Lindsey Weiler, Professor, Department of Family Social Science

College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences

• Erin Cortus, Professor, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
• Jessica Gutknecht, Professor, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
• Kathleen Hill Gallant, Professor, Department of Food Science and Nutrition
• Anup Kollanoor Johny, Professor, Department of Animal Science
• Paulo Pagliari, Professor, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
• Debalin Sarangi, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics
• Garrett Steede, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Education, Communication and Marketing

College of Liberal Arts

• Shir Alon, Associate Professor, Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
• Diti Bhadra, Associate Professor, Institute of Linguistics
• Madelaine Cahuas, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Environment & Society
• Dan Card, Associate Professor, Department of Writing Studies
• Lisa Channer, Professor, Department of Theatre Arts & Dance
• Lorenzo Fabbri, Professor, Department of French & Italian
• Emily Fairfax, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Environment & Society
• Jaclyn Fiscus-Cannaday, Associate Professor, Department of Writing Studies
• Cindy García, Professor, Department of Theatre Arts & Dance
• Katharine Gerbner, Professor, Department of History
• Megan Giddings, Associate Professor, Department of English
• Njeri Githire, Professor, Department of African & African American Studies
• Michael Goldman, Professor, Department of Sociology
• Serra Hakyemez, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
• Atilla Hallsby, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies
• Frederick Kennedy, Associate Professor, Department of Theatre Arts & Dance
• Zornitsa Keremidchieva, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies
• Diyah Larasati, Professor, Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
• Jessica Lopez Lyman, Associate Professor, Department of Chicano & Latino Studies
• Katlyn McGrattan, Associate Professor, Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
• Joseph Mullins, Associate Professor, Department of Economics
• Rebekah Nagler, Professor, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Kate Paesani, Professor, Department of French & Italian
• Qian Qin, Associate Professor, School of Statistics
• Catharine Saint-Croix, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy
• Rotem Tamir, Associate Professor, Department of Art
• Emily Threinen, Professor, School of Music
• Jane VanHeuvelen, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
• Bula Wayessa, Associate Professor, Department of African & African American Studies
• Emily Winderman, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies
• Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, Professor, Department of Sociology
• Lu Yang, Associate Professor, School of Statistics

College of Pharmacy

• Melanie Nicol, Professor, Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology
• Beshay Zordoky, Professor, Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology

College of Science and Engineering

• Emily Beverly, Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Victor Boantza, Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
• Rene Boiteau, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
• Aleksey Cherman, Associate Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
• Yao-Yi Chiang, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Caiwen Ding, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Vivian Ferry, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
• Maziar Hemati, Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
• Mingyi Hong, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Alireza Khani, Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering
• Sungyon Lee, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Yulong Lu, Associate Professor, School of Mathematics
• Gene-Hua Ng, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Alexander Opitz, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
• Gregory Pawloski, Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
• Vlad Pribiag, Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
• Vinod Srinivasan, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Ju Sun, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Honghong Tinn, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Ke Wang, Associate Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
• Judy Yang, Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering

College of Veterinary Medicine

• Matthew Aliota, Professor, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
• Eva Furrow, Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
• Jennifer Granick, Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
• Ferenc Tóth, Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences

Humphrey School of Public Affairs

• Heather Randell, Associate Professor, Global Policy

Law School

• JaneAnne Murray, Clinical Professor

Libraries

• Laura McElfresh, Associate Librarian

Medical School

• Darko Bosnakovski, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
• Sonya Brady, Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
• Marija Cvetanovic, Professor, Department of Neuroscience
• Paul Drawz, Professor, Department of Medicine
• Arin Ellingson, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
• Louise Evans, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
• Martin Felices, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
• Paolo Goffredo, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
• Pierre-Gilles Henry, Professor, Department of Radiology
• Justin Hwang, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
• Cindy Im, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
• Esther Krook-Magnuson, Professor, Department of Neuroscience
• Branden Moriarity, Professor, Department of Pediatrics
• Jole Shackelford, Professor, Department of Surgery
• Lindsey Sloan, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
• Jop van Berlo, Professor, Department of Medicine
• Eric Wise, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
• Ming Xu, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics

School of Dentistry

• Heather Conrad, Professor, Department of Restorative Sciences
• Estephan Moana Filho, Associate Professor, Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences
• Cynthia Stull, Associate Professor, Department of Primary Dental Care

School of Nursing

• Jiwoo Lee, Associate Professor, Child and Family Health Cooperative
• Siobhan McMahon, Professor, Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative
• Barbara McMorris, Professor, Population Health and Systems Cooperative
• Sripriya Rajamani, Associate Professor, Population Health and Systems Cooperative
• Kristin Sandau, Associate Professor, Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative
• Kristine Talley, Professor, Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative
• Mary Fran Tracy, Professor, Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative

School of Public Health

• Carrie Henning-Smith, Professor, Division of Health Policy and Management
• Susan Mason, Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health
• Manka Nkimbeng, Associate Professor, Division of Health Policy and Management

Regents Professorship

Established in 1965 by the Board of Regents to recognize the national and international prominence of faculty members, the Regents Professorship is the highest honor the University of Minnesota bestows on its faculty. It recognizes faculty who have made exceptional contributions to the University through teaching, research, scholarship or creative work, and contributions to the public good.

The following Regents Professors were named in 2026:

Robert Krueger

Robert Krueger is a Regents Professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts on the Twin Cities campus. He researches personality, psychopathology, aging, health and behavior genetics.

He is among the 100 most highly cited psychologists in the over 150-year history of psychology based on his h-index, which measures both the productivity and citation impact of a researcher's publications.

Read more about his accomplishments.

Kamil Uğurbil

Kamil Uğurbil is a Regents Professor in the Department of Radiology in the Medical School on the Twin Cities campus and founding director of the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. Ugurbil's central research interest is tackling biological problems, particularly in the brain, with new and transformative imaging technologies that involve instrumentation, image acquisition and reconstruction methods.

He has been recognized with several awards and honors including the Richard R. Ernst Gold Medal, ISMRM Gold Medal, ISMAR Prize, Koç Award, IEEE Medal for Innovations in Healthcare Technology and two honorary doctorates, along with membership in the US National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.