TAMIU Adds 28 New Faculty for Fall Semester Start

As students begin or return to Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) Fall semester on Monday, Aug. 28, they’ll see some familiar faces… and some new faces. The start of the Fall semester brings the addition of 28 new faculty members to the University’s Colleges, Schools, and the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.

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.

“Our search committees spent an incredible amount of time and energy in working to recruit and secure these new additions to our gifted faculty.  We are thrilled to have them join our campus community and community at large and are eager to celebrate their contribution to our commitment to an accessible, affordable and exceptional education here at TAMIU,”  Dr. San Miguel said.

New faculty members and their respective Colleges or Schools, teaching area, and degree are as follows:

A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business

Nur Al Faisal, Assistant Professor – Finance, Ph.D., Louisiana State University; Hyeonjin Im, Instructional Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Missouri; Jintao Zhang, Assistant Professor – Marketing, Ph.D., Drexel University; Daniel González, Lecturer – Business Communication, M.A., Texas A&M International University and Juan J. Flores, Instructional Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University.

College of Arts and Sciences

Giasuddin Ahmed, Assistant Professor – Developmental Biology, Ph.D., Kumamoto University;  Jiyeon Hwang, Visiting Assistant Professor – Music-Voice/Choir, D.M.A., University of Minnesota; Carlos Castañeda, -- Visiting Instructor of Music and Director of Mariachi Program, M.M., University of Arizona; Khaled Almustafa, Visiting Assistant Professor – Computer Engineering, Ph.D., The University of Western Ontario; Seungmug (Zech) Lee, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice, Ph.D., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.           

Also, Mohammed A. Alqahtani, Visiting Assistant Professor - Criminal Justice, M.P.A., Barry University; Michael W. Mann, Assistant Professor – Trumpet, D.M.A., University of Minnesota; Asligul Berktay, Assistant Professor – History, Ph.D., Tulane University;       Vijayan Sundararaj, Assistant Professor – Ecology, Ph.D., Lakehead University; César Contreras, Instructional Assistant Professor – Math, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Dallas; Crystal Wagner, Visiting Assistant Professor – Art, M.F.A., The University of Tennessee; Zachary R. Hernández, Assistant Professor – English, Ph.D., Texas Tech University; Jessica M. Walker, Visiting Assistant Professor – English, M.F.A., University of Virginia, and Prachita Humane, Visiting Assistant Professor – Systems Engineering, Ph.D., Missouri University of Science and Technology.

College of Education

Kele Anyanwu, Associate Professor  Educational Technology, Ed.D., University of Houston; Lina De La Garza, Assistant Professor – Educational Leadership, Ed.D., Texas A&M University-Kingsville; Kristina Chapa, Clinical Assistant Professor – Curriculum & Instruction, M.S., Texas A&M International University; Ricardo Lozano, Associate Professor – Educational Leadership, Ph.D., Texas A&M University-College Station, and Cynthia Gallardo, Assistant Professor – Educational Administration, Ed.D., Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Lisa H. Heard, Clinical Assistant Professor – Nursing, M.S.N., Texas A&M International University; Adan Sánchez, Clinical Assistant Professor – Nursing, M.S.N., Texas A&M International University, and Kristal Q. Lansford, Visiting Lecturer – Kinesiology, M.A., California State University.

Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library

Joan Wakasa Murumba, Assistant Librarian – Information Literacy, Ph.D., Kisii University.

As a result of actions taken by the Texas Legislature to address affordability in higher education, all resident undergraduate academic costs, including tuition, mandatory academic fees, all academic-related general fees, and college course fees, have been frozen for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years at TAMIU. The University has not raised tuition and fees since 2021.

Registration for Fall 2023 is currently underway. To learn more about TAMIU’s Registration, processes, visit https://www.tamiu.edu/reghub/.  

Classes for the Fall 2023 semester begin Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. Late registration ends Friday, Sept. 1.

For more information on Dusty Camp, contact the Office of Student Orientation, Leadership, and Engagement at 956.326.2280, email sole@tamiu.edu, or visit offices in the University Success Center, suite 224.

University news and information can also be found online at tamiu.edu and on TAMIU’s social channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.