Fellows Directory

Niveen AbiGhannam

Dr. Niveen AbiGhannam is a science communication researcher and educator whose work centers around the strategic and inclusive communication of technical knowledge. More specifically, her research seeks to understand individual, organizational, and social factors that can drive or hinder public engagement with STEM behaviors. She also examines the identities of publicly engaged scientists and engineers and the meanings that they associate with their engagement experiences. On the teaching front, Dr. AbiGhannam has taught Engineering Communication at UT since 2015.

Matthew Balhoff

Matthew is a professor in the Hildebrand Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (PGE) Department. Matt’s work as a PTF includes a curriculum-wide design project that is presented to the students in their first petroleum engineering class, taught in the spring of their first year. In every PGE class they are assigned at least one homework assignment or project taken directly from the design project. The objective of this initiative is to use unique methods and tools to develop an integrated and synergistic program.

Tasha Beretvas

Tasha Beretvas is a professor in the Quantitative Methods program in the Department of Educational Psychology. She joined UT's faculty in 2000. Beretvas has served as the Quantitative Methods program chair and the College of Education's Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. She is currently the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. She is also a member of the board of directors for the college's Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk and a faculty associate of UT's Population Research Center.

Maura Borrego

Matt Bowers

Dr. Matt Bowers is an Associate Professor of Instruction in Sport Management at the University of Texas at Austin. He studies youth development in and through sports and has published research studies related to the impact of sport participation on creativity and the value of sandlot/unstructured sports for children. His work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Wired, The Atlantic, and Wall Street Journal, SXSW, and the Aspen Institute’s Sport for All, Play For Life: A Playbook to Get Every Kid in the Game.

Keffrelyn Brown

Stephanie Cawthon

Michael Findley

Lori Holleran Steiker

Lori Holleran Steiker, PhD, is the Steve Hicks Professor of Addiction, Recovery and Substance Use Services at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, a University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Director of Instruction, Engagement and Wellness at the School of Undergraduate Studies.

Peniel Joseph

Peniel Joseph is the First-Year Representative on the 2020 PTF Steering Committee.

Krishna Kumar

Krishna Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Civil, Architecture, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Krishna’s work involves developing exascale micro and macro-scale numerical methods for modeling natural hazards. Krishna also develops Scientific Machine Learning algorithms: Graph Network Simulators and Differentiable programming to accelerate numerical methods and solve optimization, design, and inverse problems.

Fernanda Leite

Fernanda Leite is a Professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds the John A. Focht Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Civil Engineering. She is the past Chair of a University-wide Bridging Barriers research initiative called Planet Texas 2050. Her built environment research program sits at the interface of engineering and computing. She teaches courses on Building Information Modeling, Project Management and Economics, Construction Safety, and Sustainable Systems Engineering.

Diane McDaniel Rhodes

Dr. Rhodes teaches undergraduate courses in social justice and community practice. Her teaching passions focus on creating engagement and belonging through pedagogy and practice. A graduate of the Stanford Teaching and Learning Studio and the Academy of College and University Educators, she continually seeks new knowledge about teaching and works to provide knowledge gained to colleagues through writing and mentoring. "I probably learn the most about teaching from my students, who are some of the most generous and smartest folx I know."

Rick Neptune

Project Title: Integrating Computational Techniques in the Engineering Curriculum 

 

Tolga Ozyurtcu

Tolga Ozyurtcu is a faculty member in Sport Management and Physical Culture and Sport Studies, in the department of Kinesiology and Health Education. He also serves as the department's Undergraduate Coordinator. He holds a PhD and MSc in Kinesiology from UT Austin and a B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College. Ozyurtcu teaches courses on the business and culture of sports and exercise, including topics such as organizational behavior, history, philosophy, and ethics.

Vicki Packheiser

As a Provost’s Teaching Fellow, Vicki Packheiser is transforming experiential learning in Social Work’s foundational courses. This two-course sequence has long required 45 hours of service learning per course with a community agency. Social Work pre-majors contribute 10,000+ hours of service to the Austin community, serving as UT ambassadors while they gain experience that grounds their academics in future years. But the implementation has not lived up to the potential.

Paola Passalacqua

D'Arcy Randall

Navid Saleh

Navid Saleh is an Associate Professor at the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering department. He is an environmental engineering faculty member with a passion for teaching. His mission as an educator and researcher has been to engage with the community and co-create knowledge. He has developed modules utilizing problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy, conducted detailed and systematic evaluation, and devoted himself to student learning at UT.

Diane  Schallert 

Carolyn Seepersad

Project Title: Freshman Introduction to Research in Engineering (FIRE) 

 

Sarah Sloan

Sarah Sloan is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Her practice interests include social justice, mental health and working with LGBTQIA+ communities. She worked with students at the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center from 2003-2012. Her project is about understanding Critical Race Theory and how it can help social workers understand that inequitable systems that marginalize people of color, lead to inequitable outcomes for the same people, and contribute to the oppression of other people with non-dominant identities.

Dixie Stanforth

Dixie has been teaching in Undergraduate program in Kinesiology & Health Education since 1985. She has developed a successful curriculum for pre-allied health professionals within KHE, providing both theoretical content and practical experiences in a number of Specializations. She is a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, and serves on the Editorial Board for the ACSM Health & Fitness Journal. She has been a fitness editor for Shape magazine and a 5-star speaker for IDEA, presenting extensively at both national and international conferences.

Mary Steinhardt 

Mary Steinhardt joined the Provost's Teaching Fellows program as a Senior Fellow and has contributed as a leading member of the New Faculty Symposium Committee for many years. She continues to participate in the New Faculty Symposium, Eyes on Teaching, and monthly meetings.

Jeremi Suri