Faculty
Meet the distinguished faculty of USF's MIM: Business Tech Program – experts and leaders in a breadth of fields, from tech and entrepreneurialism, to consulting, to capital management.
Full-Time Faculty
Mana Azarm is an assistant professor of analytics and information systems. She dedicated her career to the continuous development of scalable data pipelines to enable intelligent decision making. With a deep understanding of diverse data architecture paradigms, including relational databases, data warehouses and lakes, multidimensional data cubes, time series optimized data stores, and other emerging paradigms, her current research focuses on Large Language Models (LLM) in development of data...
- University of Ottawa, PhD in Electronic Business
- University of Ottawa, MS in Systems Science
- Alzahra University, BBA & MS in Information Technology Management
- Data modeling and data architecture
- Data analytics and information systems
- Data warehousing and lake storage
Associate Professor Kourosh Dadgar’s educational and professional background is diverse and interdisciplinary. His training and practice are in industrial product design and manage information systems (MIS) with the flavor of software engineering. His perspective in teaching and research is human-centric, participatory, and value-sensitive.
His teaching philosophy is: explore, think, do, and learn. His classes are organically designed and include interactive and participatory business cases...
- Ph.D, Management Information Systems, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 2016
- MA, Industrial and Product Design, Applied Software Engineering (minor), The Ohio State University...
Longyuan Du is an assistant professor in business analytics and information systems. His research lies at the intersection of operations management and business analytics. He is particularly interested in operational problems in the emerging industry where there’s a strong presence of social interactions. He received a PhD in operations management from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, an MS in civil engineering from University of Maryland, College Park, and a BS in mathematics...
- University of Toronto, Ph.D. in Operations Management, 2018
- University of Maryland, College Park, M.Sc. in Civil Engineering, 2012
- Fudan University, B.Sc. in Mathematics, 2010
Professor Tom Grossman likes to see non-technical people harness the power of analytics and technology to lead their organizations. His interests include business analytics, spreadsheet engineering, spreadsheet information systems, managerial communication of analytical work, and analysis-driven process improvement.
He spent the early years of his career at an analytics consulting firm working on large-scale systems for operations and planning in the United States and Scandinavia. His...
- PhD, Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University, 1994
- MS, Engineering-Economic Systems, Stanford University, 1985
- BS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana, 1984
Keith Hunter's primary research interests revolve around organizational networks, power, and leadership. He is particularly interested in how social networks both influence and reflect active mental models and power dynamics within groups and organizations. His investigations of the patterns of interaction among people and their implications for human behavior and organizational outcomes are of critical significance to tomorrow's business leaders.
His rich background inspires his research and...
- Carnegie Mellon University, PhD in Organizational Behavior and Management, 2011
- Carnegie Mellon University, MPhil in Public Policy and Management, 2011
- University of Central Florida, MS in...
- Social network analysis
- Power and influence
- Community engaged learning
Professor Lacy brings over 30 years of industry experience in data and information management to his role as the Faculty Lead for the Business Analytics Major at the University of San Francisco’s School of Management. Professor Lacy is an expert and thought leader dedicated to bridging the gap between industry trends and academic excellence. His work prepares the next generation of business leaders by equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in business analytics...
- University of San Francisco, MS Information Systems, 2019
- UC Berkeley, Certificate with Distinction, Project Management, 2005
- SF State University, BS, Management Information Systems, 1989
- Information systems
- Data architecture and management
- Business analytics
- Business technology architecture
- Higher education teaching and curriculum development
Vijay Mehrotra is a Professor of Business Analytics at the USF, where he leads USF’s MBA Customer Success Management (the first such academic program in the world). He also directs the Business Analytics curriculum within USF's MBA program and teaches courses in Business Analytics, Predictive Modeling, and Data Mining. Prior to becoming a professor, Vijay spent more than a decade working full-time in Silicon Valley as an analytics consultant, entrepreneur, and executive. Since 2010, his column...
- Stanford University, PhD in Operations Research, 1992
- Stanford University, MS in Operations Research, 1989
- St. Olaf College, BA in Mathematics, Economics and Statistics, 1986
- Call center operations planning and analysis
- Customer success management
Dr. Esmat (Yasi) Sangari serves as an Assistant Professor in Business Analytics and Information Systems. Her research focuses on the applications of operations research, game theory, and optimization algorithms to examine different aspects of design, planning, and operations management in supply chains. Also, she works on pricing and price-matching strategies in omni-channel retail systems. The main goal of her research is to provide actionable insights into profitability and efficiency...
- Northwestern University, Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, 2021
- University of Tehran, M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering, 2015
- University of Tehran, B.Sc. in Industrial...
Dr. Shivani Shukla teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the application of machine learning and AI to business. She is committed to creating a dynamic learning experience that equips students with the professional skills and personal growth needed to thrive in varied business roles.
Shivani is an active researcher in the fields of reinforcement learning, optimization, and computer vision applied to cybersecurity and intelligent systems. Her research has been published in prominent...
- University of Massachusetts, PhD in Management Science, 2017
- Gujarat University, MS in Statistics, 2009
- AI
- Computer vision
- Optimization
- Probability
- Reinforcement learning
Dr. Marco Tavanti is a professor of Leadership and Sustainability at the University of San Francisco’s Masagung Graduate School of Management. He serves as Program Director for the Master in Management - Sustainable Business Management (MIM-SBM) and Faculty Lead for the Sustainability in Management Education (SiME) Impact Area. With over 30 years of global experience, Dr. Tavanti has led programs across Europe, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, focusing on sustainable development...
- PhD, Sociology, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, 2001 (with distinction)
- MA, Sociology, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, 1999
- MA, Cross-Cultural Theology, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL...
- Sustainability management
- Sustainable development leadership
- Social economy organizations
- Indigenous & human rights
- Refugee education & services
Part-Time Faculty
Edward Kreutzer has been working in the field of information and technology for the entirety of his career. His focus has been within the specialties of data architecture, database systems, data management and governance, data warehousing, data systems development, business intelligence, data mining, data science, and artificial intelligence.
His professional engagements have been within such industries as telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, education, nonprofit, entertainment...
- University of San Francisco, MBA, 2002
- University of Colorado, BA, 1988
- Database architecture
- Data mining, data science, artificial intelligence
- Information architecture
- Cloud architecture
Steven Lopez is an Information Technology Specialist with over 20 years of experience in providing consulting leadership roles for San Francisco Bay Area organizations.
Lopez holds a doctorate in Organization and Leadership from USF, and an MBA from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA. He has several years of post-graduate work in the area of Management and Organizational Development at the Institute of Industrial Relations at UCLA.
Prior to the UCLA MBA experience, Lopez worked in a...
Carlos Zapata is a Sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) professional. He has worked in the investment management industry for the past 22 years, while the last 10 years integrating ESG factors and sustainability in the investment process. He is a graduate of Yale University’s MBA in Sustainability and the University of San Francisco’s MS in Financial Analysis programs.
- Yale University, MS in Business Administration (Sustainability)
- University of San Francisco, MS in Financial Analysis
- Sustainability management
- Sustainability reporting
- Sustainability and financial materiality