Faculty
Experts Who Bridge Theory and Practice
The Hybrid Master of Applied Artificial Intelligence for Business Transformation is taught by faculty who bring deep expertise in AI application, AI-driven analytics, and AI-enabled business transformation.
Faculty actively research how technology transforms business strategy and organizational performance, ensuring that what you learn reflects the latest insights from both academia and industry.
Ferdi Eruysal
Dr. Ferdi Eruysal is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems and serves as the academic director of the Hybrid Master of Applied AI for Business Transformation at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. His research focuses on the economics of information systems, using game-theoretical models to analyze strategic price optimization. At Smeal, Dr. Eruysal teaches undergraduate courses in business analytics and applied AI and machine learning, as well as graduate-level prescriptive analytics.
Brian Cameron
Dr. Brian H. Cameron is a clinical professor of supply chain and information systems and the associate dean for professional graduate programs at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. He is the founding director of the Center for Enterprise Architecture in Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology and a senior consultant with Cutter Consortium’s Business and Enterprise Architecture practice. Cameron’s consulting work spans systems integration strategy and strategic enterprise and business architecture planning and design. His previous clients include Accenture, AT&T Wireless, Avaya, Boeing, EMC Corp., Lockheed Martin, the NSA, Oracle, Raytheon, the U.S. Marine Corps, and Saudi Telecommunications Corp. (STC). He has served as an expert witness for major U.S. law firms, serves on boards and working committees for several international professional organizations and journals, and is a special advisor to the Business Architecture Guild.
Janet Duck
Dr. Janet Duck is a clinical professor of management and organization and director of Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. With more than 20 years of experience in graduate professional programs and 15 years in industry, she leads innovation in online and hybrid graduate classrooms. As faculty chair of the Online MBA, her work focuses on preparing students for AI-enabled work through team-based learning, organizational change, and applied AI integration. She holds a Ph.D. in workforce development from Penn State and an M.B.A.
Cheryl Horten
Dr. Cheryl A. Horten is an instructor within the supply chain and information systems department at Smeal. She earned her D.B.A. from Marymount University, her M.B.A. from Penn State, and a B.S.B.A. in marketing and international business as well as a B.A. in Spanish from Bowling Green State University. Dr. Horten’s teaching focuses on applied artificial intelligence and business analytics. Her courses emphasize the practical use of generative AI, strategic interaction with AI systems, and responsible integration of AI into business decision-making and organizational processes.
Wael Jabr
Dr. Wael Jabr is an assistant professor of supply chain and information systems at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. He studies digital transformation and human-AI interaction in information-rich platforms, focusing on how organizations design workflows where algorithmic agents and experienced professionals collaborate effectively. He teaches graduate courses on generative AI and prompt engineering for business.
Rashmi Sharma
Rashmi Sharma is an associate clinical professor of supply chain and information systems at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. She also serves as the managing director for the Laboratory for Economics, Management, and Auctions (LEMA), an experimental economics research lab at Penn State. Sharma earned a B.S. in mathematics, statistics, and computer applications from the University of Rajasthan, an M.C.A. from Indira Gandhi National Open University, and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in supply chain management from Penn State. Prior to joining the Smeal faculty, she worked in industry for nearly nine years, where she taught courses in programming and networking, developed software for logistics management, and led the development of manufacturing business intelligence systems. Her teaching and research interests include supply chain management, business analytics, and incentive design, with a focus on applying analytics to scheduling and team composition.
Chris Solo
Dr. Chris Solo is an associate clinical professor of supply chain and analytics at Smeal. He serves as the academic program director of the one-year, resident Master of Business Analytics program and the faculty director of the Sapphire Leadership Academic Program. Chris received a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from Penn State, an M.S. in operations research from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in mathematics from Penn State. He teaches courses in supply chain management, supply chain analytics, and business analytics, focusing on interpreting analytical results to support data-driven decision-making. Prior to joining the Smeal faculty, he served more than 21 years on active duty in the U.S. Air Force, holding leadership roles in intelligence, acquisition program management, and operations research analysis. He also served on the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he taught undergraduate courses in probability and statistics, optimization, decision analysis, queuing theory, and simulation.
Keran Zhao
Dr. Keran Zhao is an assistant professor in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. Prior to joining Smeal, he was an assistant professor at the Bauer College of Business, University of Houston. Dr. Zhao’s research focuses on digital platform design, artificial intelligence, and AI-human interaction, examining how AI-enabled systems shape user behavior and organizational outcomes using machine learning and econometric methods. He is also a lead trainer for the Intel AI for Current Workforce Program, translating AI and agentic AI into practical, responsible applications.