Ph.D. in Analytics

• Ahmed Abbasi (AI, machine learning, text analytics, user modeling)
• Corey Angst (health analytics, ethics, privacy, security)
• Nicholas Berente (digital innovation, managing AI, institutional change)
• Francis Bilson Darku (sequential analysis, nonparametric statistics, econometrics)
• Jeff Cai (statistical learning, network analysis, data science)
• Sarv Devaraj (business analytics, healthcare management, supply chains)
• Eojin Han (operations research, data analytics, operational challenges under uncertainty)
• Ken Kelley (psychometrics, statistical methods, human-centered analytics)
• Cam Kormylo (behavioral implications of AI, ethics of AI, human-AI collaboration)
• John Lalor (machine learning, natural language processing)
• Junghee Lee (innovation/technology in supply chains, healthcare operations)
• Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez (humanitarian operations, disaster management, analytical modeling)
• Xinxue (Shawn) Qu (innovation diffusion, data management, predictive analytics)
• Yoon Seock Son (econometrics, mobile strategy, AI business strategies)
• Daewon Sun (pricing strategies, resource management, economics of IS)
• Margaret Traeger (computational social science, social networks, health analytics)
• Katie Wowak (supply chains, traceability in global networks)
• Heng Xu (responsible AI, privacy-preserving technologies)
• Yang Yang (machine learning, network analysis, computational social science)
• Chengcheng Zhai (humanitarian operations, development programs, drinking water access)
• Nan Zhang (societal impact of AI, machine learning for social science)
• Zifeng Zhao (statistical methods, large-scale forecasting, risk monitoring)

Raymond Alavo received a BS in engineering from École Supérieure Multinationale des Télécommunication in Senegal and an MS in Applied Math and Computer Science from Indiana University. Raymond has over eight years of experience as an application developer and data scientist. His current research interests relate to human-centered computational design of multi-modal machine learning dashboards and human-robot interactions. He is a first-year student advised by Prof. Ahmed Abbasi.

Marialena Bevilacqua received a BA in math with a minor in statistics from the College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts. She also attained an MS in business analytics from Georgetown University. Marialena worked as a brand operations analyst and manager at Thrasio, where she was awarded “rookie of the year.” At Notre Dame, Marialena is researching how AI shapes human moral decision-making using experimental methodologies. She is a fourth-year student advised by Prof. Corey Angst.

Ryan Cook received a BS in analytics with a minor in philosophy from Notre Dame, and an MS in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked as a research scientist in Notre Dame’s Human-centered Analytics Lab and Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis, supporting projects related to NLP and network analysis. Ryan was also previously an analyst at EY in Chicago. At Notre Dame, Ryan is researching how to better explain or predict team outcomes using machine learning tools such as relational event modeling and graph neural networks. He is a third-year student working with Profs. Nick Berente and Ahmed Abbasi.

Sofía Calderón, received a BS in political science and a BA in public administration from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico. She earned an MA in economics from USC, and an MIA in international economic development from UCSD. Sofía was a research manager in the U.S. Good Business Lab Foundation at the University of Michigan. She is researching how human-robot interventions can be robustly designed and measured to improve instrumental and humanistic outcomes in workforce and healthcare contexts. She is a first-year student working with Profs. Ahmed Abbasi and Ken Kelley.

Jeremy Hochstedler received a BS in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, an MS in electrical engineering from Notre Dame, and MS degrees in management science and engineering management from Stanford and MIT, respectively. He was founder and CEO of Telemetry Sports, a start-up focused on sports analytics. He is a first-year student working with Profs. John Lalor and Corey Angst.

Jiehui Luo attained dual bachelor’s degrees from Dartmouth College (computer engineering) and Mount Holyoke College (computer science with a minor in math). She received her MPhil in computer science and engineering from HKUST. Her research interests relate to human-computer interaction and human-centered AI. Jiehui was previously a product manager at Tencent. Her current research explores the value of generative AI for supporting human decision-making. She is a second-year student working with Prof. Corey Angst.

Alyona Nefedova majored in math at the Higher School of Economics. Her thesis examined classification and discovery of R-matrices. She received the Governor’s Medal for Academic Excellence. Alyona explored trading models at the Center for Mathematical Finance, and assisted with cognitive science projects at the fMRI Lab. She previously taught middle school math and volunteers at Canada/USA Mathcamp. Alyona is a second-year student working with Profs. Ken Kelley and Nick Berente.

Kezia Oketch attained a BS in computer science from Spelman College and an MS in engineering, science, and technology entrepreneurship from Notre Dame. She was a gold scholar at the Grace Hopper Conference and co-founded a research startup focused on technology-based solutions to the cancer crisis in Kenya. Kezia was also a software engineer at an Ohio-based tech company. Her current research explores fairness of AI systems in healthcare settings. She is a third-year student working with Profs. Ahmed Abbasi and John Lalor.

Sunan Qian double majored in economics and math, and minored in French, at Mount Holyoke College. She received an MS in finance with a minor in quantitative methods from Carnegie Mellon University – her thesis explored the impact of environmental regulation on firms’ carbon emissions and market value. Sunan was a digital consultant for Accenture in Tokyo. At Notre Dame, her research examines the contagion effects of in-game toxicity as well as machine learning methods for detection and mitigation. She is a third-year student working with Profs. Corey Angst and Ahmed Abbasi.

Will Stamey was a double major in economics and math at Baylor University, with a minor in philosophy. He was a Baylor Fellow and Crane Scholar, and completed the health economics sequence. Will’s honors thesis explored the impact of online education on academic outcomes. He was also a researcher at the Colorado Summer Institute in Biostatistics. At Notre Dame, he studies how sub-group level treatment effects can be efficiently and rigorously extracted from multi-dimensional longitudinal observational data. He is a fourth-year student working with Prof. Ken Kelley.

Suzie Xi received her BA degrees in computer science and art history from Smith College, and an MS in computer science from the Courant Institute at NYU. She worked for two years as a quantitative management associate at Bank of America. Suzie’s research interests relate to machine learning, large language models, and causal inference. She is a first-year student working with Prof. Heng Xu.

Xinyuan Zhang completed her undergraduate coursework from the University of Sydney, where she double majored in finance and statistics and researched sentiment analysis in the Computing Finance Lab. Xinyuan received an MS in statistics from UCLA – her thesis explored preference models for two-sided platforms. She was also a researcher in the Trusted AI Systems Lab at Nankai University. At Notre Dame, she studies human-centered computational design for how high-dimensional user digital trace data for better prediction and explanation of individual behaviors and outcomes. She is a fourth-year student working with Profs. Ahmed Abbasi and Jeff Cai.

The Cusumano Family Doctoral Fellowship in Analytics was established in 2024, thanks to a generous gift from Dino M. Cusumano ’96. The Fellowship supports Ph.D. students in analytics, known as Cusumano Family Fellows, with tuition, stipends and benefits, research support, travel to conferences and networking opportunities.

Sofía Calderón, received a BS in political science and a BA in public administration from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico. She earned an MA in economics from USC, and an MIA in international economic development from UCSD. Sofía was a research manager in the U.S. Good Business Lab Foundation at the University of Michigan. She is researching how human-robot interventions can be robustly designed and measured to improve instrumental and humanistic outcomes in workforce and healthcare contexts. She is a first-year student working with Profs. Ahmed Abbasi and Ken Kelley.

Ryan Cook received a BS in analytics with a minor in philosophy from Notre Dame, and an MS in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked as a research scientist in Notre Dame’s Human-centered Analytics Lab and Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis, supporting projects related to NLP and network analysis. Ryan was also previously an analyst at EY in Chicago. At Notre Dame, Ryan is researching how to better explain or predict team outcomes using machine learning tools such as relational event modeling and graph neural networks. He is a third-year student working with Profs. Nick Berente and Ahmed Abbasi.

Alyona Nefedova majored in math at the Higher School of Economics. Her thesis examined classification and discovery of R-matrices. She received the Governor’s Medal for Academic Excellence. Alyona explored trading models at the Center for Mathematical Finance, and assisted with cognitive science projects at the fMRI Lab. She previously taught middle school math and volunteers at Canada/USA Mathcamp. Alyona is a second-year student working with Profs. Ken Kelley and Nick Berente.

Kezia Oketch attained a BS in computer science from Spelman College and an MS in engineering, science, and technology entrepreneurship from Notre Dame. She was a gold scholar at the Grace Hopper Conference and co-founded a research startup focused on technology-based solutions to the cancer crisis in Kenya. Kezia was also a software engineer at an Ohio-based tech company. Her current research explores fairness of AI systems in healthcare settings. She is a third-year student working with Profs. Ahmed Abbasi and John Lalor.

Sunan Qian double majored in economics and math, and minored in French, at Mount Holyoke College. She received an MS in finance with a minor in quantitative methods from Carnegie Mellon University – her thesis explored the impact of environmental regulation on firms’ carbon emissions and market value. Sunan was a digital consultant for Accenture in Tokyo. At Notre Dame, her research examines the contagion effects of in-game toxicity as well as machine learning methods for detection and mitigation. She is a third-year student working with Profs. Corey Angst and Ahmed Abbasi.

Will Stamey was a double major in economics and math at Baylor University, with a minor in philosophy. He was a Baylor Fellow and Crane Scholar, and completed the health economics sequence. Will’s honors thesis explored the impact of online education on academic outcomes. He was also a researcher at the Colorado Summer Institute in Biostatistics. At Notre Dame, he studies how sub-group level treatment effects can be efficiently and rigorously extracted from multi-dimensional longitudinal observational data. He is a fourth-year student working with Prof. Ken Kelley.

Suzie Xi received her BA degrees in computer science and art history from Smith College, and an MS in computer science from the Courant Institute at NYU. She worked for two years as a quantitative management associate at Bank of America. Suzie’s research interests relate to machine learning, large language models, and causal inference. She is a first-year student working with Prof. Heng Xu.

Xinyuan Zhang completed her undergraduate coursework from the University of Sydney, where she double majored in finance and statistics and researched sentiment analysis in the Computing Finance Lab. Xinyuan received an MS in statistics from UCLA – her thesis explored preference models for two-sided platforms. She was also a researcher in the Trusted AI Systems Lab at Nankai University. At Notre Dame, she studies human-centered computational design for how high-dimensional user digital trace data for better prediction and explanation of individual behaviors and outcomes. She is a fourth-year student working with Profs. Ahmed Abbasi and Jeff Cai.

In the first year, you will learn foundational theories, concepts, and methods related to analytics. ITAO seminar courses will include human-centered AI, philosophy of science, and computational social science. Methods-related coursework will include classes in machine learning, data science, statistics, and/or econometrics. Based on prior coursework, some students might be able to opt out of certain courses. In consultation with the program director, you will form a plan of study for methods courses and electives that align with your research interests.

At the beginning of the first year, you will also be assigned a faculty mentor that will guide your efforts related to the first-year research paper – the purpose of the first-year paper is to demonstrate the potential to produce high-quality scholarly manuscripts.

In year two, you will continue to broaden and deepen your understanding of the analytics space with ITAO seminars related to human-centered statistics, mathematical modeling for consumer analytics, operations and prescriptive analytics, and data and technology ethics. At the end of the second year, you will have an examination requirement (in the form of an exam or paper). This examination will test your knowledge of ITAO seminar courses taken over the first two years. Your second-year faculty mentor will offer guidance on the paper.

You will finish any remaining coursework and turn your attention to pushing research projects towards publication.

In addition to managing your research portfolio in the fourth year, you’ll focus on finalizing your dissertation topic and defending your proposal.

The final year will involve interviewing for open positions, completing dissertation chapters, and your final dissertation defense.