Leadership
Our leadership team is committed to driving innovation, positioning the iSchool as a top-ranked institution that is at the forefront of advances in information, technology, and data studies.
Faculty Leadership
Jaime Banks
Associate Professor | Program Director, Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology
Laurie Ferger
Assistant Teaching Professor | Director of Undergraduate Programs
Jeff Hemsley
Interim Dean, Associate Professor
John Jordan
Professor of Practice | Program Director, Doctor of Professional Studies
Megan Oakleaf
Professor, Program Director, MLIS, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Carsten Østerlund
Professor, Associate Dean for Research
Jeffrey Saltz
Associate Professor | Program Director, ADS and IS
Staff Leadership
Kathryn Allen
Assistant Dean of Student Services
Patti Bevans
Director of Career Services
Roger Merrill
Director of Technology Services & Facilities
Zachary Schuster
Director of Admissions and Recruitment
Peggy Takach
Director of Faculty Initiatives
Sarah Weber
Interim Assistant Dean of Advancement, Director of Corporate Relations
Anya Woods
Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications
Board of Advisors
Members
Reggie graduated from Syracuse University in 1999 with a BS in information management and technology from the iSchool. He was most recently the senior vice president of software engineering at Juvare, a computer software firm. This summer, Reggie has taken a purposeful step away from his professional obligations, opting to leave Juvare to spend time with his family in Atlanta and consider what his personal priorities will be in this next chapter. Before leaving Juvare, he was making a difference in the fight against COVID-19 with the company’s software that has tracking capabilities to monitor the availability of ventilators, hospital beds and personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals across the country.
Prior to Juvare, Reggie was vice president of global professional services at GE Power, where he spent over 20 years of his career. His sister, Danielle-Ange R. Acloque ‘97, graduated from Syracuse University with a BS in social work from Falk (formerly the School of Social Work).
For Syracuse, Reggie is a member of the iSchool Board of Advisors and has been on the Atlanta Regional Council since 2013. He is a supporter of the Students of Promise Fund and the SU Education Opportunity Fund.
Sam is a 2010 graduate of the iSchool with a major in management and technology. He was elected to serve on the Board of the SU Alumni Association from 2011 to 2015. Sam was also the chair of the Generation Orange Committee and served on the Association’s Executive Committee. In addition, he was the architect and primary benefactor of the iSchool’s first ever crowdfunding campaign, Fuel, which raised over $30,000 and was a rousing success.
While a student at Syracuse, Sam was a driving member of the committee behind the 2010 Senior Class Giving campaign, which raised $11,000 for various schools, colleges and programs at the University. He also served as a peer advisor for the iSchool during his undergraduate years.
Beth graduated from Syracuse University in 1985 with a BS in systems and information science from the College of Engineering and Computer Science. She is an Account Partner Director, Professional Services for Salesforce and works with large enterprises looking to innovate and transform their business processes using the Salesforce platform She has worked there since 2013. Prior to Salesforce, Beth held similar software consulting services sales positions at Accruent, Astadia, and Oracle/Siebel. Beth is also a mentor and member of Step Up, a non-profit that empowers teenage girls from under-resourced communities.
For Syracuse, Beth has been a member of the iSchool Board of Advisors since 2016 and serves on the LA Regional Council. She previously founded the Alumni Club in Dallas, TX and was a member from 1991-2004.
Nancy is a partner with EY’s Financial Services Organization (FSO) in the Americas. She has 25+ years of experience working with client leaders to help them to identify and solve complex business issues. Nancy’s experience has focused on various programs focused on growth and optimizing operations, technology, and talent to win in the market.
With clients, Nancy is laser-focused on bringing solutions to their businesses that specifically address the exam question and is rooted in financial discipline, is operationally feasible and consumable to the organization.
As a Global Service Partner, Nancy leads our largest global client accounts in the insurance industry. In that role, Nancy leads a large team serving our insurance accounts around the world. In addition to her role as Global Client Service Partner, Nancy serves in a leadership role focused on people and culture across the financial services consulting business.
Nancy and her husband John live in New Jersey. They have 3 children, John, Grace, and Daniel.
Craig is the senior vice president of client services at Eventus Solutions Group. Eventus is a consulting and technology services company that delivers and manages advanced, comprehensive Customer Experience solutions for its clients.
Prior to joining Eventus, Craig enjoyed a 25 year career with Accenture, where he held a variety of roles serving clients in both the commercial and public sectors. From 2007 through 2012, Craig served as the Portfolio Lead of Accenture’s U.S. Federal Civilian business, where he was responsible for sales and delivery of Accenture’s business with civilian organizations throughout the U.S. federal government. Craig also served as the managing director for Accenture’s business with the U.S. Postal Service, as well as the managing director for Accenture’s U.S. Public Service Customer Relationship Management business.
During his career, Craig has worked across many industries, including postal, transportation and travel services, retail, communications, electronics and high tech, and aerospace and defense. Since 2001, he has been focused on serving public service organizations, primarily in the U.S. federal government. Craig is recognized for developing and managing client relationships, as well as for his experience in bringing best practices to help clients improve their business performance and deliver greater value for their customers.
Craig graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in aerospace engineering. He is married to Rebecca Cornelius, who is a VPA graduate. They have three children and reside in both Jacksonville, FL and Potomac, MD. Craig joined the iSchool Board in February 2000 and served two terms as its chair. He has also served on the board of the Foundation for Future Technology Leaders, an organization that provides scholarships to students seeking degrees in various fields of information technology.
Hetherington “Hether” leads a team that supports higher education and K12 organizations across the east region as the general manager of US Education for Microsoft. This team works with institutional and educational leaders to support and advance their initiatives through the use of Microsoft technology.
Previously, Hether served as the senior director of the Northeast Healthcare and Life Science team, working with numerous providers and academic medical centers, spanning the public and private sectors. During her ten years at Microsoft, Hether has held a number of key roles across the Microsoft US team. Prior to Microsoft, Hether worked in technology research serving as the VP of sales for TheInfoPro and RVP of Media Metrix.
Hether is active in her community, serving on the boards of the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society and The Family Fund. Hether holds a degree in economics from St. Lawrence University and lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.
Sharon Dhall is Kroll’s Chief Information Officer, based in New York. Sharon has more than 25 years of experience and a proven track record of success in technology, operations, business and process transformation and finance leadership roles. Throughout her career, she has led many successful enterprise-wide initiatives, including transformation efforts, enterprise robotics programs and process re-engineering. In her role at the firm, she has global responsibility for shaping and supporting Kroll’s growth through the strategic use of technology, data and people resources to deliver an improved customer and employee experience.
Prior to being appointed Chief Information Officer, Sharon led Enterprise Technology for the Human Resources, Legal and Compliance functions as well as Enterprise Business Process Automation at TIAA. She was instrumental in the continued progress of the organization’s Robotics Center of Excellence and developed a community to share learnings across the enterprise. Sharon’s leadership made an enduring impact in the Women in IT initiative and the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the firm. She was the co-sponsor for Women in Technology along with Ally programs to help development, shape and retain technology talent. She also drove human resource transformation efforts globally, including a long-term initiative that transformed how TIAA delivered HR services.
Sharon joined TIAA in 2017 from JPMorgan Chase, where she was Technology CFO/COO for the corporate investment bank, responsible for $3.6 billion in annual technology spend and the delivery of a $200 million (mn) multi-year efficiency program. She also held technology and process leadership roles of increasing responsibility at JPMorgan Chase, including managing transformational initiatives across the banking technology portfolio, driving process re-engineering efforts in the wholesale business and being the auto and student lending CIO. She also spent more than 12 years with General Electric in the GE Capital and finance divisions in roles that ranged from project management to chief information officer, where she managed a $25 mn technology budget and more than 400 resources globally.
Sharon serves on the boards of the Emma Willard All Girls High School, Syracuse University’s iSchool and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management, a non-profit open education organization. She has also authored a book on information technology in higher education.
Sharon holds a bachelor’s degree in information sciences and technology from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in organization psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University. She also received an Executive MBA from the University of Connecticut. She is actively involved in her community supporting Operation Walk Maryland and participates in several Asian and women’s diversity networks.
Steve is the chairman and founder of Smarsh. This eponymous company provides hosted solutions for archiving electronic communications that help organizations manage and enforce compliance and records retention strategies. In 2018, Steve stepped down as Smarsh CEO, a position he had held since founding the company in 2001. He remains on the board of the company, but his focus is now on his Portland, OR investment firm, Archivist Capital. Archivist seems to have invested heavily in real estate as well as other tech companies.
Prior to founding the company, Steve led product management and development efforts at CCBN, which became part of Thomson Reuters and, later, NASDAQ OMX. He also spent time in key roles at both Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
Steve graduated from Syracuse University in 1997. He earned a BS from the iSchool in information management & technology, and he earned a BS from A&S/Maxwell in economics. Steve has been a member of the iSchool Board of Advisors since 2015. He has also been a site host for the Peak2Peak and NYC iSchool immersion trips.
Pat is currently retired after spending more than 40 years working in education administration (K-12). After graduating from Syracuse University in 1966, Pat became a librarian for Onondaga Community College. She spent 5 years in this role and transitioned to the Oswego County BOCES in Mexico, NY. She spent 25 years with BOCES and left as assistant superintendent in 1996. She joined the Central Square Central School District and worked as an assistant superintendent and administrative consultant for the next 10 years.
Pat retired from education administration in the early 2000s and has continued to give back to local communities through a broad range of professional and volunteer associations in library and information services. Pat graduated from Syracuse University in 1964. She earned a BA from A&S and majored in Spanish language, literature and culture. She also graduated from the iSchool in 1966 with an MLS. For Syracuse University, Pat was elected to the University’s Board of Trustees in 2014. Pat is an active member of the iSchool Board of Visitors, a former member of the Syracuse University Alumni Association (2004 – 2016), and a longtime supporter of Syracuse University Athletics.
Lou graduated from Syracuse University in 1961. He earned BA in physical education from A&S in 1961. He also earned an MS in physical education in 1962 from the School of Education. Lou attended SU on a football scholarship and was a member of the 1959 national championship football team along with brother, Frederick J. Mautino ’61 A&S.
After graduating from college, Lou started a sports career as an assistant football coach at Syracuse University and played semi-professional football with the Mohawk Valley Falcons. After one season, he started investing in Syracuse real estate and built his own business in commercial real estate including rental apartments. He is now retired after forty years as a builder and developer in Syracuse, NY.
Darren is senior marketing director for Red Hat Inc., a computer software leader in providing enterprise open source solutions. Red Hat became a subsidiary of IBM in 2019. Prior to joining Red Hat in 2017, Darren held similar positions with VMware, EMC, Voyence, SMARTS, Aprisma and Cabletron Systems. Darren graduated from Syracuse University in 1990 with a BS in public relations from Newhouse and in 1999 from Plymouth State University with an MBA.
Darren and his wife Allison are parents to Regan Orzechowski ’21 who graduated from VPA with a BFA in communication design and an iSchool minor and Leah Orzechowski ’23 who is studying information management and technology at the iSchool. Regan recently joined Converse as an employee communications brand designer.
For Syracuse, Darren is a member of the iSchool Board of Advisors and a financial supporter of the School.
Christine is SVP, Global Head of Professional Services and Customer Success at Quantive, the world’s leading AI-powered Strategy Platform. Christine also recently completed her the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.
Christine’s professional career spans executive leadership roles in global financial services, technology and consulting firms. She previously served as VP and Global Managing Director for Financial Services at Pegasystems; SVP Customer Care for neobank HelloBank!, a division of BNP Paribas and Senior Director at Gartner responsible for the Disruptive Technology and CRM solution offerings. Christine also led the Global Transformation Office for Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group and spent over 20 years leading global consulting practices for EY and KPMG, working with clients in strategy development and enterprise-wide business improvement and technology-enabled business solutions.
Christine serves as an Advisory Board Member at the Museum of Science, Boston and is actively involved in the Carnegie Hall Patrons Society, the University Club of Boston and a number of nonprofit community and volunteer organizations, including the ASPCA’s Visiting Pet Therapy program with her loyal dog, Theo. She received her BS from Le Moyne College and an MS in information management from the iSchool, where she has also served as a guest lecturer. Christine also recently completed her Executive MBA at Harvard Business School, and has been on the iSchool Board since October, 2006.
Greg is a partner/principal in EY’s NYC Office serving as the global client service leader for Bank of America. He has is a trusted advisor and partner to many clients. He is also a part of the leadership team for the Americas Financial Services Organization. EY’s Americas Financial Services Organization includes more than 12,400 professionals in 14 market segments, spanning 90 cities throughout the US, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Based in New York, Greg represents EY’s full portfolio of business, technology and risk offerings to his global clients. He also has significant background in guiding clients through large technology transformational programs. These initiatives have been implemented successfully across several industry sectors, specifically Banking & Capital Markets.
During his career, he has held many significant management and leadership roles within Business Operations and Client Management. Greg has participated in numerous Industry executive panels with key industry and technology partners. He held 10 years as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
Greg is passionate about supporting people in both the workplace and in the community. He serves on several advisory boards including, Partnership with Children, Patrick’s Pals, and Syracuse University’s iSchool. He is directly involved in several Diversity & Inclusiveness leadership teams at EY, including Women in Technology, LGBT+ (Unity), Black professional and Latino/Hispanic groups.
Greg lives in New Jersey and is married with three children, which includes an alumna, Alyssa Raimann ’14 Newhouse. He enjoys sports and outdoor activities.
Jeffrey Rubin is both chief executive oOfficer of SIDEARM Sports, a company he founded in 2001, as well as chief digital officer of the media group within Learfield IMG College. SIDEARM works with over 90% of NCAA D1 programs and is a digital engagement platform that powers the official websites, apps, stats, ticketing, and sponsorship integration for these university partners.
Jeff is an alumnus of Syracuse University’s iSchool graduating in 1995 with a major in information management and technology. For Syracuse University, he is an associate professor of practice, an active angel investor, and serves on two advisory boards, iSchool Board of Advisors and Falk College Sport Management Advisory Council. He is also an active donor to local charities and Syracuse University.
Jeff and his wife of 15 years, Jennifer, reside in Syracuse, NY, and have two sons, Nathan and Benjamin.
Hasan is a senior manager of global services for Aruba Networks, a Hewlett Packard (HP) subsidiary company that specializes in wireless networking. Aruba was founded in 2002 and acquired in 2015 by HP. The company reported 6000+ employees and $3 billion in revenue in 2020. Prior to this, Hasan was global sales and services manager for Fortinet, a cybersecurity company headquartered in California (2016 – 2018). He worked at Cisco from 2000 – 2015 in a series of roles with increasing responsibility. He started as web engineer and left the company as wireless services leader.
Hasan has been a highly engaged volunteer for the iSchool. He has served as a guide in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to visitors from Syracuse University. He went above and beyond, helping with Visa difficulties, arranging transportation, and assisting at recruiting events. He has worked with our Advancement team to introduce and set up appointments with key and influential people abroad. Hasan has served as an Immersion Trip host, has traveled to campus to recruit students on behalf of his company, and has volunteered to mentor and connect with students seeking career advice.
The iSchool’s relationship with Aruba is also becoming increasingly valuable as they hire for many data science and analytical roles. Hasan has been an essential part of stewarding this corporate partnership. He believes in the value of an iSchool education, and he often remarks that he owes everything to his experiences at Syracuse University.
RJ started his career as an entrepreneur, founding his first company in high school, and today is the Vice President, Customer Experience Strategy at Northwestern Mutual. Over the course of RJ’s career, he went on to co-found BrandYourself.com, was a manager at Deloitte Consulting, and the SVP of Innovation at Citizens Financial Group.
During RJ’s undergrad at Syracuse, he was a triple major across iSchool and Whitman (Information Studies and Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Finance), and completed his MS in Information Management at the iSchool.
Beyond work, RJ is engaged in a variety of hobbies being a commercial aircraft pilot, cyclist, retired sponsored motorcycle pro, scuba diver, and more.
Christopher is the president and CEO of Kipsu, a company he co-founded in 2010. Prior to launching Kipsu, Christopher was a venture capitalist with Coral Ventures where he invested in emerging enterprise software and communications technology companies.
Earlier in his career, Christopher was with IBM’s Venture Capital Group where he focused on the enterprise computing sector and was a manager with Accenture, where he was involved in launching new businesses in the communications and media markets, including forming ventures using Accenture’s intellectual property and consulting to emerging start-up companies. Christopher got his start on the engineering side of the business, having developed enterprise software for Xerox. He also reported on data communications technology for Network Computing Magazine.
Christopher graduated from Syracuse University’s iSchool in 1997 with a BS in information management technology, and he received an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business where he was an IBM Venture Fellow.
ALANA VARIANO has a thorough passion for technology dating back to when she taught herself how to code in high school, and her curiosity and lifelong learning approach has led her to deliver technology products to some of the world’s biggest brands- LinkedIn, Morgan Stanley, GE and American Express.
Currently, as a Principal Product Manager at LinkedIn, she leads product strategy, and the R&D execution at LinkedIn- leading product for the global editorial and news organization. In her four years, she has focused on visual content – from video to live video and images, to help members around the world share knowledge and connect with one another.
In previous roles, Alana has focused and honed her technology skills in Product Management at Bloomberg, American Express, Morgan Stanley and GE.
Alana graduated Summa Cum Laude from Syracuse University in 2008, where she was a Staff Writer for the Daily Orange’s Technology section, a Remembrance Scholar, a Peer Advisor for the iSchool, ran the student gate the Carrier Dome with Sidearm Sports, studied abroad at SU-Florence, and worked in NSF-Funded Undergraduate Research. At graduation, Alana was awarded the Dean’s Scholar Award and the Donald and Joyce P. Marchand Award for outstanding Academic achievement.
Gisela is director emerita of the iSchool’s MSLIS program. In the role of MSLIS program director, Dr. von Dran focused on admissions, student advising, and career and internship opportunities. She also led the Faculty Program Advisory Committee for LIS and worked with faculty and other program directors on marketing, curriculum, and course offerings. As a member of the iSchool faculty, Gisela teaches organization management courses at the graduate level as well as the iSchool’s first-year gateway course.
Before joining the iSchool, Gisela served as an assistant professor of management at Whitman. She was also an assistant professor at both the University of North Texas and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Prior to her roles in academia, Gisela worked in the professional sector as a public service librarian at the University of Tennessee at Nashville/Tennessee State University, a library science librarian at Vanderbilt University and as assistant director of administrative services at the Texas Tech University Libraries.
Gisela holds a PhD in public administration from Arizona State University. She was married to Raymond von Dran, who was dean of the iSchool from 1995 until his death in 2007. Her daughter, Beth von Dran ’02 VPA, is also an alumna.
Graham serves as the head of the cash management business for Deutsche Bank in the Americas. He leads a sales, product and service organization that provides innovative cash management solutions to institutional and corporate clients. Graham holds board seats with The Clearing House Payment Company, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank NY Branch and ModoPayments.
Previous leadership roles include his tenure as Deutsche Bank’s Global Transaction Bank Americas COO, Global Head of Online, FX, Liquidity & Investments Products as well as Americas regional head of product development and community development finance group. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Graham spent seven years at Citigroup in various roles within the global transaction services, commercial banking and private wealth divisions based in the United States and Hong Kong.
Graham earned a BS in information management & technology and an MS in information management from Syracuse University, where today, he serves as a member of the iSchool Board of Advisors and has committed to a 5×5 scholarship. He also holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.