Faculty

David is an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco. His research interests are natural language processing, machine learning, and databases — specifically on the personal and cultural/demographic information transmitted during speech and typing. This research may lead to more accurate speech recognition systems. Prior to joining USF, David was a research assistant in the Speech Lab at Queens College and an instructor at Hunter College. He has previously worked for the City of...

Stephen Devlin is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Master’s in Data Science program (MSDS). He has also served as department chair and director of the undergraduate data science program. Stephen has a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College in New York, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Maryland. He was a C.L.E. Moore Instructor at MIT before moving to the University of San Francisco. His research interests include both pure and applied...

Associate Professor of Finance Jeff Hamrick has been instrumental in developing USF's MS in Data Science (MSDS) program. His teaching also supports the university's Master of Science in Financial Analysis (MSFA) program. For the MSDS program, he has designed courses in linear regression analysis, time series analysis, multivariate statistical analysis, and SAS programming. In the MSFA program, he teaches econometrics and financial econometrics. Professor Hamrick contributes his extensive...

Yannet is an assistant professor in the Master’s in Data Science program, and her research interests lie in the application of machine learning and deep learning to medical data. She holds a PhD in applied mathematics from Cornell University and a BS in mathematics from the University of Havana, Cuba. After a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley, she worked for five years as a data scientist at Google. Yannet co-founded Akualab, a start-up that helped organizations develop data-driven...

Michael Ruddy is an assistant professor in the Master in Data Science program. His research interests are in deep learning in image processing and applications of geometry to image science, data science, and statistics. He is passionate about creating a respectful and inclusive environment in his courses, in which students feel comfortable collaborating, taking risks, and making mistakes. Professor Ruddy received a PhD in mathematics from North Carolina State University in 2019 (with advisers...

Shan is an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco and currently teaching full time for USF's Data Science programs. Her research interests are nonparametric estimation, prediction models, and applied statistics. Shan also works closely with experts from different fields. She has experiences in NIH and NSF grants in cancer research and GIS. She holds a PhD in statistics from Purdue University (IUPUI campus) and a BS in mathematics from Fudan University in China.

James is an Assistant Professor of Statistics and Co-Director of the BS in Data Science program at the University of San Francisco. He has joint appointments in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the MS in Data Science program, where he has developed and taught courses in Bayesian statistics, machine learning, data science, and network analysis. In research, James develops new statistical and computational techniques to model, analyze, and explore high-dimensional and relational (...

Diane Woodbridge is an assistant professor in the MS in Data Science program at the University of San Francisco. Her research interests include database management systems, data fusion and data mining in various domains including biomedical, geoscience and geospatial remote sensing. Prior to joining USF, Professor Woodbridge was with the scalable analysis and visualization department at Sandia National Laboratories.