Two UT Dallas professors earn consideration for tenure

Two University of Texas Dallas alumni recently were placed on the tenure track with the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at UT Dallas.

Sheel Dodani is an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. She earned her bachelor's in chemistry in 2007 from UT Dallas. She went to the University of California, Berkeley for her Ph.D. in 2013 and finished her postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology.

Russell Stoneback is now an assistant professor in physics. He went to the University of Texas for his bachelor’s and UT Dallas for graduate studies, where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in 2006 and 2009. Before joining UT Dallas as a faculty member, he worked at the Hanson Center for Space Sciences.

“It’s a testament to our faculty and our campus resources that students who trained here now want to be a part of the faculty, conduct research and contribute to the education of a new generation of students,” Dean Bruce Novak said.

There are six departments -- geosciences, biological sciences, mathematical sciences, chemistry and biochemistry, and math and science education -- in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The university recently built the new Bioengineering and Sciences Building.

“This is a remarkable facility, specifically designed for encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration,” Novak said. “The building only recently opened and already new research partnerships are forming. It’s an exciting time for our faculty, postdocs and students.”