TAMIU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Claudia E. San Miguel, said the additions to the University’s faculty are the result of national and international searches focused on teaching and research excellence, joining a full-time faculty numbering over 250. “Our search committees spent an incredible amount of time and energy in working to recruit and secure these 37 new members of our gifted faculty. We are thrilled to have them join our growing campus and community at large,” Dr. San Miguel said. The University also welcomes four new Deans. New Dean of University College is Dr. Alfredo Ramírez, Jr., longtime faculty member, program administrator and researcher. More on Dr. Ramirez is at go.tamiu.edu/uc-dean-ramirez Joining the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business as its Dean and Professor of Strategic Management Dr. Luis Pérez-Batres. More on Dr. Pérez-Batres go.tamiu.edu/arssb-dean-perez The Dean of the Graduate School is Dr. Lola Norris. More on Dr. Norris is at go.tamiu.edu/gradschool-dean-norris Now serving as the first-ever Dean of the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library is Dr. Colleen Harris. More on Dr. Harris is at go.tamiu.edu/library-dean-harris DR. LI TAKES PART IN OCEAN RESEARCH EXPEDITION This year, a TAMIU faculty member took part in a oncein-a-lifetime ocean expedition through the European coast. Dr. Zhiyang Li, assistant professor of Geology, joined the International Ocean Discovery Program Mediterranean-Atlantic Gateway Exchange (Expedition 401). The two-month-long expedition program included four distinct drilling sites and locations off the coast of Portugal, Spain’s Gulf of Cadiz, and the Alboran Sea near Marbella, Spain. The opportunity to travel and explore these areas offered scientists unique opportunities to better understand the causes and effects of the Messinian Salinity Crisis, a geological event that created a 1,000-meter-thick layer of salt on the sea floor. "Scientists believe that the connection, known as the Strait of Gibraltar today, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, narrowed and eventually closed around six million years ago…The main objectives of this expedition were to recover the Late Miocene sediments on either side of the Gibraltar Strait to reconstruct the exchange history between the Atlantic and Mediterranean and its impacts on environmental and climate conditions," explained Dr. Li. Scientists were able to complete a successful expedition, recovering near-complete sedimentary records from the Late Miocene period, he said. TAMIU WELCOMES 37 NEW FACULTY MEMBERS Keeping pace with dynamic enrollment growth this Fall semester at TAMIU, 37 new faculty members have taken their place in University classrooms. Dr. Zhiyang Li Dr. Alfredo Ramírez, Jr. Dr. Claudia San Miguel Dr. Lola Norris Dr. Luis Pérez-Batres Dr. Colleen Harris 18
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