Eleven faculty members from the College of Education have earned promotions for the 2026-27 academic year. These dedicated educators and researchers have made countless contributions to the college and University.
Their work advances COE’s mission and values, while also strengthening the school’s community through world-class research, student mentorship and meaningful influence on education, health and sport in Texas and beyond.
Educational Psychology
Patricia Chen has been promoted to associate professor. In her research, she studies mindsets and behaviors that motivate learning, performance and well-being and develops psychologically precise, scalable interventions that empower people to adopt these behaviors in their learning, work and lives.
Erin Rodríguez has been promoted to professor. She studies family, sociocultural and contextual influences on children’s development and health outcomes, with a focus on understanding and reducing health disparities affecting lower-income Latinx youth.
Kinesiology and Health Education
Keryn Pasch has been promoted to professor. Her research focuses on the influence of marketing of unhealthy products such as tobacco, alcohol, food and beverages and explores how risk behaviors such as substance abuse may co-occur among youth and young adults.
Charles Stocking has been promoted to professor. He specializes in the history and philosophy of the body, sport and physical culture from ancient Greece to the present and has authored several books on the relationship between ancient and modern sport.
Nicole McLagan has been promoted to associate professor of practice. Her doctoral research involving the biomechanics of walking and running. She works with the Fitness Institute of Texas—which serves The University of Texas at Austin and the general public, as well as enhancing the education of UT students—conducting gait analysis for local runners.
Tolga Ozyurtcu has been promoted to professor of instruction. His classes focus on the management of sport organizations, media and public relations in sport, and the historical, philosophical and ethical aspects of sport and physical activity.
Special Education
Jessica Toste has been promoted to professor. Her research focuses on methods for intensifying intervention for students with persistent reading challenges and reading disabilities. Toste is also the principal investigator on numerous research grants.
Educational Leadership and Policy
Rachel White has been promoted to associate professor. Her research examines issues of power and voice in education policymaking and implementation processes. Her current work focuses on superintendent labor markets, mobility and attrition.
Justin Samuel has been promoted to associate professor of practice. His research interests include college student identity development, personal branding for student leaders, and work-life integration for student affairs administrators.
Curriculum and Instruction
Desiree Pallais-Downing has been promoted to associate professor of instruction. She specializes in second language acquisition, Spanish literacy development, science of reading techniques, and teaching methodologies with prospective bilingual teachers.
