Doctoral Conferral Ceremony Spring 2026 Commencement
CARLOS ALVAREZ COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Stephany Castruita
PhD in Marketing
Major Professor: Richard Gretz, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Digital Disruption and Strategic Recovery: Essays on Innovation, Messaging, and Financial Outcomes in the Entertainment Industry”
Andrea Dawn Faulkner
PhD in Accounting
Major Professor: Harrison Liu, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Do ESG Controversies Influence Tax Behavior? A Comparison of Community and Non-Community Banks”
Celeste Diaz Ferraro
PhD in Management and Organization Studies
Major Professor: Arkangel Cordero, PhD; Alexander Lewis, PhD
“The Construction of Nested Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Place, Race and Class in San Antonio's Entrepreneurial Infrastructure”
Trevor A. Fitzgerald
PhD in Management and Organization Studies
Major Professor: Arkangel Cordero, PhD; Stephen Schwab, PhD
Dissertation Title: “The Dynamics Of Learning And Forgetting: Memory, Context, and Performance”
COLLEGE OF AI, CYBER AND COMPUTING
Aya Ameer
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professor: Nishant Vishwamitra, PhD
Dissertation Title: “From Search Engines to AI Overviews: A Comparative Study of Web Content Discovery”
Shen Chang
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professor: Charles Liu, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Exploring Governance in Online Knowledge Communities: Structural Inequality, Governance Mode, and Community Outcomes on Stack Overflow”
James Ford
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professor: Anthony Rios, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Generative AI for Data Visualization: Generation, Evaluation, and Agentic Refinement”
*Candidates who will graduate in August 2026. All other candidates are expected to meet their requirements in May 2026.
Doctor of Philosophy Degrees
Đorđe Klisura
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professor: Anthony Rios, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Enhancing Security and Fairness in Large Language Models for Privacy and Data-Regulated Applications”
Shalini Kapali Kurumathur
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professor: H. Raghav Rao, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Understanding Polarization on Social Media in the Context of Vigilantism: A Multi-Essay Computational Study”
Velu Chellam Pillai
PhD in Computer Engineering
Major Professor: Eugene John, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Ultra-Low-Power Edge-Optimized Weightless Neural Networks for Cardiac Rhythm and Stroke Volume Monitoring ”
Patrick Stockton
PhD in Computer Engineering
Major Professor: Eugene John, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Acceleration of Emerging Neuro-Symbolic A.I. Workloads with Enhanced GPU Core Architecture Utilization”
Qian Wang
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professor: Rohit Valecha, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Investigation of Social Media Engagement in the Context of Generative Artificial Intelligence”
Tongnian Wang
PhD in Information Technology
Major Professors: Richard Guo, PhD (chair), Raymond Choo, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “From Real-World Data to High-Stakes Decisions: Responsible and Human-Centered AI for Healthcare”
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Esmeralda Alday
Degree: Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Juan Nino, PhD (chair), Kathryn Henderson, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “Leading in Nepantla: Transformational District Leadership for Culturally Sustaining Bilingual Dual Language Education”
*Candidates who will graduate in August 2026. All other candidates are expected to meet their requirements in May 2026.
Melina Dauto Benavidez
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Claudia García-Louis, PhD
Doctor of Philosophy Degrees
Dissertation Title: “Navigating Place, Pathways, and Professional Identity: Latinas from Texas Community Colleges in Graduate and Professional Health Sciences Programs”
Laura Kay Burns
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Betty Merchant, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Educator Perceptions Regarding the Presence of Uncertified Teachers in Rural Southern Texas Campuses”
Suzanne Byrne
Degree: Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Major Professor: Kathy Ewoldt, PhD (chair), Iliana Alanis, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “Preference for Eye Gaze or Pointing Cues in Young Children with Autism When Responding to Bids for Joint Attention”
Saul Lee Cepeda
Degree: PhD in Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Major Professor: Ann Marie Ryan, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Addressing Middle Grades Latino/A Students’ Opportunity Gaps in Science: A Case Study in Implementing Project-Based Learning”
Kalia Joy Glover
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Claudia García-Louis, PhD
Dissertation Title: “‘Okay, B*tch…I’m Affirming Myself!’: Agency and Belonging of Black Queer Femme Students”
Ana Laura Herrera
Degree: Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Curtis Brewer, PhD (chair), Mariela Rodriguez, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “Latina Principals: The Newfound STEM leaders on La Frontera”
Monica Olivia Herrera
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Betty Merchant, PhD (chair), Dr. Nathern Okilwa, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “Resilience and Coping Mechanisms in Rural South Texas, Doctoral Students”
Nicanora C. Martinez
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Mariela Rodriguez, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Voices of Resistance: Latina Principals' Testimonios and Equity Driven Leadership” *Candidates
Doctor of Philosophy Degrees
Michael Cabantac Mauricio
Degree: Culture, Language and Literacy
Major Professor: Jorge Solis, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Helping Learners Develop ‘Into Full Bilingual Students… With True Bilingual Power’: Professional Development and Identity Negotiation of Highly Experienced STEM Teachers”
Cynthia G. Meca
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Curtis Brewer, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Narratives of Hispanic/Latinx Tenured Faculty Parent's Experiences”
Melissa Olivarez-Metzger
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Juan Manuel Niño, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Teaching for Equity: Educators’ Experiences Supporting Emergent Bilingual Students ”
Shannon Dawn Rios
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Curtis Brewer, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Stories from the Trenches: Academic Advisors Making Sense of Their Work in the Context of the Devaluation of Helping Professions”
Jerry Romero Jr.
Degree: PhD in Culture, Literacy and Language
Major Professor: Bedrettin Yazan, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Semiotics and Discourses of Erasure: Necropolitics, Transmisogyny, and the Violent Symbolic Marking of Trans and Queer Embodiments”
Rita Rosales-Alvarez
Degree: PhD inEducational Leadership
Major Professor: Juan Niño, PhD
Dissertation Title: "Testimonios de Carino: Latinx Parents, Educational Support, and the Impact of Cultural Climate"
Andrea Correa Sagemuehl
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Mariela Rodriguez, PhD (chair), Betty Merchant, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “An Autoethnographic Exploration of Knowledge, Nourishment and the Introspective Healing Journey of a Trauma-Informed Administrator”
Gabriela Emma Sanchez Killorin
Degree: PhD in Culture, Literacy, and Language
Major Professor: Howard Smith, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Phenomenological Interviews: Uncovering STEM Experiences of Latina Adolescents”
*Candidates
Xavier Santos
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Alonzo Flowers, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Overcoming Barriers: The Financial and Social Challenges of FirstGeneration Latino Men in Higher Education”
Michael Andrew Silvas
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Curtis Brewer, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Does Geographic District Typology Matter When Disciplinary Exclusion Is a Practice: An Investigation into Space and Place”
Michel Lee Torres
Degree: Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Betty Merchant, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Testimonios of Latina Mami Leaders: Navigating Leadership and Motherhood in K-12 Education”
Michelle Hernandez Torres
Degree: PhD in Educational Leadership
Major Professor: Gilberto P. Lara, PhD and Joel Alejandro Mejía, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Funds of Knowledge and Community Cultural Wealth in Two Separate Dual Language Bilingual Education Classrooms in South Central Texas: A Three Essay Dissertation”
Michael J. Zawatski
Degree: PhD in Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching
Major Professor: Timothy Yuen, PhD (chair), Karina Vielma, PhD (co-chair)
Dissertation Title: “Leveraging Large Language Models to Reduce Redundancy and Improve Efficiency in Online Learning”
COLLEGE FOR HEALTH, COMMUNITY AND POLICY
Brandon Scott Perez
PhD in Psychology
Major Professor: Ephrem Fernandez, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Cognitive Behavioral Affective Therapy (CBAT) for Anger in a Community Sample: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
Drew Scott Schaefer
PhD in Applied Demography
Major Professor: Jeralynn S. Cossman, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Trends in County-Level Working-Age Life Expectancy: The Role of Sex and Education”
*Candidates who will graduate in August 2026. All other candidates are expected to meet their requirements in May 2026.
Doctor of Philosophy Degrees
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS
Carolina Melissa Hinojosa
PhD in English
Major Professor: Kenneth Walker, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Nopaliando: An(Other) Opening into Rhetoric’s Ecologies”
Daniel Rodríguez Osorio
PhD in Anthropology
Major Professor: Steve B. Kosiba, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Stone Infrastructure, Labor Coordination, and the Making of NonCentralized Urbanism in Betoma, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta”
Victorria Simpson
PhD in English
Major Professor: Kimberly Garza, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Restorative Archives of Being: Rereading 20th- and 21st-Century U.S. Black Women’s Texts Against Medical Racism, Institutional Racism, and the Grammar of Whiteness”
COLLEGE OF SCIENCES
Nawal Abdu-Baki
PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Major Professor: Chiung-Yu Hung, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Discovering the Immunosuppressive Role of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell-like Neutrophils in Valley Fever”
Sadi Ayhan
PhD in Physics
Major Professor: Andrey Chabanov, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Engineered Metamaterials with Phase-Change and Magnetic Components for Free-Space Microwave Applications”
Uchit Bhaskar
PhD in Neuroscience
Major Professor: Melanie Carless, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Written in the Stars: DNA Methylation Landscapes of Astrocytes in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease”
Amanda Brenner
PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Major Professor: Rahul Raghavan, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Evolution of Pathogenesis and Symbiosis in Coxiella”
*Candidates who will graduate in August 2026. All other candidates are expected to meet their requirements in May 2026.
Omar Castillo
PhD in Physics
Major Professor: Lorenzo Brancaleon, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Investigations of the Properties of Modified Porphyrin Conjugates”
Guna Karki
PhD in Chemistry
Major Professor: Waldemar Gorski, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors for Biologically Important Molecules”
Zachary Lucio
PhD in Chemistry
Major Professor: Waldemar Gorski, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Electrochemical Assays and Materials for the Detection of Human Disease Markers”
MARGIE AND BILL KLESSE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND INTEGRATED DESIGN
*Ashley Victoria Aguilar
PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering
Major Professor: Saugata Datta, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Arsenic and Fluoride Investigations of Groundwater and Soil Within the Independence Basin Aquifer System, Mexico”
Rafid Mohammed Hadi Al Janahi
PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Major Professor: HungDa Wan, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Development and Validation of Fitness to Takt Time as a Demand-Aligned Stochastic Performance Framework for Manufacturing Systems”
Angelina Andrade
PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Major Professor: Christopher Combs, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Investigation of WakeFlow Behavior Behind a Sphere in a Hypersonic Flow”
Lingjuan Chen
PhD in Electrical Engineering
Major Professor: Chunjiang Qian, PhD
Dissertation Title: “From Neural Network Control to Cyber-Physical Systems: Efficient Resilience Assessment Methods”
Subbulakshmi Easwaran
PhD in Electrical Engineering
Major Professor: Mehdi Shadaram, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Hybrid Machine Learning Model for Efficient Elastic Optical Networks”
*Candidates who will graduate in August 2026. All other candidates are expected to meet their requirements in May 2026.
Doctor of Philosophy Degrees
Sean Garnsey
PhD in Electrical Engineering
Major Professor: Ruyan Guo, PhD and Amar S. Bhalla, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Reactive Inkjet Printing of Nanostructured Metal Oxide Microelectronics”
Amanda Nicole Gomez
PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Major Professor: Gabriela Romero Uribe, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Wireless Magnetomechanical Modulation of Cortical Neurons”
Adam Hooker
PhD in Electrical Engineering
Major Professor: Raymond Choo, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Understanding and Defending Against User-generated Adversarial Content in Emerging Social Media Platforms”
Umar Jamil
PhD in Electrical Engineering
Major Professor: Yufang Jin, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Applications of Deep Learning to Intelligent Transportation and Energy Systems”
Haoming Qin
PhD in Civil Engineering
Major Professor: Esteban Lopez Ochoa, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Heat Exposure and Human Mobility: Predictability, Inequality, and Diversity”
Islam Radwan
PhD in Civil Engineering
Major Professor: Samer Dessouky, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Sustainable Cool Pavement with The Integration of Organic Phase Change Material in Rigid Concrete Pavement for Urban Heat Island Mitigation”
*Salman Sakib
PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering
Major Professor: Judith Haschenburger, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Understanding Vertical Exchange Processes in Mixed-Size Riverbeds”
David Zhenyang Zhang
PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Major Professor: Maria Gonzalez Porras, PhD
Dissertation Title: “Thermogenic Modulation of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Using Lipid Coated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles”
*Candidates who will graduate in August 2026. All other candidates are expected to meet their requirements in May 2026.
University Leadership
Taylor Eighmy, PhD President
President’s Cabinet
Heather Adkins, MS
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Lisa Campos, EdD
Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and Athletics Director
Francisco Cigarroa, MD
Senior Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Health System
Kathryn E. Keeton, PhD
Vice President for Presidential Initiatives and Chief of Staff
Andrea Marks, MBA, CPA
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Carlos Martinez, MS, JD
Senior Vice President for Governmental Relations
Karl Miller-Lugo, MBA
Senior Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement
Jennifer Milton, MBA, BSN
Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Senior Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Health System
Hailey Mullican, JD
Vice President for Legal Affairs and Chief Legal Officer
Jennifer Sharpe Potter, PhD
Senior Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation
Heather Shipley, PhD
Provost and Senior Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
College Leadership
Eric Brey, PhD
Dean, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
Lynne Cossman, PhD
Dean, College for Health, Community and Policy
Jill Fleuriet, PhD
Vice Provost for Honors Education
Jonathon Halbesleben, PhD
Dean, Carlos Alvarez College of Business
Jinjun Xiong, PhD
Dean, College of AI, Cyber and Computing
Glenn Martínez, PhD
Dean, College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Jianwei Niu, PhD
Dean, University College
Stephanie Santorico, PhD
Dean, College of Sciences
Mario Torres, PhD
Dean, College of Education and Human Development
Heather Trepal, PhD
Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Dean of the Graduate School
