Interdisciplinary Unit in Data Science & Analytics

• Buffalo State Data Talk Podcast Committee
• DSA Program Review Committee
• Diversity and Inclusion Committee
• Marketing Taskforce Committee

Melissa Brinson, MBA, Advisory Board Chair
Director of Marketing, Communications & Business Development
Millington-Lockwood
AMP Interior Construction

Bio:

Melissa Brinson is the Director of Marketing, Communications and Business Development for Millington Lockwood Business Interior Solutions, and AMP Interior Construction. Her previous experience includes several elected and appointed leadership positions within government where she was responsible for policy development, practice, execution and team management. Ms. Brinson also currently serves as a member of SUNY Buffalo State's College Council, as Chair of the Data Science and Analytics Advisory Board, member of the Anne Frank Project Development Board and is a member of numerous professional associations. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University at Buffalo and an MBA from the University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Management. She and her family reside in Buffalo, N.Y..

Website

LinkedIn

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Brian Barrey
Mathematics Teacher Buffalo Public Schools
Hutchinson Technical High School #304

Bio:

Brian Barrey is a mathematics educator at Hutchinson Technical Central High School in the Buffalo Public School District.  Currently, Brian is teaching 3 separate courses: AP Calculus AB, non-AP Calculus, and Pre-Calculus & Advanced Topics. Brian is also a co-host for the Buffalo State Data Talk podcast, and the DSA & PACM Marketing Committee in addition to being an Advisory Board member.  In an effort to bring his students up-to-date content to his students, Brian is pursuing a degree in Data Science & Analytics. 

LinkedIn

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Christopher Bole
Data Scientist

Bio:

Christopher Bole is currently a Data Scientist with BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, where he began in 2013 as a Medical Economics Analyst. At the company, Chris supports new initiatives and on-going programs by analyzing and interpreting medical, financial, operational and other information, creating better metrics, improving risk modeling, and evaluating vendor proposals, among other things.

During his nearly 30-year career as a research analyst, his innovative findings have directly led to millions of dollars in net gains, improvements to patient care and integrated health programs, advancements in research grants, and streamlined data modeling. In addition to two graduate degrees and pre-doctoral work in mathematics, statistics, business management and epidemiology, Chris is co-author on multiple peer reviewed journal articles in cancer control and substance abuse.

Chris is a musician and, from where he lives in Buffalo, New York, has given dozens of performances with the 70-member Buffalo Niagara Concert Band and 16-piece George Scott Big Band. When not preparing a new batch of honey mead, planning the next home project, or enjoying a favorite author such as Isaac Asimov, Dean Koontz or Noam Chomksy, he might be found hiking one of the many New York or Pennsylvania state forests.

Contact Chris at bole.christopher@healthnow.org

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Bill Chapman
Founder and Principal Consultant
28 Protons LLC

Bio:

As a software architect, business founder and consultant Bill has a broad range of experience across industries including Healthcare, Banking, Education, Telecommunications, and Industrial Manufacturing. 

Through his consultancy 28 Protons, Bill is fusing his experience in startups and fortune 500 consulting to help large companies and organizations through digital and organizational transformation. 

Bill received a BS in Mathematics from Buffalo State, and an MA in Mathematics from the University at Buffalo and is happy to have the opportunity to remain part of the Western New York higher education ecosystem. 

Website

LinkedIn

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Jessica Copeland
Member, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
Bond Schoeneck & King Attorneys

Bio: 

Awards / Honors

• Buffalo Business First, Legal Elite of Western New York, 2020
• Buffalo Business First, 40 Under 40, 2020
• Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2013-2015

Website

LinkedIn

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Al Delmerico
Community Health Behavior Scientist Center for Health and Social Research
SUNY Buffalo State

Bio:

I am a dedicated researcher with a passion for leveraging my skills to improve community health. I have spent more than 16 years pursuing applied research opportunities through the Institute for Community Health Promotion at Buffalo State College on a wide range of topics, including environmental prevention and health promotion strategies, health disparities, alcohol and substance use behaviors, mental health, physical activity and nutrition, and healthy aging. My training is as health geographer and my research interests and focus have been on the application of spatial analytical methodologies and collective impact approaches to improving community health in complex systems.

LinkedIn

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Drew Fones
Analytic Manager-Small Business Lending Operations
Wells Fargo

Bio:

I'm a data analytics fanatic. I love solving business problems, taking advantage of business opportunities, and making data impact an organization. I help build the bridge between data and business. I have lived and worked in 4 countries.

 

LinkedIn

Feel free to connect, just mention Buffalo State DSA in your request.

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Mohammad Haque, MS
Data Analyst
CCNY inc

Bio:

I am an alumni to the DSA Program here at Buffalo State with a Masters in Data Science and Analytics who is now working full time as a data analyst at CCNY inc. With past experiences as a database architect and web developer. Also, I am an alumni at the University of Waterloo graduated with a bachelors of mathematics. When I am not working I am also assisting with projects within buffalo state such as the TEU Dashboard, and the Podcast Committee. You can find me over at LinkedIn, send me a message if you wish to connect!

LinkedIn

 

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Kimberley Herrington, MHA
Data Journalist and Creator of Buffalo Business Intelligence
Blue Cross Blue Shield

Bio:

Kim is a data storyteller and community builder dedicated to the transformational promise of data literacy.

Kim Herrington is a Data Journalist for a large healthcare insurance company and is the Creator of the Buffalo Business Intelligence group. She is responsible for growing data visualization user adoption, increasing communications, and increasing organizational data literacy. She does this by working with cross-functional teams from analytics, IT, marketing, administration, operations, and other corporate servicing functions.

While her career path has maintained a focus on healthcare since 2004, it has paralleled a range of topics from administration, digital marketing, customer service, event planning, and project coordination. She has extensive experience in applying creative problem solving methods for process and performance improvements in analytic and healthcare operations. This unique range of experience combined with her communications expertise has made her an effective analytics translator and culture change champion. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she started www.wnywifiwarriors.com a community group to bring free internet access to a local community center, raise awareness about the “digital divide”, and create a communication channel where others could collaborate and share information pertaining to WiFi access.

In 2020, Rivery named Herrington as #2 in their list of “Top 20 Data Influencers of 2020: Big Data, Data Science, & Analytics”. Kim Herrington gives back to her community through her participation on various advisory boards and committees that focus on emerging leader development, data & technology, and public health. To see the full list of boards and awards, please visit her LinkedIn profile: www.LinkedIn.com/in/KimberlyHerrington.

Kimberly holds a Masters degree in Healthcare Administration from D’Youville College and a Bachelors in Biology from SUNY Oswego. Kim is married and he has one daughter.

LinkedIn

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Romunda Harris-Fonville
Senior Project Analyst
M&T Bank

 

 

 

 

LinkedIn

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Richard Ryall Ledyard
Real Estate Salesperson
Cushman & Wakefield / Pyramid Brokerage

 

 

 

Website Profile

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Bob Morgan
Chief Operating Officer
Thomann Asphalt Paving Corp

Bio:

Bob currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Thomann Asphalt and Paving Corp, where he is responsible for driving the company’s strategy and performance. Prior to joining Thomann, Bob was Chief Strategy and Analytics Officer at Hodgson Russ LLP, and before that was CEO of United Way of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. In addition, Bob and his wife Stephanie (B.A. Broadcasting, 1994) founded JRS Morgan Realty LLC, a boutique real estate brokerage in 2006. Bob and Stephanie live in East Aurora with their five children and two dogs. Bob is a graduate of Buffalo State (B.S. Political Science, 1994), and received his MBA from Duke University in 2002.

LinkedIn

Thomann Asphalt and Paving Website

JRS Morgan Realty LLC Website

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Dominic Myers
CEO
Packhouse Technology  Solutions
 

Bio: 

BUSINESS GROWTH THROUGH LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY | PRODUCT AND SERVICES DEVELOPMENT

Insightful and assertive business strategy leader. Seasoned Manager of Services, Production and Product Development and Sales Channels surrounding technology. Versed in Building and Growing Teams at local, regional and global levels. Laser-focused on profitability, productivity, and customer performance indicators.

Excellent presentation, interpersonal, negotiation and problem solving skills. Enthusiastic for challenging strategic leadership roles in technology and product development, market and business development, and corporate development.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

▪ Vision/Strategy Planning
▪ Business Development
▪ Market and Business Strategy
▪ Managing Manufacturing Operations & Engineering, Technology and Innovation
▪ Product Development and Commercialization
▪ Aftermarket Programs Deployment including Spares/Depot Repair, Field Teams and Consultative Professional Services
▪ Program/Project Management
▪ Supply Chain Initialization/ Vendor On-Boarding, Negotiation and Management
▪ Team Building and Leadership

EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS:

M.B.A., Executive Program, University at Buffalo (SUNY)
Executive Leadership Certificate, Cornell University
B.S. Computer Information Systems, Buffalo State College (SUNY)
B.E.T., Electrical Engineering Technology, Buffalo State College (SUNY)

LinkedIn

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Matt Nagowski
Group VP, Quantitative Modeling Manager, Treasury Division
M&T Bank

Bio:

Matthew Nagowski is a manager in Treasury Modeling where he oversees the development of behavioral models and advanced analytics to support the Bank’s risk management, financial forecasting, and customer decisioning processes, among other business practices.

Prior to M&T, he held research positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Brookings Institution.

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Barbara Olsafsky, PhD
Managing Member, Consultant - Software,Data,Training
Blou Designs LLC

Bio:

Barb has been consulting since 2005, and founded Blou Designs LLC in 2013. Throughout, her consulting has been data-focused, whether that’s adding a bit of custom software to help with data management and systems integrations, migrating data from one system to another, creating analysis/reporting tools, or masterminding to help folks get clear on how to use their data more strategically.

LinkedIn

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Jeff Rathmann
President/CEO
Silo City Information Technology

Bio:

Jeff Rathmann is the CEO of Silo City IT, a Cybersecurity Firm headquartered in Buffalo, NY. Jeff is an accomplished, results-oriented engineer and technologist with more than 13 years of experience in the fields of Network & Systems Engineering, Offensive and Defensive Cybersecurity, and Network Optimization. Jeff started his career in Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) architecting, integrating and maintaining, mission systems supporting the Department of Defense.  

During his six war-zone deployments supporting the DoD, Jeff continually expanded his skill sets and experience beyond networking/network security to encompass cross-domain systems, virtualization, application performance optimization and network monitoring. Jeff is the former Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of a multi-million-dollar government IT contractor with a diverse customer base within the DoD and Intelligence Community. He architected and maintained internal R&D labs, designed and implemented cyber compliance mechanisms, and actively worked on contracts supporting network optimization and cyber analysis and defense capabilities. 

Some notable organizations Jeff has supported in the past are: 

·       NSA - National Security Agency  

·       DISA - Defense Information Systems Agency 

·       DIA - Defense Intelligence Agency 

·       FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation 

Jeff’s technical and industry experience led him to become the Founder/CEO of Silo City IT, a cybersecurity firm focused on providing scalable cyber defense solutions leveraging artificial intelligence and automation. He is located in the Buffalo, NY area where Jeff grew up and is raising his young family. 

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Murray Richburg
Assistant Vice President Technology
M&T Bank

Bio:

Murray recieved his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from SUNY Buffalo State and his MBA from SUNY University at Buffalo.

Murray is an IT professional with 20+ years of experience in data management, project management, leadership, and process involvement in the health care, software engineering, and financial service sectors. He currently is the Assistant Vice President of Technology at M&T Bank.

He would describe himself as an innovator with the ability to design creative solutions that improve organizational processes and service delivery. As a change agent and enthusiastic self-starter, he is a natural leader with a talent for bringing out the strengths in others. He is also a founding member of AARG's Technology Outreach Committee whose mission is to assist M&T improve diversity by utilizing its relationships and efforts in the recruitment of qualified employee candidates that are representative of the demographics of AARG.

Murray is also a member of the Industry Advisory Board and head of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

LinkedIn

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Ramona Santa Maria
Comuputer Information Systems Associate Professor
Buffalo State College

Bio:

Ramona R. Santa Maria, a faculty member in the Computer Information Systems Department at Buffalo State College since 1999. She is currently an associate professor.  She holds a Ph.D. in social foundations from the University of Buffalo with a concentration in critical and cultural studies of information technology. Within the CIS department she coordianates the CIS Internship program and Computer Fundamentals course.

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