IT Graduate Faculty
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Richard Halstead-Nussloch - Professor (Retired)
Rich Halstead-Nussloch is Professor of Information Technology (IT) in the College of Computing and Software
Engineering at Kennesaw State University, Marietta, Georgia. He is a Certified Professional
Ergonomist, has a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan
and a B.A. in psychology from Macalester College. He was an early adopter of computer-based
instructional technology, having developed instructional computer simulations while
learning and teaching in the 1960’s and 1970’s at Macalester College, the University
of Michigan and Stevens Tech. In the 1970’s he was also a research scientist at the
Highway Safety Research Institute of the University of Michigan, where he solved problems
associated with motorcycle safety and public highway policy. In the 1980's and early
1990's he was a senior research scientist/engineer for IBM, concentrating on the design
and continuous improvement of IBM products and services with a focus on research,
human-computer interaction and the human factors engineering of hardware, software,
documentation, and user interfaces. Over his career, he has contributed numerous publications,
computer applications and inventions. He now teaches IT and computing courses at Kennesaw
State, is active in adult, online learning and community outreach initiatives, serves
as a master black belt trainer for Six Sigma at the Institute of Industrial and Systems
Engineers, and is a Georgia Governor’s Teaching Fellow. He advises industry, education,
non-profits and government in research, quality, business processes, project management,
cultural change, ergonomics, IT, digital identity and security and all aspects of
managing continuous improvement.Phone: (470) 578-5509
Email: rhalstea@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 361 -
Linh Le - Assistant Professor
Dr. Le got his Ph.D. in Analytics and Data Science from Kennesaw State University in 2019. He also has a M.S. in Information System from Marshall University (2015) and a Bachelor in Information Technology from Hanoi University of Science and Technology (2013). His research focuses on Deep Learning and Machine Learning, particularly, designing new techniques and applying them to solve critical problems. Linh has publications in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and multiple conference proceedings, most notably, Neurocomputing Journal, and IEEE International Conference on Big Data. He also has a pending patent in a collaboration with Equifax Inc.
Phone: (470) 578-4311
Email: lle13@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 339 -
Lei Li - Professor, & Associate Dean for Student Success of CCSE
Dr. Li is the associate dean for student success and professor of information technology in College of Computing and Software Engineering at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Li received his M.S. in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University. His current research interests include information security, social media data analytics, web information management and STEM education. Dr. Li have published more than 60 paper in peer-reviewed journals and conferences and secured over $400,000 funding from NSA, state agency, and private sectors. Dr. Li was awarded outstanding achievements in sponsored research program by KSU Office of Research in 2018. Two of his papers received 261 and 107 citations respectively based on Google Scholar as of Oct 17, 2022. Dr. Li mentored more than 70 students in research and capstone projects. Under his leadership, MSIT program represented KSU for Regent’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2018 and 2021.
Phone: (470) 578-3915
Email: lli13@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 364Research interests: Information security, Social media data analytics, Web information management, STEM education.
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Zhigang Li - Associate Professor
Dr. Li is an Associate Professor of IT. He has a mixed background in both Information Technology and Instructional Technology. He has extensive experience and is an expert in learning design and development. His research interests focus on learning technologies and STEM education, which include but are not limited to the discovery, development, and advancement of technologies that can transform learning and the development of new teaching methods that can take advantage of innovative technologies to provide students with an enhanced learning experience.
Phone: (470) 578-4481
Email: zli8@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 378A -
Svetlana Peltsverger - Professor & Associate Dean of CCSE
Dr. Peltsverger is a Professor of Information Technology and an Associate Dean of the College of Computing and Software Engineering obtained. Dr. Peltsverger received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Institute of Systems Analysis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. His primary research and teaching interests include databases, computer networking, cybersecurity and privacy. She holds a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) certification. She created various curricular materials for information assurance courses both at undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Peltsverger served on ACM Education Board IT2017 Curriculum Review Task Group, University System of Georgia (USG) Cyber Security Initiative focus group, and IEEE/ACM IT Transfer Curriculum Guidance Task Force.
Phone: (470) 578-3813
Email: speltsve@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 378CResearch interests: databases, computer networking, cybersecurity and privacy, STEM education.
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Seyedamin Pouriyeh - Assistant Professor
Dr. Pouriyeh is an Assistant Professor of Information Technology. Dr. Pouriyeh received a M.Sc. in Information Technology Engineering and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Shiraz University and the University of Georgia respectively in 2009 and 2018. He has published first-authored papers in Natural Language Processing and Semantic Web venues such as IJCNLP and ICSC, as well as Information Integration and Computers and Communication venues. He is currently a member of Decentralized Science Lab (dSL) working on security issues involved in Federated Machine Learning.
Phone: (470) 578-6109
Email: spouriye@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 391 -
Shirley Tian - Associate Professor and MSIT Graduate Program Coordinator
Dr. Tian is an Associate Professor of IT and her research focuses on social media analytics and human behavior in cybersecurity. She is currently serving as MSIT graduate program coordinator. Dr. Tian has published over 50 peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings including Journal of Computer Information Systems, Industrial Management & Data Systems, and Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. She has been principle investigator or co-principal investigator of grants by NSF, NSA, KSU, RWJ and other agencies. And Dr. Tian has served as a curriculum standard panel member of National CyberWatch Center since 2019.
Phone: (470) 578-5168
Email: xtian2@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 378B -
Maria Valero De Clemente - Assistant Professor and BSIT/BASIT Coordinator
Dr. Valero is an assistant professor in the College of Computing and Software Engineering, Department of Information Technology at Kennesaw State University (KSU). She received her Ph.D in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Georgia in 2019 and Master in Computer Science from University of Los Andes (Venezuela) in 2009. She was an associate professor at the University of Tachira (Venezuela) from 2004 to 2015. Her research interests include IoT for smarth healthcare, distributed computing, signal processing, wireless sensor networks, and cyber-physical systems
Phone: (470) 578-4552
Email: mvalero2@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 312 -
Ying Xie - Professor and Assistant Chair
Dr. Xie is a tenured full Professor in the Department of Information Technology at the College of Computing and Software Engineering. He received his PhD in 2004 and MS in 2001 in Computer Science from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His research interests include Machine Learning, IoT, Big Data, Healthcare Informatics, and FinTech. Dr. Xie’s research has been sponsored by NSF and multiple private sectors. Dr. Xie has served as the research adviser for multiple PhD students. He has also served in the editorial board of the Elsevier Journal of Big Data Research.Phone: (470) 578-2143
Email: yxie2@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 360 -
Ming Yang - Professor
Dr. Yang is a tenured full professor of Information Technology. Dr. Yang obtained his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tianjin University (Tianjin, China) in 1997 and 2000 respectively, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Wright State University (Dayton, OH) in 2006. He has published over sixty peer-reviewed journal/conference papers and book chapters. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Monitoring and Surveillance Technologies Research. He is the TPC member and reviewer for numerous journals and conferences.
Research interests: multimedia communication, computer vision, machine learning
Phone: (470) 578-3809
Email: myang8@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 363 -
Chi Zhang - Professor
Dr. Chi Zhang is a tenured full professor of Information Technology at the Department of Information Technology, College of Computing and Software Engineering. Dr. Zhang served as the interim department chair of Software Engineering and Game Development from 2016 to 2019, and 2021-2022, and ABET program evaluator for the Computing Accreditation Commission since 2016. She served as the University Ombuds in 2019 - 2021.
Dr. Zhang received her Ph.D. in Information Technology and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Nebraska Omaha, and M.S. of Quantitative Management in Health Analytics from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information & Management Systems (CPHIMS) and a Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA).
Dr. Zhang's research interests include health informatics, health analytics, game-based learning, and STEM and IT education. Prior to joining Kennesaw State in 2010, she taught computer science and information systems at the University of Nebraska Omaha for ten years.
Email: czhang4@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 379 -
Liang Zhao - Assistant Professor
Dr. Zhao is currently an assistant professor of Information Technology at Kennesaw State University (KSU). He received his Ph.D in computer science from Georgia State University, GA, USA and M.S in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, PA, USA in 2016 and 2012, respectively. He was a research data scientist at IBM (U.S). His research interests span the areas of cyber security, big data computing & analytics, and machine learning. Dr. Zhao has a specific interest on developing efficient and secure computing frameworks for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Internet of Things (IoT).
Phone: (470) 578-4902
Email: lzhao10@kennesaw.edu
Location: R2 302 -
Jack Zheng - Associate Professor
Dr. Zheng is interested in Interactive Data and Information, which involves multiple areas including business intelligence, data visualization, user interface design, web/mobile/cross-device technologies and application development. He is now the coordinator for BSIT data analytics and technology concentration and MSIT data analytics and intelligent technology certificate. Dr. Zheng received his Ph.D. in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University.
Phone: (470) 578-5036
Email: gzheng@kennesaw.edu
Location: J 383 -
Yixin Xie - Assistant Professor
Dr. Xie got her PhD in Computational Science at University of Texas at El Paso. She
received her bachelor’s degree in computer science at Southern Polytechnic State University
and master’s degree in media arts and production at University of Technology, Sydney
Australia. Her research interests are Computational Biology, Protein Engineering,
Molecular Dynamics, and deep learning in bioengineering etc. In her free time, she
likes hiking, swimming, photography, music production, etc. Email: yxie11@kennesaw.edu
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Nazmus Sakib - Assistant Professor
Dr. Sakib is an Assistant Professor of IT, serving the College of Computing and Software Engineering at KSU. His focus lies in the innovative overlap of Informatics, mHealth, and Computational Sustainability-- a unique field that can revolutionize healthcare and support sustainability efforts around the world! Prior to joining KSU, he was affiliated with Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at University at Buffalo, SUNY, taught graduate-level Big Data courses, and guided students' data-oriented research. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Computational Sciences at Marquette University in 2021. Before that, he obtained his MS in Computer and Information Systems from Marquette University and his BS in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at KUET in Bangladesh.
Email: nsakib1@kennesaw.edu
