2026 Faculty Promotions, Distinctions and Tenure
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the 25 faculty members who received promotions, distinctions, and/or tenure. We could not be prouder of you.
Received Distinguished Professor Distinction
- Swarup Bhunia
- Yong Huang
Promotion to Professor
- Assel Aitkaliyeva
- Sara Behdad
- Ruogu Fang
- Norman Fitz-Coy
- Jaime Ruiz
- Jonathan Scheffe
- Nina Stark
Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure
- Jessica Allen
- Andreia Fonseca de Faria
- Yeongseon Jang
- Honggyu Kim
- Nicholas Napoli
- Gaby Ou
- Katherine Todd-Brown
Tenure Only
- Justin Watson
Promotion to Engineer
- Nicholas Rudawski
Promotion to Associate Engineer
- Fabio Garofalo Sasahara
Promoted to Master Lecturer (Instructional Professor)
- Michael Griffis
Promoted to Senior Lecturer (Instructional Associate Professor)
- Kwan Cho
- Ira Harkness
- Mengyu Li
- May Mansy
Promotion to Research Associate Scientist
- Ryan Catarelli
2025-2026 Faculty Awardees
These awards celebrate the excellence and fundamental values of our college.
International Educator of the Year
- Senior Faculty Award – Kirk Ziegler, Ph.D., Chemical Engineering
- Junior Faculty Award – Ana Porras, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering – Also winner at the university Level
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award
- Meera Sitharam, Ph.D., Computer & Information Science & Engineering
- S A Sherif, Ph.D., Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
- Jennifer Nichols, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
- Sara Behdad, Ph.D., Engineering School of Sustanible Infrastructure and Environment, Civil and Coastal Engineering
- Navid Asadizanjani, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering
Undergraduate Teacher of the Year
- Amanpreet Kapoor, Ph.D., Engineering Education
Faculty Advising/Mentor of the Year
- Taylor Rawlinson, Ph.D., Engineering School of Sustanible Infrastructure and Environment, Civil and Coastal Engineering
Teacher/Scholar of the Year
- Sean Meyn, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering
Pramod P. Khargonekar Junior Faculty Award for Excellence
- Yeongseon Jang, Ph.D., Chemical Engineering
Excellence Award for Assistant Professors
- Baibhab Chatterjee, Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering
Faculty Award for Excellence in Leadership
- Alina Zare, Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering
Faculty Award for Excellence in Innovation
- Parisa Rashidi, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering
UF Research Foundation Professorship Award
- Wesley Bolch, Ph.D.
- Saeed Moghaddam, Ph.D.
- Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos, Ph.D.
- Shuo Wang, Ph.D.
2025-2026 Staff Awardees
International Educator of the Year
Professional Advisor of the Year
- Nicole Young, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Staff Award for Excellence in Leadership
- Faith Snow, Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering
Staff Award for Excellence in Innovation
- Rosie Perez, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Superior Accomplishment Award Division 3
- David Sante, Chemical Engineering
- Debbie Jones, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering (winner at the University Level)
- Michael Todd, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
- Eunice Carter, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
- Amanpreet Kapoor, Engineering Education