College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences employees earn reappointment, promotions and tenure

September 22, 2025
Categories: News
CHESS faculty members posing in front of a green Charlotte logo with Dean Chris Boyer in the middle.

Congratulations to the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences employees with new titles and positions for 2025-26.

Associate Professor of Sociology Kendra Jason, Ph.D., is serving as interim chair of the department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Health and Human Services. She will lead efforts to further establish the department which was formed in 2024.

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Maisha Cooper, Ph.D., Criminal Justice and Criminology
Justin Grandinetti, Ph.D., Communication Studies
Michael Ewers, Ph.D., Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences
Dan Du, Ph.D., History
Javier García León, Ph.D., Languages, Cultures and Translation
Benjamin Radford, Ph.D., Political Science and Public Administration
Barbara Thiede, Ph.D., Religious Studies
Anne-Kathrin Kronberg, Ph.D., Sociology

Ana-Isabel Aliaga-Buchenau taking a picture of Christopher Mellinger posing in front of his promotion sign.
Anabel Aliaga-Buchenau, professor and chair of the Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation takes a picture of Christopher Mellinger, who has been promoted to full professor.
Noha Ghali poses in front of a table with a green table cloth. Her promotion sign is sitting on top with a picture of her research.
Noha Ghali celebrates her promotion to teaching professor.

Promotion to Full Professor

Nicole Peterson, Ph.D., Anthropology
Matthew Eastin, Ph.D., Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences
David Johnson, Ph.D., History
David Dalton, Ph.D., Languages, Cultures and Translation
Chris Mellinger, Ph.D., Languages, Cultures and Translation
Anton Pujol, Ph.D., Languages, Cultures and Translation
Mónica Rodríguez-Castro, Ph.D., Languages, Cultures and Translation
Yang Cao, Ph.D., Sociology

Honore Missihoun smiling at the promotion event.
Honore Missihoun celebrating his promotion to associate teaching professor.
Ryan Kilmer, Dean Chris Boyer, and Erin Godly-Reynolds, pose at a standing table.
Ryan Kilmer, professor and chair of the Department of Psychological Science, and Dean Chris Boyer pose with Erin Godly-Reynolds, who has been promoted to associate teaching professor.

Promotion to Associate Teaching Professor

Honore Missihoun, Ph.D., Africana Studies
Valerie Reynolds, Ph.D., Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences
Erin Godly-Reynolds, Ph.D., Psychological Science
Stephanie Bradley, Ph.D., Sociology
Aaron Kashtan, Ph.D., Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies

Promotion to Teaching Professor

Sayde Brais, Ph.D., Communication Studies
Noha Ghali, Ph.D., Languages, Cultures and Translation

Ten of the newly promoted faculty members pose in front of the UNC Charlotte logo with Dean Chris Boyer in the middle. Most are doing the UNC Charlotte pickaxe sign with their hands.