UAlbany Welcomes New Faculty Members

Provost welcomes faculty
Photo by Mario Sotomayor

 By Amy Geduldig  

ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 1, 2026) — The University at Albany welcomed 32 new tenure-track faculty members this fall. The professors will present one-minute, one-slide presentations at the University’s annual Pecha Kucha to be held on Oct. 5 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center. The University also welcomed 48 non-tenure-track faculty.

A new endowment from the Simons Foundation will support four Simons Empire Faculty Fellows whose work will advance UAlbany’s Neuromorphic Quantum Computing Constellation. The tenure-track faculty members, based in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering, will work at the intersection of neuromorphic and quantum computing, two fields whose integration could help advance artificial intelligence. Their research will build on UAlbany’s strengths in neuroscience, mathematics, machine learning, quantum information, quantum photonics and nanoscale science and engineering. The new faculty members are: Assistant Professor Kristyn Lizbinski, Assistant Professor Tahereh Jabbari, Assistant Professor Kent Vashaw and Assistant Professor Susan Wardle, Department of Psychology.  

“UAlbany invests in faculty who bring new expertise into the classroom, mentor students as they develop their own interests and involve them in research that pushes fields forward,” said Carol Kim, UAlbany’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “Our professors challenge students to ask questions, explore emerging fields and connect ideas across disciplines. With support from the Simons Foundation, UAlbany will build on that commitment by expanding opportunities for students to engage with groundbreaking research and cutting-edge technologies.”  

The new tenure-track faculty are joining 20 different departments across eight schools and colleges.  

Below is a list of UAlbany’s newest tenure track faculty members:  

College of Arts and Sciences  

  • Ritchy Hodebourg — assistant professor, Department of Psychology
  • Kristyn Lizbinski — assistant professor and Simons Empire Faculty Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences
  • Kent Vashaw — assistant professor and Simons Empire Faculty Fellow, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
  • Susan Wardle — assistant professor and Simons Empire Faculty Fellow, Department of Psychology

College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity  

  • Wenhui Chu — assistant professor, Department of Cybersecurity
  • Elyse Zavar — assistant professor, Department of Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security

College of Integrated Health Sciences  

  • Fatima Mabrouk — assistant professor, School of Social Work
  • Alicia Mendoza — assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
  • Ran Meng — assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
  • Nelia Quezada-Horne — assistant professor, School of Social Work

College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering  

  • Amreeta Chatterjee — assistant professor, Department of Computer Science
  • Ramana Chintalapalle — Empire Innovation professor and director of Ion Beam Lab, Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering
  • Tahereh Jabarri — assistant professor and Simons Empire Faculty Fellow, Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering
  • Yu Liu — associate professor and Empire Innovation professor, Department of Computer Science
  • Oliver Myers — professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering

Massry School of Business  

  • Abhishek Ghosh — assistant professor, Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics
  • Carl Blaine Horton — assistant professor, Department of Management
  • Kyle Schirmann — assistant professor, Department of Management
  • Zhaoque (Chosen) Zhou — assistant professor, Department of Finance

Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy  

  • Alvin Christian — assistant professor, Department of Public Administration and Policy
  • Brian Wade — assistant professor, Department of Criminal Justice

School of Education  

  • Nuha Alshabani — assistant professor, Department of Educational Counseling Psychology
  • Macey Arnold — assistant professor, Department of Educational Counseling Psychology
  • Diane Yan Dai — assistant professor, Department of Educational Counseling Psychology
  • Lindsey Kaler — assistant professor, Department of Educational Counseling Psychology
  • Alex Pieterse — professor, Department of Educational Counseling Psychology
  • Sarah Jerasa — assistant professor, Teacher Prep

Library

  • Robyn Bianconi— senior assistant librarian, University Libraries
  • Megan Brand — senior assistant librarian, University Libraries
  • Ellis Ging — senior assistant librarian, University Libraries
  • Kathleen Wantuch — senior assistant librarian, University Libraries
  • Kaci Wilson — senior assistant librarian, University Libraries