UC Irvine adds 86 to its faculty ranks

New full professors include scholars ranging from humanities to medicine

From a polar ice sheet specialist to a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, UC Irvine strengthened its academic ranks by hiring 86 professors within the last year.

“Over the past year we have brought in recognized scholars in all academic fields,” said Herbert Killackey, vice provost for academic personnel and professor of neurobiology and behavior. “As the campus grows, we continue to attract more top faculty and improve our top-notch academic programs.”

The School of Humanities, School of Physical Sciences and School of Social Sciences added the most faculty members with 17, 12 and 11, respectively. Full professors, listed by academic unit, who joined the UCI faculty since October 2006 include:

School of Biological Sciences

Hans Ulrich Bernard, professor of molecular biology & biochemistry, conducts research on pathogenesis – the origin and development of diseases – and is an expert on the human papillomavirus gene expression. Bernard holds a joint appointment with the Program in Public Health in the College of Health Sciences.

Department of Education

Margaret Burchinal, professor of education, researches child care practices as a statistician. She is particularly interested in how early education programs for at-risk students improves school readiness. Burchinal has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has served on several research panels, including committees for the National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Sciences.

The Henry Samueli School of Engineering

Arnold Swindlehurst, professor of electrical & computer engineering, improves wireless communications technology through this research. Swindlehurst previously served as vice president of research at ArrayComm, a wireless communications software company based in San Jose, Calif. He is a fellow at the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

School of Humanities

Ackbar Abbas, professor of comparative literature, known best for his 1997 book Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance, is an East Asian postcolonial scholar. Abbas’ recent academic research is on modern Chinese paintings, photography, cinema, fashion and architecture.

Ronald Carlson, professor of English, is director of UC Irvine’s MFA fiction writing program. Carlson’s short stories have been published in Esquire, Harper’s, The New Yorker and Gentlemen’s Quarterly. He is the author of nine fiction books and his latest work, Ron Carlson Writes a Story, guides readers step-by-step through the process of writing a work of fiction.

Richard Godden, professor of English, researches 20th century American literature and has a particular interest in work by William Faulkner. Godden won the Arthur Miller Prize for a published essay in American studies in 1998 for his piece, “Maximizing the Noodles: Class, Memory and Capital in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America.”

John Miles, Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies, is best known for his 1996 Pulitzer Prize-winning book God: A Biography. Miles, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, was an editor at Doubleday, executive editor at the University of California Press and literary editor at the Los Angeles Times. His writings have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Sara Castro-Klaren, professor and chair of UCI’s Department of Spanish & Portuguese, studies Latin American literature. Klaren has served as director of the Hispanic Division at the Library of Congress, and is finishing two books on colonial authors in Peru and Brazil.

School of Medicine

Virginia Kimonis, professor of pediatrics, researches genetic defects that cause muscle and bone disease. Kimonis, formerly a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, also serves as chief of the human genetics and metabolism unit in the UCI School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics.

School of Physical Sciences

Eric Rignot, professor of Earth system science, is a climate expert and uses remote sensing to track changes in the polar ice sheets. Rignot’s work led to the finding that ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland are retreating at a rapid pace. Prior to coming to UCI, Rignot was a senior scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

School of Social Ecology

David Feldman, professor of planning, policy & design, researches environmental policy. Specifically, he is interested in water resources management, global climate change and resource disputes. Feldman currently is examining the growth of the democratic society and environmental reform in Russia.

School of Social Sciences

Deborah Avant, professor of political science, is an expert on civil-military relations and the politics of controlling violence. Avant serves as director of UCI’s International Studies Program, and recently published The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security.

Previously announced faculty hires

College of Health Sciences: Ellen Olshansky

School of Medicine: David Bailey

Complete list of new faculty appointments (PDF)

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Last Updated: July 3, 2008

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