Since the summer of 2022, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign welcomed 44 new and reclassified faculty members, its largest cohort of new faculty in living memory. Seven more have accepted offers and will start in the new year.  

The faculty joined all of ACES’ academic departments, with titles ranging from adjunct instructor to assistant professor. The hiring frenzy reflects an enrollment boom in ACES and across campus.  

“We are thrilled to welcome this class of new faculty to the ACES family,” said ACES Dean Germán Bollero. “They are joining hundreds of top-ranked educators in ACES who are committed to training the next generation of leaders with research-based information and hands-on experiences.”

New faculty by department

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, part of ACES and The Grainger College of Engineering. 

• Luciano Alves de Oliveira, Assistant Professor
• Travis Johnson, Instructor
• Amir Malvandi, Assistant Professor
• John Reid, Research Professor in Computer Science and ABE
• Sunoj Shajahan, Assistant Professor

Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics

• Meredith Blumthal, Instructor and Director of Food and Agribusiness Management
• Ailie Elmore, Instructor
• Andrew Hultgren, Assistant Professor
• Maria Kalaitzandonakes, Assistant Professor
• Sarah Low, Professor and Department Head
• Gerald Mashange, Assistant Professor
• Tapiwa Sigauke, Teaching Assistant Professor
• Marin Skidmore, Assistant Professor
• Becca Taylor, Assistant Professor
• Mark White, Clinical Associate Professor  

Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications

• Pam Axtman-Barker, Instructor
• Colby Gregg, Visiting Teaching Assistant Professor

Department of Animal Sciences

• Tiago Bresolin, Assistant Professor
• Caroline Downey, Instructor
• Megan Glowacz, Instructor
• Patricia Oba, Research Assistant Professor
• Michael Robben, Assistant Professor
• Alicia Schneider, Instructor
• Camila Urbano Braz, Assistant Professor

Department of Crop Sciences

• Gevan Behnke, Lecturer
• Boris Camiletti, Assistant Professor
• Elhan Ersoz, Clinical Assistant Professor
• Jack McCoy, Lecturer
• Eliana Monteverde Dominguez, Assistant Professor
• Bin Peng, Assistant Professor
• Giovani Preza Fontes, Assistant Professor
• Amit Rai, Assistant Professor
• Nicholas Seiter, Assistant Professor (formerly Research Assistant Professor)

Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition

• Claudia Asensio, Research Assistant Professor
• Jennifer Burton, Instructor and Director of the Online MS in Clinical & Community Nutrition
• Saima Hasnin, Assistant Professor
• Krystal Hodge, Assistant Professor
• Braulio Macias Rodriguez, Assistant Professor
• Oguz Kaan Ozturk, Assistant Professor
• Carter Phillips, Instructor and Assistant Director of Bevier Cafe
• Damir Torrico, Assistant Professor
• Hazal Turasan Ozturk, Teaching Assistant Professor
• Xu Changmou, Assistant Professor

Department of Human Development and Family Studies

• Emily Hurth, Instructor
• Elissa Mitchell, Associate Teaching Professor
• Adrienne Shockley, Instructor

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

• Clark Dennis, Adjunct Instructor
• Samuel Stickley, Teaching Assistant Professor
• Carmen Ugarte, Assistant Professor (formerly Research Assistant Professor)
• Benjamin Van Doren, Assistant Professor
• Chloe Wardropper, Assistant Professor