LEXINGTON, Va., Sept. 7, 2018—Brig. Gen. Robert Moreschi, deputy superintendent for academics and dean of the faculty, has announced the promotion and granting of tenure to several members of the VMI faculty.

In the Department of International Studies and Political Science, two members of the faculty were promoted, and one was promoted and granted tenure.

Ryan Holston and Howard Sanborn were both promoted to the academic rank of professor and the military rank of colonel. Holston, who earned his doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University, has taught at VMI since 2009. He teaches courses in political theory, American political thought, constitutional theory, and philosophy of law, among other topics. Sanborn teaches courses in comparative politics-East Asia, American politics, and political methodology. He earned his doctorate at the University of Iowa and has taught at VMI since 2008.

Also in the Department of International Studies and Political Science, Patrick Rhamey has been promoted associate professor and to lieutenant colonel, and has been granted tenure. He holds a doctorate from the University of Arizona and has taught at VMI since 2012. He teaches a course in introductory political science and another in regional politics and powers.

In the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Chhanda Samata has been promoted to professor and to colonel. She has a doctorate from the University of Maryland and teaches courses in general physics, nuclear physics, and radiation detection. Samata has taught at VMI since 2013.

In the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, Dr. Reshef Agam-Segal has been promoted to associate professor and has been granted tenure. A philosophy specialist with extensive knowledge of Wittgenstein, he has taught at VMI since 2012. He earned his doctorate at the University of Oxford, U.K.

Brad Coleman ’95 has been promoted to professor and to colonel in the Department of History and has been granted tenure. Coleman, who is director of the John A. Adams ’71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis, came back to VMI to teach in 2012. His doctorate is from the University of Georgia.

Also in the history department, M. Houston Johnson V has been promoted to associate professor and to lieutenant colonel and has been granted tenure. He specializes in military aviation history and earned his doctorate at the University of Tennessee.

Jessica Libertini has been promoted to associate professor and to lieutenant colonel in the Department of Applied Mathematics and has been granted tenure. She teaches courses in mathematical modeling and earned her doctorate at Brown University.

In the Department of Economics and Business, Dr. Dekuwmini Mornah has been promoted to associate professor and has been granted tenure. He teaches courses in public choice, international economics, and applied econometrics. He holds a doctorate from the University of Mississippi.

Promotions became effective Aug. 1, 2018; tenure will become effective Aug. 1, 2019.

-VMI-