Faculty/Staff Spotlight

Faculty/Staff

Our Asian American/Pacific Islander faculty and staff strive daily to ensure the College’s curricula, facilities, and systems are beyond world-class and far exceed our students’ expectations.

The Model Minority Myth and the AAPI Experience

In this episode of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing’s VOICES for Social Justice, Lien Diaz, director of educational innovation and leadership, has a heartfelt discussion with Michelle Lee (Computer Science Content Specialist in a San Francisco area public school district) and Lily Ho (Computer Science Lead Educator at the New York City Department of Education) about their experiences as AAPI women in the United States. Be sure to explore the resources available as part of this video.

Srijan Kumar is Working to Safeguard
Online Asian Communities

School of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Assistant Professor Srijan Kumar specializes in creating data science and machine learning techniques to understand large-scale human behavior as portrayed through the lens of social media. Kumar’s work includes analyzing anti-Asian hate speech in online communities, working to prevent misinformation and more.

Study Analyzing Anti-Asian Tweets Shows Online Hate Speech is Contagious

As the United States entered lockdown in March of 2020, an identifiable uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes, both physical and online, spurred the longest study to date for anti-Asian hate and counter hate on social media.

Led by School of Computational Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Srijan Kumar, the team of Georgia Tech researchers expanded on a study started last year analyzing 30 million tweets. To date, the team has successfully analyzed over 200 million tweets, identifying nearly 1 million hateful users targeting Asian groups.

Priyal Shah, Academic Advisor II, College of Computing

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in your career?

Transitioning from in-person and undergraduate advising to online graduate advising was a challenge. Initially, I felt that one can only impact or guide a student face-to-face. However, as I interact with students through the online platform I see it’s very possible to engage with and influence students through the written word as well. 

How do you define successful leadership?

Successful leadership is understanding and seeing the big picture to be strategic with one’s decisions, communications, and actions. It’s about taking accountability not just for one’s own actions but for your team as an entity.  Finding the balance between showing empathy and making the right decisions for the greater good without bias.

Kim MacLeod, Associate Director of Enterprise Services, College of Computing