InfoSci Celebrates Faculty and Staff Excellence, Announces Five Faculty Promotions
As the Spring 2026 semester came to a close, the University of Arizona College of Information Science (InfoSci) celebrated the people whose work helps drive the college forward. Through its annual faculty and staff awards and faculty promotion announcements, InfoSci recognized excellence in teaching, research, service, instruction and administrative support while honoring five faculty members who have earned promotion.
“Our faculty and staff shape the college in meaningful ways every day,” says Interim Dean Catherine Brooks. “These awards and promotions are an opportunity to recognize their achievements and thank them for the impact they have on our students, colleagues and broader community.”
Faculty Excellence Awards
Faculty Excellence Awards are selected through a faculty peer-review process based on annual performance materials and are reserved for core faculty members, including professors of practice and tenure-track or tenured faculty.
Faculty Excellence in Teaching Awards
- Berlin Loa, Associate Professor of Practice and Manager of Knowledge River Scholars Program
- Heidi Calhoun-Lopez, Assistant Professor of Practice
Berlin Loa, Associate Professor of Practice and Manager of Knowledge River Scholars Program, and Heidi Calhoun-Lopez, Assistant Professor of Practice.
Faculty Excellence in Research Awards
- Xiao Hu, Associate Professor
- Shengjie Xu, Assistant Professor
Xiao Hu, Associate Professor, and Shengjie Xu, Assistant Professor.
Faculty Excellence in Service Awards
- Jialu Li, Assistant Professor
- Paul Wagner, Professor of Practice and Director of Workforce Development, Arizona Cybersecurity Academy
Jialu Li, Assistant Professor, and Paul Wagner, Professor of Practice and Director of Workforce Development, Arizona Cybersecurity Academy.
Instructional Excellence Awards
Instructional Excellence Awards recognize outstanding lecturers across the college. Recipients are selected by the Lecturer Peer Review Committee, with support from the college’s faculty affairs leadership team, based on annual performance materials.
This year’s recipients are:
- Drew Castalia, Lecturer
- Ryan Rucker, Lecturer
- Christine Walsh, Lecturer
Lecturers Drew Castalia, Ryan Rucker and Christine Walsh.
Administrative Staff Excellence Awards
Kevin Carton, Manager of Global and International Programs.
InfoSci also celebrated its Administrative Staff Excellence Award recipients during the annual administrative staff luncheon. The awards recognize staff members who foster an inclusive environment, demonstrate leadership and initiative, and help facilitate meaningful connections and the exchange of ideas across the college. Nominations are submitted by colleagues from throughout the college and recipients were selected based on strong support from their peers, with reviews conducted by a subset of the college leadership team.
This year’s recipients are:
- Beth King, Retention Specialist
- Max Bracamonte, Digital Content Specialist (now Social Media Manager)
- Mandy Davidson, Admissions Counselor II (Graduate Admissions)
- Kevin Carton, Manager of Global and International Programs
- Priscilla Morales, Administrative Associate
2026 Administrative Staff Excellence Award winners (from left to right) Max Bracamonte, Priscilla Morales, Mandy Davidson, and Beth King, with Interim Dean Catherine Brooks. (Award-winner Kevin Carton not pictured.)
Photo by Michael McKisson.
Faculty Promotions
The college also recognized five faculty members who earned promotion, effective July 1, 2026:
Jamie A. Lee, Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.
Jamie A. Lee Promoted to Professor with Tenure
Dr. Jamie A. Lee, associate dean of faculty affairs, co-founded and directs co/lab: The Critical Archives & Curation Collaborative and DS|OH: Digital Storytelling and Oral History Lab. Their work explores archives, community-engaged research and multimodal storytelling, examining how archives shape embodied knowledge and public memory.
Zack Lischer-Katz, Associate Professor.
Zack Lischer-Katz Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure
Dr. Zack Lischer-Katz, an interdisciplinary information studies researcher, brings phenomenological, historical and cultural perspectives to the study of archiving, curation, visual media formats and visual knowledge production.
Michael McKisson, Professor of Practice and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
Michael McKisson Promoted to Professor of Practice
Michael McKisson, associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs, is an award-winning visual journalist and educator who works with students on uncrewed aerial vehicle data collection, visual storytelling, product development, senior capstone projects and entrepreneurship.
Dan Charbonneau, Associate Professor of Practice.
Dan Charbonneau Promoted to Associate Professor of Practice
Dr. Dan Charbonneau is a behavioral ecologist who studies social insect behavior and applies expertise in biostatistics, computer vision, object tracking, data engineering and data science to biological questions. His research examines how groups function and succeed through the interactions of their individual members.
Meaghan Wetherell, Associate Professor of Practice.
Meaghan Wetherell Promoted to Associate Professor of Practice
Dr. Meaghan Wetherell’s research focuses on the spatiotemporal drivers of extinction and diversification in mammals. She teaches courses in R, statistics, data visualization, educational game design and science communication, and also contributes science content for PBS, National Geographic and media platforms.
Please join the College of Information Science in congratulating all award recipients and newly promoted faculty members!