Faculty Highlights
Dr. Pride Abongwa
Dr. Pride Abongwa, assistant professor in the Department of Natural Sciences, is the University’s principal investigator on a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture for a proposal titled “Comprehensive Experiential Learnings to Promote Climate Resilient Agriculture for Underrepresented Minority Students.”
Dr. Izzat Alsmadi
Dr. Izzat Alsmadi, professor in the Department of Computational, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, received a grant from the National Science Foundation titled “CC* Strategy-Campus: Accelerating Research Computing at A&M-San Antonio.”
Dr. Bryan Bayles
Dr. Bryan Bayles, assistant professor of community health, received a $585,000 grant from the Board of Baptist Health Foundation for “Cross-sectional survey on emerging environmental pollutant exposure and prevalence of obesity in communities.”
Dr. Harris Bechtol
Dr. Harris Bechtol, lecturer of philosophy, published the book review “Dialogue on the Threshold,” for the peer-reviewed journal Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy.
James Bernsen
James Bernsen, adjunct faculty member in the Department of History, Philosophy and Geography, published The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites and the Texas Revolution of 1811 through Texas A&M University Press as part of the Vistas Series.
Dr. Stephanie Black
Dr. Stephanie Black, associate professor of management, co-authored several works, including “Cultivating and Learning from Native American Employees for Organizational Success: Native American and Indigenous Peoples’ World of Work” in Human Resource in Management. She also contributed to “Hispanics in the workplace: their job demands and resources” for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. She also contributed to the chapter “HRIS and social media” for the book Human Resource Information Systems and has received numerous accolades, including the College of Business Community Ambassador Award.
Dr. Amy Bohmann
Dr. Amy Bohmann, associate professor in the Department Health and Behavioral Sciences, had a manuscript titled “The Nature of the Political Animal: Development of the Triplex Scale of Political Orientation” accepted by the North American Journal of Psychology.
Brenya Buchalski, J.D.
Brenya Buchalski, J.D., adjunct faculty member in psychology, published an article titled “Internet Radicalization of Extremists” in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and Criminal Investigation.
Nonie C. Cabana
Nonie C. Cabana, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Management and Marketing, serves as vice president and a board of directors member with Communities Aligning Baguio (Philippines) and San Antonio, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the Sister City relationship. He helped organize the inauguration of the San Antonio, Texas Garden at the Baguio Botanical Garden. The San Antonio, Texas Garden is a tribute to the cultural ties between the two cities. It features two iconic cowboy boots, inspired by the installation at North Star Mall, set against a scenic viewing deck adorned with a commemorative plaque.
Dr. Zechun Cao
Dr. Zechun Cao, assistant professor in the Department of Computational, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, received a $35,000 grant from the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) titled “Toward Automatic and Sound Memory Safety Bug Repair.”
Yvette Chairez
Yvette Chairez, lecturer of English, was awarded the Charles Bazerman New Scholar Fellowship through the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Clearinghouse, an open-access publishing collaborative that curates and provides free or low-cost academic resources to instructors and students in the fields of writing, rhetoric and composition. As a Bazerman Fellow, she will help build and maintain the new “Artificial Intelligence and the Teaching of Writing” digital archive exhibit, and she will create a research and pedagogy guidebook to accompany it.
Dr. Daniel Delgado
Dr. Daniel Delgado, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Communication, received a grant from the National Science Foundation to support the creation of a computer laboratory dedicated to collaborative work with the co-investigators, supporting students, and providing statistical analysis software for the social sciences.
Dr. Sonya Eddy and Dr. Elizabeth Leyva
Dr. Sonya Eddy, director of integrated reading and writing and instructional assistant professor, and Dr. Elizabeth Leyva, interim program coordinator, mathematics, were awarded a $125,000 College Readiness and Success Models grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The Texas A&M University-San Antonio is one of 16 institutions to implement or scale systemic, evidence-based developmental education reforms to improve student outcomes and to increase access to high-quality professional development opportunities for faculty and staff providing direct support to underprepared students.
Juan Carlos Escobedo
Juan Carlos Escobedo, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Language, Literature, and Arts, had work appearing in the show Shelf Life at the McNay and also had a solo show at the Mesquite Arts Center.
Dr. Vipul Garg
Dr. Vipul Garg, assistant professor of management, received funding from the Office of Research and Health Sciences to acquire neuroscience sensors, such as EEG headsets and eye trackers, for a project aimed at enhancing the performance and safety of forklift operators in South San Antonio. This initiative bridges gaps in operator training and safety standards in high-stakes warehouse environments. He also co-authored a paper titled “Flying Forward: Lessons Learned from Drone Logistics in Healthcare Supply Chains,” with a drone startup in India specializing in deliveries to challenging terrains. The paper explores the operational, technological and regulatory lessons learned from deploying drones in health care supply chains in underserved regions.
Dr. Elena Foulis
Dr. Elena Foulis, assistant professor and director of Spanish Language Studies, had an essay titled “I didn’t write this for you: Using Translanguaging in Pages and in the Classroom,” published in the Journal of Folklore and Education. She also published a manuscript titled “Comida y Convivencia: Building community through food and food stories” in the Latino Studies Journal. She also had a co-edited collection titled “Working en Comunidad: Service Learning and Community Engagement with Latinas/os/es!” published.
Dr. Theresa Garfield
Dr. Theresa Garfield, professor of special education, is the Program Advisory Committee Co-Chair for the 2024-2025 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) International Annual Conference. CEC is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the success of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents.
Laurie Ann Guerrero
Laurie Ann Guerrero, associate professor and the writer-in-residence at A&M-San Antonio, was included in “Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology.” U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón discusses Guerrero’s work in the accompanying video anthology. She was also part of a panel, in association with the Library of America, called “Explorations of Home: A Panel on the Latinx Diaspora in Poetry” at the San Antonio Public Library, Latino Collection & Resource Center.
Dr. Sarah Harper
Dr. Sarah Harper, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice, was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Summer Research Team Program based on her proposal titled “Exploring Frontline Interactions with Sovereign Citizens and Anti-Government Extremists: Insights into De-Escalation and Procedural Justice.”
Drs. Esther Garza, Hsiao Ping Wu and Myriam Guerra
Drs. Esther Garza, Hsiao Ping Wu and Myriam Guerra, all professors of bilingual and ESL education, organized and executed the University’s first Multilingual Education Conference. The conference is intended to provide educational opportunities, scholarly research and professional development for students and educators in bilingual and multilingual education to promote the broadening of perspective. The goal is to help the University become a national hub and model for preparing bilingual and multilingual teachers to teach in the nation’s increasing population of English Learners, thus empowering non-native English speakers to be contributing and active citizens of the country.
Dr. Sean Kearney
Dr. Sean Kearney, professor of educational administration, received the 2023-24 A&M System Board of Regents Professor Award. Kearney’s research focuses on school culture and climate, the correlates of high-performing schools and principal preparation. He has forged partnerships with school districts to promote graduate-degree attainment, preparing educational leaders across the region.
Dr. Elisabeth Krimbill
Dr. Elisabeth Krimbill, associate professor in the Department of Educator and Leadership Preparation, has been named president of the Education Law Association, a nonprofit that promotes and improves education law. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based organization has hundreds of members worldwide, including professors, attorneys, and school and college administrators. As president, Krimbill said one of her primary goals is to boost member engagement by increasing the nonprofit’s number of programs and professional development opportunities, including new AI training.
Dr. Donna M. Lehman
Dr. Donna M. Lehman, with the University’s Public Health Genetics and Genomics Group gave an invited talk at the Foundation for Prader Willi Research Symposium and Family Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia, titled “The epitranscriptome of hypothalamic neurons during fasting is altered in a T1 PWS human model.”
Dr. Gongbo Liang
Dr. Gongbo Liang, assistant professor of computer science, and his students had eight papers on AI published or accepted to journals or prestigious conferences in 2024. He also had two papers accepted to the workshops at the 39th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence. Liang was also awarded a Google grant to support his research project aimed at mitigating bias in generative AI.
Dr. Chin-Yen Liu
Dr. Chin-Yen Liu, associate professor of management, has published several articles, including “Beyond Traditional Methods: Enhancing Cost Escalation Forecasting in Commercial Construction amid Economic Turbulence” in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. She also published the article “Who Says We Can’t: Collaborative and Cooperative Learning Through an Asynchronous Online Group Project” in the journal Management Teaching Review. And at the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute Conference, she made a presentation called “Navigating Cost Estimation Complexities in the US Commercial Construction Industry.” She also made a presentation called “Collaborative and Cooperative QR Learning through an Asynchronous Online Class” at the National Numeracy Network Annual Conference.
Dr. Eric López
Dr. Eric López, professor in the Department of Educator and Leadership Preparation, published the paper “Bilingual special education in Texas: An opportunity for getting policy and practice right” in the journal Educator Perspectives.
Dr. Matthew Mangum
Dr. Matthew Mangum, clinical associate professor in the Department of Management and Marketing, contributed the article “Teaching the Cognizant Case: When Corporate Compliance Works” for the Southern Journal of Business and Ethics. He also made a presentation called Betamax and Monkey Selfies: Teaching the Copyright Law of Generative AI in the Absence of Direct Precedent, during the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business conference.
Dr. Srinivas Mummidi
Dr. Srinivas Mummidi, a member of the University’s Public Health Genetics and Genomics Group, had a paper titled “Diet-enhanced LRG1 expression promotes insulin hypersecretion and ER stress in pancreatic beta cells” published in Diabetologia.
Dr. Volkan Ozbek
Dr. Volkan Ozbek, assistant professor of management, published an article in Corporate Governance called “Assessing the market performance of U.S. corporate spin-offs: Effects of directors’ age and external board appointments along with their interaction.” He also made a presentation at the Academy of International Business-Canada Conference called “The choice of international acquisitions: Effects of CEO’s power distance orientation and firm’s competitive aggressiveness.” In addition, he received the Best Reviewer Award at the Academy of International Business Conference and a Professional Development Certification on “Fundamentals of Case Teaching” from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Rebekah Piper, Dr. Karen Kohler, and Dr. Robin Kapavik
Dr. Rebekah Piper, associate professor in literacy education, Dr. Karen Kohler, assistant professor in curriculum and instruction, and Dr. Robin Kapavik, professor of elementary and secondary education, organized “Jags Responsible, Organized, and Ready” (JAGS ROAR), an initiative to help former and current students realize their dream of becoming a teacher. The all-day event helps students prepare for the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards test, with strategies for overcoming test anxiety and content-specific breakout sessions.
Dr. Roberto Saldivar
Dr. Roberto Saldivar, assistant professor of marketing, co-authored the article “Personal Values Matter: International Students’ University Selection” for the publication Studies in Higher Education. He also contributed to the article “Do Materialism and Shopping Enjoyment Impact Luxury Brand Purchase Intention” for the Asian Journal of Business Research. Finally, he was the keynote speaker at the first International Conference on Eco Friendly and Zero Waste at Binus University, Indonesia, where he delivered “Presentation on the Importance of Strategic Planning.”
Dr. Adrianna Santos, Dr. Katherine Gillen, and Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos
Dr. Adrianna Santos, associate professor, published her first monograph, Cicatrix Poetics, Trauma and Healing in the Literary Borderlands: Beyond Survival. With fellow A&M-San Antonio faculty member Dr. Katherine Gillen and Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos of Trinity University, she published The Bard in the Borderlands, V. 2 and won the Shakespeare Association of America's inaugural large-scale publics award. She also co-edited El Mundo Zurdo 9, The Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa Conference Proceedings with University of Texas at San Antonio professors, Dr. Sonya Alemán and Dr. Sylvia Mendoza.
Dr. Davida Smyth
Dr. Davida Smyth, associate professor in the Department of Natural Sciences, was awarded the American Society for Microbiology Carski Award in 2024. The award includes travel support to attend and present at ASM Microbe in LA. She was also selected to the American Society for Microbiology Distinguished Professor Roster for 2024-2026 and she will be giving talks across the country. She also co-organized an international workshop at the Lorentz Center in the Netherlands called “Infectious Disease Surveillance through Wastewater Analysis.” She co-authored an article in The Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education called “Updated ASM Curriculum Guidelines describe core microbiology content to modernize the framework for microbiology education” and an editorial in Frontiers in Microbiology called “Using case study and narrative pedagogy to guide students through the process of science.”
Dr. Lizbett Tinoco and Dr. Sonya Eddy
Dr. Lizbett Tinoco and Dr. Sonya Eddy had an essay called “Disrupting White Mainstream English in a Hispanic-Serving Institution: Reflections from Two Latina Writing Instructors” published in Narratives of Joy and Failure in Antiracist Assessment: Exploring Collaborative Writing Assessments. They explore students’ experiences with labor-based grading and collaborative assessment in an institutional context.
Dr. Cate Wengelnik
Dr. Cate Wengelnik, instructional assistant professor of management, won the Best Paper Award from the Academy of Business Research for her paper, “Inclusive Leadership Practices: The Significance of Inclusive Leadership in a Global Business Environment.” She also presented her paper “Innovative Leadership Practices for HR Executives” during a workshop for the Society for Human Resources Management.
Dr. Jeong Yang
Dr. Jeong Yang, director for information technology and cyber security and associate professor, received a grant entitled “VICEROY for the NCAE-C South Central Region” from the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.
Dr. Edward Westermann
Dr. Edward Westermann, Regents Professor of History, was invited by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to give the 2025 Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhof Annual Lecture, one of the most prestigious lectures in Holocaust studies. He also gave the Holocaust Educational Foundation’s annual Winter Lecture at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Finally, he was interviewed for two documentaries as a subject matter expert including in Los Angeles for a documentary on the Holocaust in Latvia, “The Sounds of Silence,” as well as an interview in New York City for a three-part Holocaust documentary, entitled “Soldaten.”