2024-2025 UMMC Promotions and Tenure
Published on Monday, July 7, 2025
More than 80 current Medical Center faculty will begin the new academic year with a promotion in rank, newly granted tenure, or both. Faculty are listed alphabetically, by school, in rank order of professor with tenure, associate professor with tenure, professor, and associate professor.
| School of Dentistry | ||
|---|---|---|
 Scott Phillips Promotion to Professor of Care Planning and Restorative Sciences |  Nathan Beavers Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry |  Ignacio Velasco Martinez Promotion to Associate Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery |
 George May Promotion to Associate Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery |  Sara Jane McCrary Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry | |
| School of Health Related Professions | ||
 Asher Street Beam Promotion to Professor of Radiologic Sciences |  Megan Ladner Promotion to Professor of Occupational Therapy |  Robin Parish Promotion to Professor of Occupational Therapy |
 Driscoll DeVaul Promotion to Associate Professor of Health Sciences |  Zack Gray Promotion to Associate Professor of Radiologic Sciences |  Molly Ratcliff Promotion to Associate Professor of Health Sciences |
 Chelsea Stephens Promotion to Associate Professor of Radiologic Sciences | ||
| School of Medicine | ||
 Kellie Leitch Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery with Tenure |  Xiu Liu Professor of Pathology with Tenure |  Matthias Krenn Promotion to Associate Professor of Neurosurgery with Tenure |
 John Morellato Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery with Tenure |  Vinayak Nahar Associate Professor of Dermatology with Tenure |  Charalampos Pantazopoulos Associate Professor of Psychiatry with Tenure |
 Marc Walker Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery with Tenure |  Brian Akerley Promotion to Professor of Cell & Molecular Biology with Tenure |  Ashish Anand Promotion to Professor of Orthopedic Surgery |
 Ben Brock Promotion to Professor of Medicine |  Saurabh Chandra Promotion to Professor of Medicine |  Amanda Clark Promotion to Professor of Medicine |
 Jussara do Carmo Promotion to Professor of Physiology & Biophysics |  Vishnu Garla Promotion to Professor of Medicine |  David Gilliam Promotion to Professor of Pediatrics |
 Felicitas Koller Promotion to Professor of Surgery |  Elizabeth Lutz Promotion to Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology |  Carter Milner Promotion to Professor of Medicine |
 Billy Mink Promotion to Professor of Pediatrics |  Rachael Morris Promotion to Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology |  Sydney Murphy Promotion to Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology |
 Elizabeth Paine Promotion to Professor of Medicine |  Susie Phillips Promotion to Professor of Pediatrics |  Anju Sukumaran Promotion to Professor of Pediatrics |
 Anson Thaggard Promotion to Professor of Radiology |  Jorge Vidal Promotion to Professor of Cell & Molecular Biology with Tenure |  Patricia Amolenda Promotion to Associate Professor of Anesthesiology |
 Gabrielle Gipson Banks Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatrics |  James Bensler Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |  Kelly Brister Promotion to Associate Professor of Surgery |
 Joydeep Chakraborty Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |  Jenna Dear Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatrics |  Bradley Deere Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |
 Stephanie Depaepe Promotion to Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine |  Claudio do Nascimento Promotion to Associate Professor of Anesthesiology |  Forrest Duncan Promotion to Associate Professor of Anesthesiology |
 Ameze Ero Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatrics |  Elizabeth Fryoux Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |  Zerelda Esquer Garrigos Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |
 Ira Holla Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatrics |  Izuchukwu Ibe Promotion to Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery |  Erin Jackson Promotion to Associate Professor of Pediatrics |
 Anne Kane Promotion to Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery |  Daniel Kennedy Promotion to Associate Professor of Radiology |  Hyung Kim Promotion to Associate Professor of Neurosurgery |
 Beth King Promotion to Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery |  Zackary Knott Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |  Jessie Lavender Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |
 Venkat Mannam Promotion to Associate Professor of Pathology |  Oscar Alberto Alam Mendez Promotion to Associate Professor of Anesthesiology |  Rola Abi Saleh Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |
 Janice Scaggs Promotion to Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology |  Tanja Seifen Promotion to Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior |  Laura Smart Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |
 Allison Strickland Promotion to Associate Professor of Neurosurgery |  Charlotte Taylor Promotion to Associate Professor of Radiology |  Jenner Tiscareno Promotion to Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine |
 Prakhar Vijayvargiya Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |  Yousaf Zafar Promotion to Associate Professor of Medicine |  Mouayyad Zaza Promotion to Associate Professor of Surgery |
| School of Nursing | ||
 Angela Duck Promotion to Professor of Instruction |  Sharon McElwain Promotion to Professor of Instruction |  Kathleen Rhodes Promotion to Professor of Instruction |
 Carolann Risley Promotion to Professor of Instruction |  Christina Ferrell Promotion to Associate Professor of Instruction | |
| School of Population Health | ||
 William Hillegass Professor of Data Science with Tenure |  Bernadette Grayson Promotion to Professor of Population Health Science with Tenure |  Caroline Compretta Promotion to Professor of Population Health Science |
 Yunxi Zhang Promotion to Associate Professor of Data Science | ||