Sameer Verma Headshot

Sameer Verma

()

Professor
Information Systems, College of Business

Email:
sverma@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-7016
Location:
BUS 205C

At SF State Since:

1999

Office Hours:

Bio:

Sameer Verma, Ph.D. is professor of Information Systems in the Lam Family College of Business at San Francisco State University. He has served as Department Chair of the information Systems department from 2021-22 to 2023-24.

 

His research focuses on the diffusion and adoption of innovative technologies. He is currently working on several academic research projects which include the diffusion and adoption of open technologies, air-gapped infrastructure in rural and remote environments, and the impact of private Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) in the context of Generative AI. In addition to his academic work, Professor Verma has worked with companies in consulting capacity in the areas of technology strategy, policy and governance.

 

Professor Verma has served on the Board of Directors of the Drupal Association. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of WiRED International. He also serves on the advisory boards of The Center for Ethical and Sustainable Business (CESB) at SF State, and some San Francisco Bay Area technology companies. He is also the founder of the Commons Initiative at SF State, the One Laptop per Child San Francisco community, the One Laptop per Child Jamaica community and an institutional partner at the Center of Excellence, University of the West Indies, Jamaica.

 

He still plays with Lego every chance he gets. He has much to learn from his two children.

 

CV:

  • Ph.D. in Business Administration, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA, August, 2000.
  • Bachelor of Engineering, Civil Engineering, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, July 1992.

San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA (2021-22 to 2023-24)

  • Department Chair, Information Systems, Lam Family College of Business.

San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA (1999-2000 to present)

  • Professor of Information Systems
  • Research and teaching - Computer networks, next generation Internet technologies and event-driven infrastructures for Content Delivery Networks (CDN).
  • Research and development of service-oriented (QoS and ToS) networks. Implementation via campus-based wireless LANs
  • Research on the development and deployment of corporate and academic online learning initiatives as instances of e-commerce.
  • Study of Quality of Service and Latency Effects via small scale robots controlled over intranets.
  • Study of networking concepts such as time-to-live (TTL) and hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and their implications on closed networks. This research is being implemented using by gnutella and its variants.
  • Evolution of node-to-node networks and its impact on online transactions.

Sphere Interactive, Inc., Atlanta GA ('99)

  • Manager of Technology Services: Managed projects for design, development and deployment of online learning for mid-to-large sized corporations.

Spec International, L.L.C., Atlanta GA ('98)

  • Manager, Internet R&D: Development of the website. Design and Development of Internet-aware systems.

May & Speh Strategic Decision Services, Atlanta GA ('97)
 

  • Credit Risk Modeling: Creating generic credit bureau models for the credit industry for assessing good and bad risk customers.
  • Custom Models for Finance/Credit Industry: Create custom models for particular customers by modeling company data and industry data and create a composite model.

Interactive Products and Services, AT&T, Atlanta GA ('95)

  • Development of Intranet based emerging technologies: Develop Intranet material for AT&T in Atlanta. This material included HTML, graphics and some multimedia material.
  • Training personnel in using emerging technologies: Train AT&T personnel in emerging software technologies for developing Intranets and maintaining databases of reports and documents between remote offices.

Decision Sciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta GA('93 - '96)
 

  • Research and Development in Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Developed a working prototype for a US Army funded project. This tutorial/prototype demonstrated the techniques of computer assisted instruction and computer based training complete with testing reporting and monitoring.
  • Hypermedia-based Non-linear Knowledge Based Systems: Developed a database of hypermedia resources for Westinghouse Savannah River Company (project funded through Georgia Research Alliance). This collection of hypermedia resources was designed to replace their existing paper-based engineering standards and procedures.
  • Web-based Decision Support Systems: Developed and presented a framework for providing decision support through the web. This framework goes beyond the simple expansion of the network from a LAN to a WAN. It also incorporates the role of intelligent agents that collect important information which helps in supporting the decision making process.
  • Web-based distributed learning: Extending the computer based learning from the classroom to the world. A prototype was developed that delivered course material, class lectures and tests on any platform using custom Java applets.
  • webmaster@dsc.gsu.edu: I was Webmaster at Decision Sciences for over four years (when being webmaster was cool). I worked closely with the faculty and students to develop the entire site on ADDIE-M guidelines. This server caters to the information needs of the department and supports over 150 mime types. It also supports the ftp site and a prototype push server.
  • The Commons Initiative at SF State. http://commons.sfsu.edu/
  • All things OLPC - One Laptop per Child. I run projects in India, Jamaica and help with others in Madagascar, Armenia, Tuva, San Francisco, etc. I am also the founder and chief organizer of OLPC San Francisco volunteer community. Track us down at http://olpcsf.org/
  • Captive Portals in Wireless Networks: Examining the role of captive portals in wireless networks. See the report here
  • Networked Robotics: communicating with LEGO® MindstormTM robots over IP networks to study QoS issues.
  • The O.R.E.O. Project : O.R.E.O. stands for Openscript Remote Execute Object. O.R.E.O. adds Internet services such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, SNMP etc. to native Toolbook applications in Microsoft Windows. No browsers needed.
  • The Toolbook Portal : A collection of resources for Toolbook programming, development and use.
  • Implementing Opensource Streaming Audio Stations in MP3 and Vorbis : An MP3/Vorbis streaming Audio "radio station" for sending out pre-recorded MP3/Vorbis files in real-time. The current plan is to use this engine to power a "lecture-series" for my classes.

Teaching philosophy

I have attempted to capture the essence of my teaching philosophy in the following sections. Overall, I find that my students enjoy my teaching.

 

To teach is to learn

I started teaching as a graduate teaching assistant at Georgia State University back in 1995. We were expected to teach the entire session, and not just teach from the professor’s notes. I was gearing up to teach Business Statistics. I was mortified by the feeling that I couldn’t go wrong in front of the class. What I found out instead was that I learned from every one of my students -- even the ones who didn’t participate. Very quickly, I realized that my opinion was one amongst many, and while I was expected to lead, I wasn’t expected to be the all-knowing entity. In fact I found it exciting when students disagreed and expressed their points of view. It gave me a chance to reinforce my outlook. This was the turning point in my career. After teaching that course successfully, I felt that I had found my calling. I wasn’t going to be a pilot or a railroad engineer (my childhood aspirations). I was going to be a teacher.

 

Beyond the classroom

The term classroom is a bit of a misnomer. The metaphorical room has grown quite a bit. It spans many realms outside of the face-to-face environment. While we have students who have limited work experience, we have others who hold a full time job, and come to get an education in the evening. We also have students who have work experience in other countries, but find it to be at odds with the American work style. Their queries added to the experiences of working students makes for a vivid discussion in the classroom. In one instance, I was explaining the use of media and servers by large Internet companies like YouTube and Netflix. It turned out that one of my students in that class actually managed servers at YouTube! Such richness of experience in the classroom is rare, but we happen to be in the hotbed of tech. We get to experience it first-hand.

 

Effective use of pedagogy

Given the limitations of time and space, we are compelled to compress a lot of material within a semester. Syllabi, assignments and exams help in creating structure and assessment. I find that in some cases, learning by example via hands-on projects works better. In other instances, such as my MBA classes, the case study approach holds a lot more depth. Effective use of pedagogical methods not only helps in managing the course; it also helps me in making the assessment process a fair and balanced one. I have taught a variety of courses in Information Systems. These range from introductory, to specialized, undergraduate, to graduate, to executive. The breadth and depth of experience is tremendous and can be overwhelming, especially when I have to teach all three kinds of courses in the same semester! I find undergraduate classes to be refreshing because students are open to all kinds of new ideas. I can entice them with hands-on projects where they build servers, networks, and databases. I find graduate courses to be exciting, because the students are mature, and instill a certain depth in the discussions. I can involve them in a case discussion about a company like Facebook or Google from “down on highway 101” and facilitate the questioning of status quo. I find executive MBA courses to be “roll up your sleeves” challenging, because the students are seasoned professionals. It takes a bit of work and time to loosen them up to new ideas, possibilities and growth. My industry experience comes in handy while I am in a EMBA class. In all, I enjoy the whole spectrum. I love being a teacher!

 

Role of technology

Technology plays a very important support role in teaching. I am usually at a loss without the network in my classroom. Technology plays a powerful support role in my classrooms. Projectors fail, but there's always the blackboard (or whiteboard, as the case may be). Flexibility is key. We are there to teach and learn. The tech supports and makes it even more agile.

The so-called real world

I have always been amused by that term: "real world". It would seem that we in academia live in a make-believe world, where we don’t quite know what goes on in the real world. The gap between what goes on in the classroom and what the students experience when they work outside must be minimized as much as possible. I make every effort to do so by bringing in guest speakers who help reinforce the student views of what to expect in the real world. I also frequently use special study courses to allow students to work with special topics that are not yet covered by our core and elective classes. I serve on the board of advisors and directors of a few companies. I work with industry professionals via our internship program to bring that “real world” into our classrooms, and make students more confident before they step out into the work arena.

Some of my "other" things that may or may not qualify as work-related.

About Gretchen Le Buhn

Gretchen Le Buhn

()

Professor
Biology, College of Science and Engineering

Email:
lebuhn@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 405-0729
Location:
HH 741

At SF State Since:

2001

Office Hours:

Bio:

Interests: Plant evolutionary ecology, pollinator conservation and climate change.

My lab focuses on the effects of anthropogenic change on plant and animal communities from local to continental scales.We are currently working on the effect of wildfire on pollinator communities, the impacts of climate warming on urban pollinators  and the montane meadow pollinators.

I direct the Great Sunflower Project, a citizen science project, designed to evaluate the effects of landscape change on pollinator service in North America. 

I am also interested in the effects of variation in flower phenology on plant reproductive success. We use Linanthus dichotmous, a plant that flowers during the day north of San Francisco and at night south of San Francisco, as a model system.

 

Website(s):

Great Sunflower Project, Le Buhn lab
Joshua D Singer Headshot

Joshua D Singer

()

Professor
School of Design, College of Liberal and Creative Arts

Email:
jsinger@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-6067
Location:
HUM 116A

At SF State Since:

2008

Office Hours:

Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 14:00-15:00
Thursday: Closed
Friday: 14:00-15:00
Saturday: Closed

Bio:

Joshua Singer is a Professor in the School of Design at San Francisco State University. He specializes in critical/speculative design and design fiction crossing disciplines of graphic design, design research, geography, and semiotics. His current work uses instrumental methodological design research to document typographic artifacts in the urban landscape incorporating theoretical conceptual research to generate speculative models.

He received his B.A. from Hampshire College, M.F.A. in Fine Art from the City University of New York/Hunter College, and M.F.A. in Design from California College of the Arts.

Leyla Ozsen Headshot

Leyla Ozsen

()

Faculty
Decision Sciences, College of Business

Email:
lozsen@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 817-4365
Location:
BUS 307

At SF State Since:

Office Hours:

Sunday: Closed
Monday: 15:15-15:45In Person
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 15:15-15:45In Person
Thursday: 13:00-15:00Zoom
Friday: Closed
Saturday: Closed

Education: 

  • B.S. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Cornell University
  • M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems and Operations Research, Stanford University
  • Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University

Intellectual Contributions

  1. Ozsen, L., & Lee, K. (2020). A Tabu Search Heuristic for the Network Design Model with Lead The and Safety Stock Considerations. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 148(106717).
  2. Ozsen, L., Intrevado, P., & Liu, S. (2020). Heuristics For A Joint Capacitated Production, Inventory, And Distribution Model with Production Setup Times. Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Management, 18(1), 30–54. https://www.csupom.com/uploads/1/1/4/8/114895679/jscom18n1p03_formatted.pdf
  3. Miyaoka, J., Ozsen, L., Zhao, Y., & Cholette, S. (2018). Experiential Undergraduate Operations Management Course Engages Students. Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Management, 16(3), 219–245.
  4. Cholette, S., Ozsen, L., Ozluk, O., & Ungson, G. (2013). Exploring purchasing preferences: Local and ecologically labelled foods. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(7), 563–572.
  5. Abel, S. R., Intrevado, P., & Ozsen, L. (2013). The Inpatient Pharmacy Operations Gap: An Inter-Professional Literature Review. The American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 70(11), 989–996.
  6. Sourirajan, K., Ozsen, L., & Uzsoy, R. (2009). A Genetic Algorithm for a Single Product Network Design Model with Lead Time and Safety Stock Considerations. European Journal of Operational Research, 197(2), 599–608.
  7. Ozsen, L. (2009). An Evolutionary Programming Approach for Solving the Capacitated Facility Location Problem with Risk-Pooling. International Journal of Applied Sciences, 2(4), 389–405.
  8. Ozsen, L., Daskin, M. S., & Coullard, C. R. (2009). Location-Inventory Planning with Risk Pooling and Multi-Sourcing. Transportation Science, 43(4), 455–472.
  9. Ozsen, L., Coullard, C. R., & Daskin, M. S. (2008). Capacitated Warehouse Location Model with Risk Pooling. Naval Research Logistics, 55(4), 295–312.
  10. Sourirajan, K., Ozsen, L., & Uzsoy, R. (2007). A Single Product Network Design Model with Lead Time and Safety Stock Considerations. IIE Transactions, 39, 411–424.
  11. Kopach, R., DeLaurentis, P., Lawley, M., Muthuraman, K., Ozsen, L., Rardin, R., Wan, H., Intrevado, P., Qu, X., & Willis, D. (2007). Effects of Clinical Characteristics on Successful Open Access Scheduling. Health Care Management Science, 10(2), 111–125.
  12. DeLaurentis, P., Kopach, R., Lawley, M., Muthuraman, K., Wan, H., Ozsen, L., & Intrevado, P. (2006). Open Access Appointment Scheduling - An Experience at a Community Clinic. Proceedings of the 15th Annucal Industrial Engineering Research Conference, IERC 2006. Published.
  13. Wolf, J. L., Squillante, M. S., Yu, P. S., & Ozsen, L. (2002). Optimal Crawling Strategies for Web Search Engines. 11th International World Wide Web (WWW) Conference. Published.

Contracts, Grants and Sponsored Research

  1. Sinapuelas, I. (Co-Principal), Ozsen, L. (Principal), Intrevado, P. (Co-Principal), "Optimizing a retailer’s merchandise mix: The role of private label and national brands," Sponsored by SFSU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, $14,997.00. (August 2018 - Present).
  2. Ozsen, L. (Principal), Miyaoka, J. (Co-Principal), Zhao, Y. (Co-Principal), Intrevado, P. (Co-Principal), "Experiential Learning of Quality Control in an Operations Management Course.," Sponsored by San Francisco State University, San Francisco State University, $1,080.00. (January 2018 - Present).
  3. Sinapuelas, I. (Co-Principal), Ozsen, L. (Co-Principal), Intrevado, P. (Co-Principal), "Optimizing a retailer’s merchandise mix: The roles of private labels and national brands," Sponsored by SFSU College of Business, $1,500.00. (January 2018 - Present).
  4. Miyaoka, J. (Principal), Ozsen, L. (Co-Principal), Zhao, Y. (Co-Principal), "Success in the Majors," Sponsored by San Francisco State University, San Francisco State University, $7,000.00. (January 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017).
About Genie Stowers

Genie Stowers

()

Professor
Public Affairs & Civic Eng, College of Health and Social Sciences

Email:
gstowers@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 405-3497
Location:

At SF State Since:

1991

Office Hours:

Bio:

Dr. Genie Stowers is Professor of Public Administration in the School of Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (PACE) at San Francisco State University. Her current research interests are online service delivery in cities and data visualization in the public sector. She has published widely on technology in government and urban service delivery. She teaches classes in information technology, urban administration, strategic planning, budgeting, statistical analysis and data visualization, and the capstone course.  She is active in the University and the community

CV:

Research Projects (Selected)

Current Projects

 

 

 

Selected Recent Past Projects

University

 

Community

 

 

National

 

 

 

Professional Associations

Some Favorite Websites

Data-, Open Government and Technology-Related

 

Personal

 

Public Administration-related

 

Urban-Related

 

 

Some Favorite Videos / Animations

Just Really Like

Funny

Katherine Adams Gordy Headshot

Katherine Adams Gordy

()

Professor
Political Science, College of Liberal and Creative Arts

Email:
kgordy@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-7528
Location:
HUM 528

At SF State Since:

2008

Office Hours:

Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 10:45-11:45, 14:30-15:30
Wednesday: Closed
Thursday: 14:00-15:00
Friday: Closed
Saturday: Closed

Bio:

Katherine A. Gordy (Ph.D., Cornell University) teaches courses in political theory and Latin American Studies. Her specific research and teaching interests are comparative political theory (Latin American and Caribbean political thought primarily), critical theory, and theories of history and ideology. She is the author of Living Ideology in Cuba: Socialism in Principle and Practice (Michigan 2015). She is a contributor and co-editor (with Smita Rahman and Shirin Deylami) of Globalizing Political Theory (Routledge 2023). Her articles on Cuba, ideology, and Latin American political thought have appeared in Viewpoint Magazine, Postcolonial Studies, Public Culture, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political and in edited volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Political Theory (Oxford 2019), Comparative Political Theory in Time and Place (Palgrave Macmillan 2017), Interpretation in Political Theory (Routledge 2016) and How not to be Governed: Readings and Interpretations from a Critical Anarchist Left (Lexington 2011). She was born and raised in New York City.

Website(s): 

Katherine Gordy SF Sate Academia Website

Pavlina Latkova Headshot

Pavlina Latkova

()

Professor
College of Health and Social Sciences

Email:
latkova@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-7577
Location:
HSS 309

At SF State Since:

Office Hours:

Bio:

Pavlίna Látková, Ph.D., was born and raised in Czechoslovakia (currently, the Czech Republic). Her fascination and desire to discover new cultures and places, has powered her personal journey for the past 40+ years and brought her to San Francisco in 2008, where she started a new chapter of her life at SF State. Currently, Dr.  Látková teaches multiple RPT classes (e.g., internship seminars and supervision, GWAR, travel and tourism courses), which incorporate experiential and service learning to enable students gain practical knowledge and skills. Dr. Látková has developed and led a short-term faculty-led study abroad program to Costa Rica, which former SF State students described as “a life-changing experience”.

Dr. Látková teaches about travel, studies travel, dreams about travel, …she travels…and so should you:  “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” (Mark Twain)

About Zachary Hui He

Zachary Hui He

()

Professor
Biology, College of Science and Engineering

Email:
zhe@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-6193
Location:
HH 550

At SF State Since:

1998

Office Hours:

Bio:

My lab uses Arabidopsis as the model system and applies a combination of cell, molecular, biochemical and genetic approaches to understand how cells communicate during plant growth and development. We discovered the RUS gene family and characterized the functional roles of several RUS members. Our published work showed that RUS1 and RUS2 play key roles in vitamin B6 homeostasis and a vitamin B6-binding enzyme, aspartate aminotransferase, serves as an important genetic partner in regulating vitamin B6 homeostasis. Our recent work has established the essential role of RUS6 in early embryonic development. Our long-term research goal to understand how vitamin B6 homeostasis is regulated in Arabidopsis and beyond. Knowledge of vitamin B6 hemostasis regulation can be used to develop strategies to improve human health and agricultural production. 

 

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/zheng-hui.he.2/bibliography/public/

 

Website(s):

He Lab at SF State
Jose R de la Torre Headshot

Jose R de la Torre

()

Professor
Biology, College of Science and Engineering

Email:
jdelator@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-7043
Location:
HH 437

At SF State Since:

2008

Office Hours:

Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 10:00-12:00
Thursday: Closed
Friday: Closed
Saturday: Closed

Bio:

  • AB in Molecular Biology from the University of Californa, Berkeley
  • PhD in Biochemistry & Biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco
  • Post-doctoral Research in Microbial Ecology & Genomics at the University of California at Berkeley, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and the University of Washington, Seattle

 

Our research group studies the ecology, evolution and cell biology of microorganisms living in extreme environments, particularly terrestrial hot springs.

We are interested in how environmental conditions (chemistry, pH, temperature) and evolutionary history influence the composition and function of natural microbial communities in these extreme environments., with special attention to the contribution of these microorganisms to the Carbon and Nitrogen biogeochemical cycles.

Because of this focus, our work is at the exciting intersection many disciplines, including Microbiology, Ecology, Evolution, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Biogeochemistry. Although this can sometimes be daunting, it means we are constantly interacting with other scientists in different fields and we're always learning new things!

We have ongoing research projects in Yellowstone National Park, California and Nevada, and have been working closely with researchers at the University of Washington, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Montana State University, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and UC Davis.

All of the research projects in the lab are carried out by undergraduate and graduate students.

Website:

https://archaealab.weebly.com/ 

About Saskia Gabriella Van Kampen

Saskia Gabriella Van Kampen

()

Associate Professor
School of Design, College of Liberal and Creative Arts

Email:
saskia@sfsu.edu
Phone Number:
(415) 338-1547
Location:
HUM 107

At SF State Since:

2019

Office Hours:

Bio:

Van Kampen is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at San Francisco State University’s School, of Design. She is focused on research projects that investigate grassroots initiatives that define community spaces and how educators can help create the next generation of creative thinkers to be socially and ethically driven in terms of inclusive and sustainable design outcomes. Her research into creative practice as protest has been disseminated internationally through conferences and journal publications. Van Kampen is also a contemporary feminist artist, using traditional sewing techniques such as embroidery, needlepoint, and quilting to deconstruct messages found in contemporary commercial design. Since moving to San Francisco she has joined the AIGA and works closely with the SFSU AIGA student organization. 

 

Website(s):

Personal website
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