CECS Faculty & Staff

Our faculty and staff are dedicated to being on the forefront of change in higher education and to equipping students for the careers of the future.

Featured CECS Faculty and Staff

Ozlem Kilic

Vice Provost and Founding Dean of the College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies | D.Sc., Electrophysics
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CECS Leadership

Art Sedighi

Teaching Associate Professor, Online | Director of CECS Online Academy | PhD, Industrial and Systems Engineering | PhD, Electrical Computer Engineering
Candice Adams

Director of Distance Education | Teaching Associate Professor, Online | Faculty Liaison – Data Science | PhD, Computer Science
Elis Vllasi

Senior Director of Academic Operations | PhD, International Relations
Emam ElHak Abdel Fatah

Director of Curriculum Strategic Initiatives | PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science
Katie A. Cahill

Assistant Dean of Partnerships and Economic Development | Director of Workforce Development | PhD, Political Science
Natalie Stepanov

Director of Advising | PhD, Higher Education Administration
Nneka Walson

Director of Student Engagement and Success
Sarah Kile

Director of Finance, Administration, and Operations

Faculty

Aubra Anthony

Teaching Assistant Professor, Online | PhD, Physics
Ayşegül Çuhadar

Teaching Associate Professor | PhD, Electronic Systems Engineering
Hedy Hurban

Teaching Associate Professor | PhD, Digital Art and Technology
Jimmy Ardiansyah

Teaching Assistant Professor, Online | Faculty Liaison – AI | DSc, Information Technology
Mahmoud Jahanshahi

Teaching Assistant Professor | PhD, Computer Science
Michael Gelantalis

Teaching Associate Professor | PhD, Mathematics
Milan Parmar

Teaching Associate Professor | PhD, Computer Science
Nahom Kidane

Teaching Assistant Professor | PhD, Modeling and Simulation Engineering

Industry Experience

Ali Riza Ekti

Adjunct Faculty | Senior R&D Staff Member, ORNL | PhD Electrical Engineering
Amir Sadovnik

Adjunct Faculty | Research Lead, ORNL | PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Andria L Yates

Adjunct Faculty | Consultant & Coach, ALY PhD, LLC | PhD, Psychology and Neuroscience
Edgar “Chip” Myers

Adjunct Faculty | Central Intelligence
Heather Finotti

Adjunct Faculty | Founder, Love of Math | PhD, Mathematics
Laura H. Belken

Adjunct Faculty | Global Assets Solutions Architect, North America, NTT DATA | B.S., International Development and Rural Psychology
Major Robert Willix

Adjunct Faculty | Associate Professor of Aerospace Science, AFROTC
Russell Eubanks

Adjunct Faculty | Managing Partner, Cyverity | B.S., Computer Science
Sally Ghanem

Adjunct Faculty | Machine Learning and Signal Analysis Researcher | PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Shayan Monadjemi

Adjunct Faculty | Research & Development Associate, ORNL | PhD, Computer Science
Somb Adhikari

Adjunct Faculty | MS, Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer and Data Science
Steve McFall

Adjunct Faculty | Director of Cybersecurity Services, Blue Lion Tactical Solutions

Staff

Brock Jamal-Ertel

Events Manager
Faith Ide

Academic Advisor
Gillian Hunt

Academic Program Coordinator
Jessica Kitts

Executive Administrative Assistant to the Vice Provost and Dean
Johnny Osborne

IT Technician
Katherine Schroeder

Cybersecurity Program Manager
Laura Hardy

Program Coordinator
Olivia Miller

Communications & Marketing Coordinator
Pamela Vatter

Financial & Human Resources Specialist
Rebecca Bailey

Senior Academic Program Coordinator
Shelby Bacon

Financial Associate

AI Smokey & Smokey the Dog

Vice Provost and CECS Founding Dean Ozlem Kilic, Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development Deb Crawford, Chancellor Donde Plowman, and Provost John Zomchick at the CECS Ribbon Cutting