Our People

Peiwei Li

Assistant Professor

GH 569
859-572-6408
lip1@nku.edu

Tony Burk, M.B.A.

Visiting Associate Teaching Professor

GH 567
859-572-7938
burka@nku.edu

Personal

I am a native of Kenton County, Kentucky. I am married and live now northeast of Cincinnati. I enjoy learning and using new IT technologies and spending time with our grandchildren.

Academic

I have over 40 years of information system and information technology work experience including having worked for HP as a Technology Consultant and for software vendor, Cincom Systems, in Product Support.

I obtained my MBA from Xavier University in 1975. I have been at NKU as a full time lecturer since August 2012 and as an adjunct instructor since January 1979.

Ali Balapour

Assistant Professor

GH 471
859-572-5161
balapoura1@nku.edu

Rupesh Agrawal, Ph. D.

Assistant Professor
Director, MHI

GH 455
859-572-7761
agrawalr1@nku.edu

Brad Metzger, M.S.

Visiting Associate Teaching Professor

GH 429
859-572-1919
metzgerb2@nku.edu

I am a native of northern Ohio (I still root for Cleveland sports teams) but have lived in the Cincinnati area for over 35 years. I am married and have four adult children (and one granddaughter). I earned my MS in Operations Research from Georgia Tech. Prior to joining the faculty at NKU I spent 30+ years in Business Intelligence at P&G with experience in data analysis and visualization, system development, operations management, and project management. I have taught Business Analytics courses at NKU since 2015 (with a break in 2019-20 to teach at Miami University). While working at P&G I was also an Adjunct Instructor of Quantitative Analysis at UC’s College of Business. I enjoy bringing my business experience into the classroom.

Kalyani Ankem, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

GH 418
859-572-1417
ankemk1@nku.edu

Personal

I was born in India and, as a child, lived in or frequently visited Northern India (near Calcutta), Northern African countries and Southern European countries. So, naturally, I am at home with and interested in different cultures. As an adult, I have lived briefly in India and for the most part in the United States and Canada. Toronto happens to be one of my favorite cities in the world! I have a passion for the design arts; I particularly love the textures and colors of fabric in interior design and fashion design. I believe in healthful eating and working out as ways to be in sync with nature. I love listening to classical music and reading classic literature, and I enjoy skiing in the winter and watching movies on Friday evenings. (I prefer my books and movies to have won awards.) I am married and we have one son.

Academic

I received my Ph.D. in Information Studies from the University of Alabama. My prior work experience includes teaching at Wayne State University and research contributions in world-class research centers at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. My publications, among others, include peer-reviewed articles in Informatics for Health and Social Care and Information Research. My research interests are in mHealth, consumer health informatics, data analytics, information needs of vulnerable patient populations, and E-Commerce.

At NKU, I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses in healthcare operations, health informatics, and management information systems. I enjoy working with undergraduate students and appreciate the energy and enthusiasm they bring to learning.

Susan Brudvig, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director, MBI

GH 540
859-572-7934
brudvigs1@nku.edu

Personal

My name is Susan Brudvig. I am a Wisconsin native who enjoys the more moderate temperatures and 4-season climate of this region. I joined NKU in Fall 2019. Prior to that, I was an Associate Professor as IU East and an Assistant Professor at Ball State University. I have been teaching full-time for more than a dozen years. Prior to top that, I was employed in business analysis in various professional capacities, most recently at Eli Lilly where I had global responsibility for neuroscience market forecasting. Forecasting is one of my professional specialties, and I continue to hone my skill as an enrollment consultant to school districts and educational services companies. Something unique about myself ... My top speed is over 180 mph in the two-seat IndyCar at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I'm a motorsports fan, and I enjoy it ... but as a spectator. So, if I talk about racing, I probably am referring to cars, not horses. I also am a football fan and have been lucky enough to participate in 2 Super Bowls ... as a member of the half-time stage crew where I supported in-house audio.

Academic

In the College of Informatics, my teaching focus in Business Analytics. My research interest is in the use & application of analytics to business and teaching problems. I have most recently published in the Journal of Marketing Analytics, Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods, and the British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology. I currently am engaged in several on-going research projects with colleagues from other universities. I earned my PhD from Florida State University and my MBA from Purdue University (2003). I was a first-gen student who earned my first degree from UW-Parkside, which is a regional state institution much like NKU.

Teuta Cata, Ph.D.

Professor
Associate Director, School of Computing and Analytics

GH 467
859-572-5626
catat@nku.edu

Personal

I am a typical Mediterranean woman, who was born in Albania and spent most of my life in Balkans (Albania and Greece). I love to travel especially in south Europe and I speak and understand several languages. The food, the warm weather, swimming in the sea, and hanging out with people are simple fun things that I truly enjoy.

Academic

I have my MBA and my Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. My focus area was in Management Information Systems, with minors in Strategy and Software Engineering. My research and teaching areas include e-business, global information systems, ERP, and anything else that has an international angle in it.

I currently teach graduate and undergraduate classes in Information Systems, E-business, SAP, and global IT. I enjoy teaching via experiential learning where students connect with real companies, real projects, and enjoy hands on while learning.

Andy Xing, Ph. D.

Assistant Professor

GH 514
405-465-5088
xingq1@nku.edu

I have a bachelor’s degree in Law and a master’s degree in Information Science. I earned my PhD in Management Information Systems from the University of Oklahoma. I used to work at IBM as a digital strategy consultant and consulted on several digital transformation projects in various industries. This industry experience galvanized my research interests in digital-themed phenomena, such as digital transformation, digital platforms, digital strategy, and digital innovation.

In my PhD program at the University of Oklahoma, I taught Business Data Analysis and Business Programming Languages. Currently, at NKU, I teach Management Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis for Business.

Kevin Jiang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

GH 553
859-572-5992
jiangh1@nku.edu

Personal

I was born in Shanghai, China. I came to the U.S. in 2009. I received my MA and MBA from Ball State University and my Ph.D. from Florida International University. I begin to play tennis when I was 13 years old and used to play for the university varsity team. I like sports, classical music, travel, and food.

Academic

My research interests are focused on the intersection between information systems, healthcare, and work design. My doctoral dissertation was motivated by discussions with both healthcare executives as well a front-line nursing care staff, which describes a set of conflicting goals surrounding nursing care and care documentation in the EHR. Aside from my work in health care, I have another research project focus on skill-building of data scientists, incorporating both managerial as well as technical skills. This paper has been published in the Journal of Computer Information Systems.

I have two years of working experience in the cybersecurity and network building lab at Ball State University. I have CompTIA Security+, Google Ad-words, and Google Analytics Individual Qualification certifications. Over the last six years, I have taught eight courses as an instructor or teaching assistant for the introduction of MIS, Business application (JAVA), E-Commerce (Visual Studio), and Business Analytics (R).

Nazmus Sadat, Ph. D.

Assistant Professor

GH 426
859-572-5292
sadatm1@nku.edu

I joined NKU as an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity in the fall of 2024. Before that, I was an assistant professor at Bradley University, Peoria, IL. Earlier in my career, I worked as a research fellow and graduate research assistant at the University of Cincinnati, where I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering in 2021. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and am a Cisco Certified Network Professional.

I absolutely love teaching! You can find me in undergraduate and graduate classes in cybersecurity and computer networking. I have also taught data structures, operating systems, big data and distributed databases, advanced networking, communication engineering, and electronics.

My research interests include future Internet architectures, multimedia networking, autonomous vehicles, and the security of IoT systems. I have published my work, including collaborative research with students, in leading peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

I love the greater Cincinnati area; it has felt like home since I first moved here in 2015. I enjoy reading, exploring new cuisines and specialty coffees, and spending time with my family.

Personal website: www.nku.edu/~sadatm1

Vijay Raghavan, Ph.D.

Professor

GH 549
859-572-6358
raghavan@nku.edu

Personal

I came to the US from India in 1981 to pursue my graduate studies at Kent State University. I love gardening, photography, live sound-recording and playing speed-chess. I am married to a professional classical singer and we have one daughter.

Academic

I earned my Ph.D. in Information Systems from Kent State University in 1990. My recent research interests are in Project Management and Data Visualization.

I enjoy teaching both at the graduate and undergraduate level and it has been my desire to ensure that the students are professionally prepared to be successful in their careers.

Joe Rubleske, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

GH 563
859-572-5151
rubleskej1@nku.edu

Academic

I earned by PhD in Information Science & Technology from Syracuse University (2012) and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Georgia (2011-13). Prior to entering academia, I worked in the public and non-profit sectors as a policy analyst, statistician, requirements analyst, and systems designer. Past research focused on digital platform innovation, entrepreneurship, and IS and analytics curricula, while current research focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) for decision making support and on the implications of AI applications that are beyond our programmable control.

I currently teach courses in analytics and data management, but I have taught courses in workflow analysis and design, IT project management, knowledge management, and organizational behavior.

Personal

I grew up in northwestern Indiana and southwestern Michigan, but I've also resided in Bloomington IN, Indianapolis, Madison WI, Syracuse NY, and Athens GA. My wife and I have one daughter and one son (and two labrador retrievers), and I enjoy playing basketball, running, listening to music, reading, and spending time with my family.

Crystal Summers, M.S.

Assistant Professor of Practice
Program Head, Information Systems & Analytics

GH 504B
859-572-5153
summersc@nku.edu

Personal

I live in Kentucky but Cincinnati is home. I’ve also spent years in Chatom, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia. I live with my son, Chino. He’s a cream tabby, rescue cat. Yes, he has me trained. Interestingly, he enjoys the groomers. Interesting fact about me, I enjoy the beach and try to visit a new one each year.

Academic

I’ve earned a MS in Business Administration, Managing Information Technology and Health Informatics. My research interest includes: social media & health, mobile technologies, prescription drug monitoring programs and online learning.

Ankur Chattopadhyay, Ph. D.

Associate Professor
Director, Center for Information Security

GH 430
859-572-5169
chattopada1@nku.edu

Personal & Academic

Dr. Ankur Chattopadhyay is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Cybersecurity in the School of Computing & Analytics (SCA) within the College of Informatics (COI) at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). Ankur is also the current Director of the NKU Center for Information Security within the NKU COI, and serves as the Point of Contact for NKU's National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (NCAE-CDE) accreditation with NSA. He is currently the NKU PI/Lead on the Kentucky Coalition for Cybersecurity Educational Innovation – Cyber Workforce Development grant project in partnership with University of Louisville. He is the founder of the NSA/NSF GenCyber program at NKU, and was the first Program Director (PI) of the NSA/NSF GenCyber grant program at NKU, which is the only NCAE institution hosting and running a GenCyber program within the state of Kentucky. He is the founder and first faculty advisor of the NKU Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) chapter, that is the currently the only WiCyS student club within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Ankur is a Research Faculty Fellow within the NKU Institute of Health Innovation. He has served as the Program Director/Coordinator of the NKU Bachelors in Cybersecurity major, and as the Program Coordinator of the undergraduate Teaching Assistantship (TA) program within NKU SCA. He has worked with NSA as the PI/Program Director for multiple GenCyber grant projects since 2017. Ankur teaches cybersecurity classes, like Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Risk Management, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels in NKU SCA.

Ankur earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). He joined NKU in January 2020, and his research interests include visual privacy, authentication trust, cybersecurity & CS education, privacy-enhancing & inclusive visual surveillance, online healthcare information assurance, trustworthy AI, and psybersecurity. He loves working with undergraduate and graduate students, as well as involving them in his research plus teaching projects. He is also an Editorial Board Member with the IEEE Future Directions Newsletter in Technology, Policy and Ethics. He is an active professional member of IEEE and ACM. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed research publications, including conference papers, newsletter articles and journal papers. He has more than 15 years of work experience in both academics and industry.

Ankur is originally from Kolkata, India, where he did his Bachelors in Computer Engineering from the Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM). He was employed with Tata Consultancy Services, a global computer consultancy firm, for almost 7 years before he moved to academia. Before joining NKU, he was an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay (UWGB), where he founded and directed the Center of Cybersecurity Education & Outreach. He was the principal investigator (PI) and the project director of the first-ever NSA/NSF GenCyber program in the state of Wisconsin at UWGB, where he led the GenCyber program for three years. He has also worked with Google and Microsoft as the PI/project lead for the Google IgniteCS plus Microsoft TechSpark grant programs at UWGB. As a scholar and educator, his passion is investigation of interdisciplinary cybersecurity research questions, and innovation of computer science & cybersecurity education. His industry profile includes multiple roles like IT Analyst, Software Engineer, and Embedded Systems Engineer.

Sarfaraz Ahmed Mohammed, Ph.D.

Assistant Teaching Professor

GH 461
859-572-6937
mohammeds3@nku.edu

Dr. Sarfaraz Ahmed Mohammed is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Computing and Analytics, at Northern Kentucky University, United States, from Fall 2024. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA, in June 2024. Prior to this, he earned his dual master’s degrees, an MS in Computer Science from Western Illinois University, IL, USA, and an M. Tech in Software Engineering from JNTUH, India. Before joining NKU, Dr. Sarfaraz had the privilege of serving in both academia and industry. He served as an Independent Instructor at the School of Computer Sciences at Western Illinois University, IL, and as an Assistant Professor in the Information Technology department at MJCET, Osmania University, India, for over 5 years. He worked as a Software Engineer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance between 2019-2020. During his time at UC, he had several opportunities to serve as both Graduate Teaching Assistant at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Cincinnati, OH and as a Research Assistant at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, OH. Dr. Sarfaraz has always had a great passion for teaching, and he believes in creating a conducive learning environment that empowers the next generation of engineers to tackle evolving computational challenges. His research interests include machine learning theory and applications, artificial intelligence, image understanding, and future internet. Outside of work, he likes to spend his time traveling, reading good stories, writing, and playing.

Stephan Ralescu

Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor

GH 568
ralescus1@nku.edu

Ngozi Uti

Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor

GH 447
859-572-5836
utin@nku.edu

Yangyang Tao, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

GH 469
859-572-1453
taoy1@nku.edu

Maureen Doyle, Ph.D.

Professor

GH 575
859-572-5468
doylem3@nku.edu

Personal
 
I (she/her) was raised in Tewksbury, a town about 20 miles from Boston, MA.  I live in Kentucky and enjoy the beauty of the arts and parks of greater Cincinnati.
 
Academic
 
I earned my PhD in Scientific Computing and Computational Mathematics from Stanford University in 2004.  My research interests include recruitment and retention of STEM majors as well as empirical software engineering.
 
I enjoy teaching programming classes and meeting students when they are first starting their studies here at NKU, and also enjoy teaching graduate classes that critically examine evidence-based practices in software engineering.  I worked in industry for almost 20 years and enjoy sharing my successes, and failures, with students as a motivation for learning and thinking critically.  
 
I am the faculty advisor for the Women In Informatics group and currently serve as co-chair for National Council for Women In Technology’s Academic Alliance.  I am also co-editor of ACM’s SIGCSE Bulletin.

Seth Adjei, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

GH 424
859-572-6392
adjeis1@nku.edu

Personal

I am a native of Ghana and moved to the USA a few years ago to pursue a PhD in Computer Science. My dear wife Esther and I have two beautiful children. I now live in Mason OH, having moved from Worcester MA where we lived for about 5 years. My family and I enjoy visiting others and inviting others over for visits. Prior to joining NKU in Fall 2018, I taught at Salem State University (MA) and GIMPA (Ghana).

Academic

I earned my Ph.D. in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts in May of 2018. I have an M.Sc. in Information Systems Engineering from The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden. My current research focus is in the collection and analysis of educational data to improve student learning. I am interested in research that investigates effective methods for sequencing educational materials for the benefit of all students, but particularly for underperforming students.

I enjoy teaching computer programming related courses, database management systems and software engineering.

Alina Campan, Ph.D.

Professor

GH 530
859-572-5776
campana1@nku.edu

Personal

I am a naturalized US citizen, but I was born and raised in Romania. I am married to another computer scientist and we have two daughters.

Academic

I earned my PhD in Computer Science from Babeş-Bolyai University, (pronounced “Babesh”, not babes in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 2006. Victor Babeș was a Romanian physician, bacteriologist, academician and professor. My research interests are in the databases, data mining, and data privacy.

I enjoy teaching at the graduate and undergraduate level, especially Elementary BioProgramming, Database Management Systems, and iOS Development.

Nicholas Caporusso, Ph.D.

Associate Professor 
Director, MSCS

GH 516
859-572-7632
caporusson1@nku.edu

Nicholas got his BSc and MSc in Informatics (both summa cum laude) from the University of Bari (Italy) and obtained a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from IMT – Institute for Advanced Studies (Lucca, Italy). His Master and PhD theses received two awards by the Italian Association for Automatic Calculus (AICA).

In 2011, he obtained a Fulbright Scholarship in Technology Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University (California, USA). In 2015, Nicholas was nominated by MIT Technology Review Italy among the 10 best innovators under 35. In 2017, he received a prestigious Marie Curie fellowship in robotics and automation at the University of Salford (Manchester, UK). Nicholas published over 50 scholarly articles and 5 patents. Also, he founded 4 businesses in the IT space and a non-profit organization devoted to supporting innovation among youth; his companies received more than 20 international awards.

Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Northern Kentucky University. His teaching and research interests include Interactive systems design, human factors, and pervasive Human-Machine Interaction.

Samuel Cho, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

GH 565
859-572-7534
chos5@nku.edu

Personal

In the first part of my life, I was born, raised, and educated in Seoul, South Korea. I was, and still am, curious about almost everything including music, art, history, philosophy, and technology. I was lucky to witness how small and local companies can become one of the largest and most advanced world-class companies. I also could witness how one of the poorest countries can be transformed into an advanced and (relatively) rich country. To understand why I came to the USA in 2005 because I could sense that the USA is one of the main powers behind the secret. I enjoy the second part of my life in the USA.    

Academic  

I have two bios, one is “real but fake” and the other is “fake but real”.

I graduated from Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea with a BS degree, cum laude, in Electrical Engineering. I traded my summa cum laude with a 1000 page programming book that I wrote when I graduated. After coming to the USA, I could earn my MS degree (Electronic Design Automation) from the University of California at Berkeley in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Ultimately, after returning to academia from software industry, I could earn my PhD degree (Software Engineering and Systems) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. My main research is software engineering, specifically application of software engineering to solve real world problems including Pervasive Computing and Internet of Things. I believe software engineering tools, methodologies, philosophies, design approaches, systems thinking, and processes can be used to to solve broader types of problems outside software development—individual, team, and even country development.  

This is a real bio in the sense that I can show you some nice papers that have the names of institutions that I described above. I also can show you the real academic papers and programming books that I have written so far. However, I call this fake because I believe engineering, especially software engineering, is about making products not earning papers.  

I was hooked right away when I first learned about programming in my freshman year. I was so fascinated about programming that I decided to learn everything about computers whatever that might be. This led to my co-founding a startup company, with great colleagues, where I developed virtually all kinds of software including web, desktop, embedded, and VHDL. Our product received the Presidential Award to show that even a small team can change the world a little bit. Furthermore, as a by-product, I could learn various software engineering theories and implementation skills. Later, I worked for a company that develops world-class software products, where I learned another aspect of software engineering—processes and control. Luckily in there, my idea was selected as one of the top features of the year. I was also lucky enough to be involved in many types of research software engineering tools including Eclipse, EDA tools, SAT solvers, and most importantly my own invention “ChitChat” that was awarded the best paper from one of the top conferences.  

This is a fake bio in the sense that these results are just by-products of my fulfilling curiosity and understanding the world. However, I call this real because I believe these are the proof that I love programming and everything about computers, and I think my proof is by making real-world products that people use.  

I always feel excited when I think how great things that NKU students can achieve "when they understand their potential, and they decide to realize their potential to the limit." I believe my job is to help them to understand and realize, and make ready for their great journey.  

Richard Fox, Ph.D.

Professor

GH 444
859-572-5334
foxr@nku.edu

Personal

I lived in St. Louis for my first 18 years, and growing up I enjoyed music, science fiction and baseball.  I now live in Cincinnati and enjoy progressive rock music, science fiction, football and college basketball.  I play guitar and recorded a CD in 1998.  I have been a vegetarian since 1996.  Come visit me in my office and you will no doubt be introduced to some weird music.

Academic

I obtained a BS in Computer Science from the University of Missouri – Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology) in 1986 and an MS and PhD in Computer and Information Sciences from THE Ohio State University in 1988 and 1992 respectively.  I then taught for 9 years at the University of Texas – Pan American (now UT Rio Grande Valley) before coming to NKU in 2001.  My area of research is artificial intelligence and have published over 50 peer reviewed articles, many of which I have co-authored with students.  I have written 3 IT textbooks (the most recent was co-authored with Dr. Wei Hao).  I love to teach and you can find me in such classes as Computer Systems (CSC 362), Artificial Intelligence (CSC 425/525), Advanced Artificial Intelligence (CSC 625), Concepts of Programming Languages (CSC 407/507), Computer Architecture (CSC 462/562), Fundamentals of Information Technology (CIT 130), and Unix Systems (CIT 371), among others.  At NKU, I take on many service roles including serving as chair of the University Curriculum Committee (since 2010) and serving on the Faculty Senate (also since 2010).  I have won three academic awards in my 25 year career, two at NKU.

Wei Hao, Ph.D.

Professor
Director, MSCYS

GH 518
859-572-5659
haow1@nku.edu

Academic

I am an Associate Professor of Computer Science and the Program Director of the Master of Science in Computer Science. I came to NKU in August 2008 from Cisco Systems in San Jose, California, where I worked as a software engineer. I also worked for Motorola and Alcatel, where I co-invented a patent.

I earned my PhD in Computer Science from University of Texas at Dallas in 2007. I have 38 peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals and conference proceedings. My research interests include Web Technologies, Cloud Computing, and Mobile Computing. I won the Faculty Excellent Performance in Scholarly or Creative Activity Award from NKU in 2012. I teach a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in computer science and computer information technology. I have co-authored a book titled Internet Infrastructure with Dr. Richard Fox.

Rasib Khan, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Program Head, Computer Science & Software Engineering

GH 504D
859-572-6025
khanr2@nku.edu

Rasib Khan, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and the Program Head for the Computer Science and Software Engineering program cluster in the School of Computing and Analytics at Northern Kentucky University, USA, since 2016 till present. Dr. Khan completed his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, in 2016. He completed his dual-MS degrees from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, and Aalto University (formerly, Helsinki University of Technology), Helsinki, Finland in 2011, as a European Union Erasmus Mundus Scholar in Security and Mobile Computing. Earlier, he had worked in the cloud security research group in Nomadic Lab at Ericsson Research, Finland, and in the PURSUIT Future Internet European Union FP7 research group at Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, Finland. His fields of interests include cybersecurity, service security and privacy, secure information provenance, and service oriented frameworks in cloud computing and pervasive service frameworks, the Internet-of-Things, and decentralized and distributed systems.

Gary Newell, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

GH 449
859-572-5330
newellg@nku.edu

Shahid Noor, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

GH 534
859-572-7927
noors2@nku.edu

Academic

Shahid Noor is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the department of Computer Science at Northern Kentucky University, USA. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, in 2017. Dr. Noor started his career as a visiting assistant professor of Computer Science at St. Olaf College in 2017. He completed his Masters in Information and Communication Engineering from the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh in 2007. His research interests include Mobile Cloud, Internet-of-Things, Crowdsourcing, and Cyber Security.

Ken Roth, M.B.A., M.S.

Assistant Professor of Practice

GH 535
859-572-5243
rothk2@nku.edu

Personal

I was raised in raised in Northampton, PA about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia. I live in Kentucky with my wife and daughter. I am an avid collector of pinball machines.

Academic

I have a MS in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology specializing in power systems and power electronics. I also have an MBA from the University of Chicago. I have over 25 years of industry experience in information technology including, utilities, IT service providers and retail and enjoy sharing my successes, failures and many stories with students. I enjoy teaching all aspects of computer science especially those focused on programming.

Emily Taylor, M.S.

Associate Teaching Professor

GH 416
859-572-5429
taylore17@nku.edu

Personal

I am from the Cincinnati area and currently live in Northern Kentucky with my husband and three cats. In my spare time I enjoy drawing and the occasional video game.

Academic

I am an alum of Northern Kentucky University. I received my master's degree in Computer Information Technology in 2013. I spent several years working as an IT project manager and technology architect before transitioning over to academic advising and part-time teaching in 2016. I've been teaching full-time since 2017.

In addition to my teaching, I enjoy working on K-12 outreach initiatives with other SCA faculty and students, such as the NSA and NSF funded GenCyber grant.

Bradford Thomas, M.S.

Associate Teaching Professor

GH 468
859-572-6662
thomasbra@nku.edu

Personal

I am originally from the south (Louisiana / Texas) and moved to the tri-state in 2001 which is the same year I began working at NKU/Chase College of Law as the Lab Manager.

Academic

I earned my Masters in Computer Information Technology at NKU in May 2017. I am currently working on a Master in Computer Science. I have worked in IT for over 20 years with the majority being at Chase College of Law. Once I completed my Masters I began adjuncting at the NKU COI department and in March 2019 I accepted the position of Lecturer/Lab Manager.

I find teaching to be very rewarding and way to give something back to students from what I learned from completing my Masters. I enjoy time in the classroom and find that I am always learning something from the students.

Some areas of interest are Cloud Computer, IOT, and networking. I have spent the last few years enhancing my coding skills as scripting and automation have become more popular. I am very fascinated by the small IOT devices that are capable of running Linux and networking.

Cynthia Thomas, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

GH 531
859-572-7937
thomasc5@nku.edu

Personal

Cynthia N. Thomas is a native Kentuckian from Lexington. She has a Bachelors of Science in Animal Sciences from the University of Kentucky. After receiving her Bachelors, she worked as an administrative assistant for a private counseling office. During her time as an admin assistant, she became the de facto IT person. After realizing a knack for troubleshooting IT issues and setting up SOHO networks, Ms. Thomas decided to pursue a career in the Information Technology industry. This lead her to Northern Kentucky University where she received her Bachelors in Computer Information Technology and immediately after graduation, Ms. Thomas was accepted to the University of Central Florida where she received her Masters of Science in Digital Forensics.

Currently, her research interests are in the development of Cybersecurity education in formal and informal settings. Outside of academia, Ms. Thomas's hobbies are billiards and mixed martial arts, specifically Muay Thai, and traditional stand-up boxing. Ms. Thomas holds certifications in networking, computer competency and Cybersecurity. 

Marius Truta, Ph.D.

Professor
Director, School of Computing and Analytics

GH 400G
859-572-7551
trutat1@nku.edu

Personal

I was born and raised in Alba Iulia, Romania. I moved to US in 1999, first in Detroit, and since 2014 in Northern Kentucky. I reside in Fort Thomas with my wife, Alina, and our girls, Christina and Andrea.

Academic

I earned my PhD in Computer Science from Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan) in 2004. Before that, I received my BS and MS in Computer Science from Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) in 1998 and 1999. My research interests are in data privacy, databases, and social networks.

I am a Professor of Computer Science and the Director of the School of Computing and Analytics. I enjoy teaching both at the graduate and undergraduate level, especially Database related courses. 

Anthony Tsetse, Sc.D.

Associate Professor
Program Head, Cybersecurity & Information Technology

GH 504C
859-572-7931
tsetsea1@nku.edu

Personal

I am from Ghana and moved to the USA in 2009. My wife and I have two sons (Malvin and Medwin) and a daughter (Mirabel). I had most of my education in Ghana and Europe (Germany and Denmark). Prior to joining NKU in Fall 2016, I taught at Livingstone College (NC), Towson University (MD) and State University of New York at Fredonia.

Academic

I earned my D.Sc. in Information Technology from Towson University in 2012. My research interest include, Network Performance Analysis, Bare Machine Computing and Cloud Computing.

The classes I enjoy teaching most are Networking, Programming and Database systems.

Hongmei Wang, Ph.D.

Professor

GH 532
859-572-7786
wangh1@nku.edu

Personal

I came from P. R. China. I met my husband when we were students in Beijing, and now we have one son and one daughter in USA.

Academic

I earned my PhD in Information Sciences and Technology from Pennsylvania State University in 2007. My research interests are in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS), Remote Sensing and Human Computer Interaction.

I enjoy teaching both at the graduate and undergraduate level, especially GIS. I also love conducting research in applications of GIS and Remote Sensing technologies for local community needs.

Junxiu Zhou, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

GH 451
859-572-6682
zhouj2@nku.edu

Academic

Junxiu Zhou earned her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering from University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2019. Her research interests include Machine Learning and Deep Learning algorithms and their applications in Image Processing, Computer Vision, Network Resource Optimization, and Bioinformatics.

She enjoys teaching programming and artificial intelligence related classes. She also likes to conduct research in other practical problem solving applications of AI.