Election for Faculty Council: Assistant Professors, Instructors, and Non-Tenured Faculty

I have served on the Faculty Council for the past two years, contributing to committees focused on research policy, faculty advocacy, and the quantitative reasoning flag. As an Assistant Professor in Surgery and Perioperative Care, my research centers on improving equity in kidney and pancreas transplantation, with a focus on historically underserved populations. My experience on the Council has deepened my commitment to faculty governance, and I would be honored to continue advocating for policies that support faculty, enhance education and teaching, deepen research relationships across campus, and promote equitable access to resources.

I am currently the Operational Director for the Cancer Center Cancer Prevention and Control Program within Dell Medical School. I am also going to begin serving as the Interim Associate Chair of Research for the Department of Population Health. I have served on various institutional councils and committees at another medical school and feel that I am effective at advocating for other faculty and contributing my knowledge and experience to help strengthen the faculty experience.

I joined UT as an Assistant Professor of Classics in Fall 2020. I am interested in serving on Faculty Council in order to represent the concerns of COLA faculty and students. I was very active at a previous institution’s faculty council and currently serve on various committees and caucuses for my discipline’s national organization. I believe faculty governance is key to a thriving university. My bio and research interests can be found here: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/classics/faculty/nc26397

I am an Asst. Prof. of Instruction in the Biology Instructional Office and I've been on Faculty Council since 2024. I believe the ideal of shared governance is embedded in our identities as faculty at UT, but it is not self-sustaining - we must embody and defend it. My role is to foster two-way communication between my Assistant & Professional-Track colleagues and Faculty Council. As part of FC I also serve on the C-4 Educational Policy Committee. I serve on Faculty Council to help make decisions that improve student and faculty experiences, to listen to and represent my constituents, and to make a contribution to shared governance.

I am a Clinical Professor in Texas Law’s Capital Punishment Clinic and have been part of the UT Law clinical faculty for 19 years. My relationship to the university dates back to the 1980s, when I graduated from the Plan II program. Prior to joining the faculty, I helped found and subsequently directed a non-profit organization that assists indigent defendants facing capital punishment. I have served on a variety of law school faculty committees, I currently serve on the Experiential Education Committee. I am a proud alum and faculty member who believes that UT Austin’s excellence stems from the wide array of opportunities to learn from faculty who are passionate about what they do. Academic freedom and a commitment to nurturing research, scholarship, and experiential learning are critical to maintaining UT Austin’s status as a leading public university and a great place to teach and learn.

I am an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Computer Science.
Currently, I serve in the C-10 Recruitment and Retention Committee due to my
interest in supporting underrepresented students. In a previous assignment, at
another university, I served as Director of Student Recruitment in the Computer
Science (CS) Department, which gave me a seat in the department's Executive
Committee. This experience was very informative for me as a member of the faculty.

Dr. Arvind Ravikumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and the co-Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Systems Analysis at UT Austin. He leads a team of 20 graduate students and staff conducting research on greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. energy supply chains. Dr. Ravikumar teaches interdisciplinary technology courses that attract students from multiple colleges. He has extensive experience in faculty governance, having served on the Council of the Princeton University Community, as well as on several federal and state advisory committees. As someone who has been both a professional-track and tenure-track faculty member, he is committed to strengthening shared governance, advocating for faculty interests, and ensuring that university policies uphold academic freedom and professional growth.

I am a faculty member with experience in instructional, administrative 
and research roles, committed to fostering academic excellence and 
institutional growth. My teaching focuses on computer and data science, 
and I have actively contributed to curriculum development and student 
mentorship. Administratively, I have served on multiple committees at 
Boston University before I joined UT Austin, where I collaborated on 
policy-making and faculty support initiatives. I am interested in 
serving on the faculty council to further enhance faculty governance, 
ensuring diverse representation and effective decision-making.