UB CSA - Key Persons


Aditya Tushar

"Hi, I'm Siva Shankar Paramasivan, and I am a first-year graduate student at UB pursuing a Master's in Industrial and Systems Engineering. I was born and raised in India. My interest in cost optimization and data-driven decision-making drew me to ISE. I earned my bachelor's degree in Production Engineering from PSG Tech, India. For over four years, I worked with Tata Motors on supply chain cost optimization. "

Alexander Nikolaev

Alexander Nikolaev Email Alexander Nikolaev Profile for Alexander Nikolaev

Anthony H. Szczygiel

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Professor Emeritus / School of Law

Batta, Rajan

Job Titles:
  • Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Beth A. Corry

Job Titles:
  • Associate Vice President
  • Controller
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
Beth Corry, as associate vice president for Business Services and controller, delivers innovative business solutions and services to UB through involvement in purchasing, payments, financial operations, printing, mail and Strategic Information Reporting Initiative (SIRI). Beth has over 18 years of higher education experience in progressively responsible management positions at the university, most recently as the Director of Financial Services where she demonstrated her leadership in accounting and financial reporting, cost analysis, cash management, compliance adherence and financial data security. Her wide range of experience includes knowledge of New York State, State University of New York (SUNY) and Research Foundation of SUNY financial practices, policies and financial systems. She maintains partnerships as a financial expert with various units such as Resource Planning, Research and Economic Development and Financial Advisory board.

Bissell Hall

As Chief of Police, Chris Bartolomei oversees the university's 80 member police force that serves and protects our daily population of 40,000 students, staff, and visitors. With a commitment to community-oriented, fair and impartial policing strategies, UB's police officers are dedicated to ensure our campuses are safe places to study, work, live, or visit, and where the peaceful free expression of ideas is protected. UB Police is also committed to professional excellence through the adoption of national best practices. Chris served as Accreditation Manager when UB became the first university police department in New York state to become accredited by the Division of Criminal Justice Services, and he remained in charge of policy development when the department was awarded national accreditations by both CALEA Recognition and IACLEA. He has over twenty years of progressive law enforcement experience, an MS in Criminal Justice Administration, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Chris also currently serves as an Accreditation Assessor for the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Brendan Stapley

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Assistive Technology Evaluator and Instructor / Center for Assistive Technology

Bruce R. Troen

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Professor of Medicine Chief, Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine / Department of Medicine

Butt, Kaylie

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student Ambassadors

Carly Duszynski

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Academic Coordinator
  • Undergraduate Coordinator

Carol Van Zile-Tamsen

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Associate Vice Provost / Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching

Chinmay Sanjay Bagad


Chris Austin

Job Titles:
  • Director
Chris Austin leads and directs the operations, communications and future planning for UB's office of Parking and Transportation Services. Chris has more than twenty years of progressive professional management and leadership experience in the parking and transportation industries. He leads a team that manages over 16,000 surface parking spaces across our three campuses, while providing transportation options that transport over 2.5 million passengers annually, providing attractive, sustainable alternatives to single occupant travel. He has a combined twelve years of service on the Board of Parking Directors for the City of Buffalo and New York State Parking Association, and is a Certified Administrator of Public Parking (CAPP).

Chris Bartolomei

Job Titles:
  • Chief of Police

Colin Drury

Job Titles:
  • SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Despina Stratigakos

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence

Dr. Martinez Leon

Job Titles:
  • Director of Engineering Management

Fadeyi, Johnson

Job Titles:
  • Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

George Zimmermann

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Associate Counsel / Central University

Geraldine (Deanie) Hedrick

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Academic Coordinator
  • Graduate Coordinator

Harrison Kelly

Job Titles:
  • Director of Undergraduate Studies

Hector J. Ortiz

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor of Research
PhD, University at Buffalo -Distributed cooperative control, autonomous vehicles, graph theory, information fusion and artificial intelligence

James A. Lenker

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Associate Professor Program Director, Advanced Graduate Certificate in Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology / Department of Rehabilitation Science

James Llinas

Job Titles:
  • Research
PhD, University at Buffalo - Multi-source information fusion, statistics, knowledge-based systems

Jeffrey Smith

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Associate Vice President for Marketing and Digital Communications

John Coles

Job Titles:
  • Affiliated and Emeritus Faculty
  • Assistant Professor of Research
PhD, University at Buffalo - Methodology: Agent-base modeling, multi-criteria decision optimization, predictive modeling, data fusion; Application Areas: Healthcare, counter-terrorism, disaster relief

John Della Contrada

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Vice President for Communications

John Voit

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Instructor

Johnson Fadeyi

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor of Teaching / Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering / School of Engineering and Applied Sciences / Research Topics

Jordana Maisel

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Director of Research Activities Project Director, ERC on Universal Design in the Built Environment / Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access

Joseph Lewandowski

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Director of Resource Planning
As Director of Resource Planning, Joe is responsible for leading, developing and managing a strategic and comprehensive resource and budget planning program in support of the university's mission, plans and goals. He works with senior leadership and with academic and administrative units across the university in areas of budget planning and implementation, financial analysis, and budget policies and systems. Joe has served as Senior Resource Analyst and as a Resource Analyst in the Office of Resource Planning from 2014-2018. Prior to those roles, he served as Associate Director of Business Operations in the Division of Athletics from 2011-2014 and as Business Operations Staff Assistant from 2006-2011.

Jun Zhuang

Job Titles:
  • Director of Graduate Studies

Kara Kearney-Saylor

Job Titles:
  • Director of Internal Audit / Internal Audit
Kara Kearney-Saylor, as director of Internal Audit, will lead, develop and manage a strategic and comprehensive risk assessment and internal audit program that supports the university's mission, plans and goals. She will lead the development of the university's annual audit plan, serve as the university's point of contact for all external audit activities and work actively with SUNY Audit and Enterprise Risk Management initiatives. Kara has served at Boston University since 2006 as Interim Director and co-chaired the Enterprise Risk Management Steering Committee and Information Security Committee. She previously served at Houghton Mifflin, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young in various audit and tax consultant roles. She is also a Certified Internal Auditor and has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance.

Kathleen Grimm

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Board of Directors at ECMC Clinical Assistant Professor / Department of Medicine

Kathrine Ohms

Job Titles:
  • Director of Administration

Kaylie Butt

"I am from Pune, India, and I am a PhD student concentrating in Production Systems with my research revolving around additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping. In my free time, I enjoy hiking and playing badminton."

Keith A. Alford

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Member of the UB Digital Accessibility Advisory Committee
  • Dean and Professor / School of Social Work

Kelly Kenline

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Vice President
  • Member of the Advisory Committee

Kristin Harte

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Advisory Committee

Laura E. Hubbard

Job Titles:
  • Vice President Finance and Administration
Laura E. Hubbard is responsible for the oversight of strategic financial planning and analysis of resource use and development. Named vice president for finance and administration in early 2012, she oversees UB Business Services, Emergency Management, Human Resources, Internal Audit, Parking and Transportation Services, Policy and Operational Excellence, Office of Real Estate and Property Management, Resource Planning, Office of Sustainability, University Facilities, and University Police.

Laura Wray

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Department of Medicine

Lawrence J. Zielinski

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Executive in Residence, Health Care Administration / School of Management

Lei Sun

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor of Research
PhD, University at Buffalo - Operations research, machine learning, supply chain, logistics, revenue management and business analytics

Leilani Pelletier

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Program Director / Center of Excellence

Lisa Bulter

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Associate Professor / School of Social Work

Louanne Bakk

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • DSW Program Director Clinical Assistant Professor / School of Social Work

Margaret Moss

Job Titles:
  • Emeritus of the Steering Committee
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion Associate Professor

Mark Coldren

Job Titles:
  • Associate Vice President / Human Resources
, as associate vice president for Human Resources (HR), shepherds the human resources' mission at UB. Before Mark joined UB he was the chief Human Resources officer at Ithaca College for eight years with overall responsibility for all HR functions, working closely with the president and president's council to focus on strategic direction for the institution. Mark has over 25 years of experience in HR. Previous to Ithaca, Mark worked at Syracuse University and had professional background and experience in software design, manufacturing and public education settings in human resources and learning, including overall HR strategic and functional responsibility, organizational development consulting, compensation systems, employee/labor relations and performance management. The scope of his responsibility includes HR for both the state and Research Foundation employees.

Mary Henesey

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Electronic and Information Technology ( EIT ) Accessibility Officer

Morton C. Frank

Job Titles:
  • Professor

Nikhil Satchidanand

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Assistant Professor / Department of Medicine

Paramasivan, Siva Shankar

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student Ambassadors

Patricia J. Ohtake

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee

Qing He

Job Titles:
  • Research

Rajan Batta

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Diversity / School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Ranjit Singh

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Associate Professor, Vice Chair for Research, Director, Primary Care Research Institute / Department of Family Medicine

Robert G. Wahler Jr

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Clinical Assistant Professor / Department of Pharmacy Practice

Robert Granfield

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

Rollin J "Terry" Fairbanks

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Associate Professor / MD, Medical College of Virginia - Medical Human Factors, Patient Safety, Cognitive Engineering
MD, Medical College of Virginia - Medical human factors, patient safety, cognitive engineering

Ryan A. McPherson - CSR

Job Titles:
  • Chief Sustainability Officer
In his role as the Chief Sustainability Officer, Ryan connects people across the university with information, innovation and tools to reduce UB's carbon footprint and enhance quality of life by improving environmental stewardship, increasing economic efficiency and augmenting cultural values and awareness. He specifically works closely with university partners and employs an integrated campus-wide strategy that leverages the university's operations, curriculum, external engagement and research to further UB's sustainability efforts. Previously, Ryan has held positions at UB as Associate Vice President for Government and Community Relations and as Chief of Staff for external affairs. Prior to joining UB, Ryan worked in Washington, D.C. and New Hampshire, advocating for greater environmental protection and democratic participation.

Sasi Keerthana Sivakumar

"I am a PhD candidate in Operations Research. I come from China. My research interests are big data analytics and optimization for disaster management."

Scott Hollander

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Associate University Librarian for Technology

Sharon Nolan-Weiss

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Advisory Committee

Siva Shankar Paramasivan


Thomas Feeley

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • Professor

Tonga Pham

Job Titles:
  • Associate Vice President

Townsend Hall


Valerie Nesset

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Advisory Committee
  • Associate Professor of Library and Information Studies

Victor Paquet - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Chairman of the Steering Committee
  • Chairman and Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering / Research Areas
  • Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Warren H. Thomas

Job Titles:
  • SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus / PhD Purdue University Production

Yu-Ping Chang

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Steering Committee
  • School of Nursing

Zhiyuan Wei