Brandeis University Online Faculty

Ahmad Namini is a Professor of the Practice of Business Analytics at Brandeis University’s International Business School. He teaches courses in computer programming, quantitative analysis, machine learning, and sports analytics. Dr. Namini has served as a quantitative analyst/developer, desk strategist, analytics head and chief technology officer in the fixed income and credit derivative spaces for various investment banks and hedge funds. He has a PhD in Computational Mechanics from the University of Maryland and has written numerous refereed journal articles, presented at prestigious conferences, and has consulted with startup and established companies. He served as a faculty member at the University of Miami for 10 years where he developed an NSF-funded research program in computational aerodynamics and parallel computing of long span bridges.

A specialist in high-technology finance, Blake LeBaron’s research deals with domestic and international financial markets. He is involved in empirical and theoretical studies of asset market behavior. The latter area involves building “artificial stock markets” with simulated computer traders. He teaches courses in risk management and forecasting. A former faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, he holds a PhD from the University of Chicago.

Senior Lecturer in Data Analytics in the Brandeis International Business School.

Arnold Kamis does research with data analytics on information technology, decision support, online consumer behavior, and healthcare information. He has many publications in premiere journals, including MIS Quarterly, Decision Support Systems, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and Communications of the ACM. He blends social science and data science to make research contributions that are rigorous, business-relevant, and aiming to make an impact. For example, Arnold and coauthors have developed a stable three-year model of CDC data (n = 1.5M) to model why American adults do not obtain influenza vaccinations. He has designed and taught multiple courses in business/data analytics and data visualization. Arnold has served on many journal editorial boards, including Decision Analytics and Health Systems. He holds a PhD from New York University.

Dr. Annie Shebanow has many years of technology and business leadership experience. She holds a Doctor of Computer Science degree. Annie has worked with doctoral students online as a dissertation committee member and was a lead faculty at Colorado Technical University. She has designed technical courses for various universities — Foundation Data Analytics, Network Security, Advanced Networking Systems, Information Forensic, Data Security, Data Mining, Business Intelligence, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, Data Analytics capstone course. On the business side, Annie has founded six technology companies.

Edgar (Ed) Anderson, MSPM, PMP, has over 25 years of experience in project and program management, managing large scale IT and information security projects, primarily in the financial services industries. He is also a member of the faculty in Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies, teaching graduate-level project management courses. He has served on the Advisory Board for the Project and Program Management program at Brandeis University’s Graduate Professional Studies school. He earned his BS in business administration from the University of Connecticut and an MS in project and program management from Brandeis University.

Cheryl Coleman, MSPM, PMP, CSM has more than 30 years experience in help desk management, desktop technologies, call center technologies, financial systems, project management, application development and business analysis. She has over 18 years of experience as a technical project manager and has a graduate degree in project management. She is a member of Project Management Institute, Scrum Alliance and is a certified Project Management Professional and Certified Scrum Master.

Nadeem Malik is a senior consultant with 20+ years industry experience in project and program management, global software development management and solution architecture for mid- to large-scale information systems. He is certified as Project Management Professional (PMP), Stanford Certified Project Manager (SCPM) and Enterprise Architecture (TOGAF). He is a graduate of Brandeis University with a major in computer science. He also has an MS in advanced information technology from Imperial College, London.

Nadeem received the Rabb School Outstanding Teacher Award for 2016.

Sean Milligan encompasses over 25 years of enterprise project and program management experience in varying industries. He specializes in leadership throughout the personal, team and organizational layers of project and program management and service delivery, as well as the human dynamics inherent in a collaborative approach to meeting demands of stakeholders and organizations. While project management has evolved from a scientifically driven approach to a people-focused mindset as a result of a shift in human factors, Sean’s focus on these factors brings a more holistic approach to leading teams and projects.

Sean received his Master of Science in project and program management from Brandeis in November 2014 and is also a certified Myers-Briggs Practitioner.

Sean currently teaches the Human Side of Project Leadership and Challenges in Project Management courses, and received the 2019 Award for Outstanding Teaching from the Rabb School of Continuing Studies.

Eva Kaniasty, MS, is the founder of Slipper Studios, a user experience (UX) consultancy providing UX strategy, research and UX design. Her areas of interest include start-ups, education, health care and design for sustainability. She received her master’s degree in human factors from Bentley University, served as president of UXPA Boston, and is a repeat presenter at local and national conferences.

Jen McGinn, MS, is a senior director of product design at VMware. Jen has spent more than 20 years working as a UX leader, designer, user researcher, technical trainer, and writer at companies including Veracode, CA Technologies, Oracle, Nokia and Sun Microsystems. She regularly presents at local, regional and international UX conferences, and has published peer-reviewed papers on persona development, heuristic evaluation, Agile user research and usability rating scales. Jen has a BS in information systems management from UMBC and an MS in human factors in information design from Bentley University.

Candra K. Gill, MA, MSI, is the Principal UX Architect at Cox Automotive Inc. Candra’s approach to UX is informed by training in human-computer interaction with a humanities background and strong direct services work. She has worked in the UX field in corporate environments, marketing agencies and on projects for non-profit organizations, producing work for notable clients in telecommunications, financial services, consumer products & retail, and manufacturing.

Dr. Diana Hubbard is an anthropologist and information scientist who is currently the head of design for the Battle.net Platform at Blizzard Entertainment. She previously was the director of research at Hilton and has also held lead design and research positions at SAP and IBM. She has an MS in applied anthropology, as well as a PhD in interdisciplinary information science from the University of North Texas.

Dr. Hubbard designed and teaches the Research Methods course in the Master of Science in User-Centered Design program.

David Lumerman, MS, is corporate vice president of user experience at New York Life Insurance, where he develops engaging interaction for New York Life websites, applications and interactive experiences, and has done so for over 16 years. Previously, David developed online games and game shows with Pearson Television and Uproar! Games, most notably “Family Feud” and “To Tell the Truth.” He earned his master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and undergraduate degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Professor Fern Chertok is the Director of Advising and Field Experience Programs in the Hornstein Professional Jewish Leadership Program. She is a community psychologist and is the editor of “Researching Community Psychology: Issues of Theory and Methods.” As part of the Hornstein Program, Prof. Chertok teaches courses in program evaluation and organizational behavior. Prof. Chertok has been involved in a variety of research projects including studies of the experiences and preferences of interfaith families, economic insecurity in Jewish households, the organizational health of synagogues, the Jewish identities and participation of young adults, and innovation in Jewish community centers and synagogues. She has also conducted extensive research on volunteerism in the Jewish community. In addition to her research and teaching, Prof. Chertok has conducted training and consultation for a variety of Jewish communal organizations including synagogues, day schools and federations.