Recent PhD Graduates

Gerry Derksen
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Stan Ruecker, Graphic Design
Dissertation:
Customized Learning for Autistic Children Using ML

Thierry Guigma
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Ian Brooks, iSchool
Dissertation:
Place of Twitter and Google Search Data In Disease Outbreak Monitoring and Forecasting: Case of The Covid-19 Pandemic

Leon Hounnou
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Nathan Castillo, College of Education
Dissertation:
Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning, Bayesian Neural Networks, and Spatial Analysis in Modeling a Predictive System, Credit Risk, and Organizational Performance Across Continents

Weizi Liu
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Mike Yao, College of Media
Dissertation:
Gender Identity and Influence in Human-Machine Communication: A Mixed-Methods Research Program

Mark Moran
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. J Stephen Downie, iSchool
Dissertation:
Stakeholder Representation in The CEO’s Letter to Shareholders

Tanusree Sharma
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Yang Wang, iSchool
Dissertation:
Engaging People in Ethical AI Development: Design, Dataset Creation, and Decision-Making

Sam Walkow
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Matt Turk, iSchool
Dissertation:
Using Data Stories to Understand Spacial Mental Models of Data In Natural Science Domains: Characterizing Technical and Social Infrastructure

Tian Wang
PhD: 2024
Advisor: Dr. Masooda Bashir, iSchool
Dissertation:
Navigating The Social Media Privacy Landscape: Insight From User Experiences

Ryan Chandler
PhD: 2023
Advisor: Dr. Chilin Shih and Dr. Mark Hasegawa-Johnson
Dissertation:
Semantic Prosodic Correlates of Backchannel Utterances in Human-Computer Dialog

Donald Keefer
PhD: 2023
Advisor: Dr. Cathy Blake, iSchool
Dissertation:
Advancing Knowledge-Rich Intelligent Systems in Geology: Research on Intelligent Integration, Representation, and Use

Alexis Kim
PhD: 2023
Advisor: Dr. Judith Pintar, iSchool
Dissertation:
Shaping Virtual Realities: Heuristics and Design Practices for Simulations & Games

Cliff Shin
PhD: 2023
Advisor: Dr. Stan Ruecker
Dissertation:
Interdependency Between Complexity and Longevity Through The Lens of The Designer

Mohammad Amanzadeh
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. George Francis, Mathematics
Dissertation:
A Mathematical Interpretation of Human Body Movement

Priscilla Boff Ferronato
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Masooda Bashir, iSchool
Dissertation:
Trust in Autonomous Systems: Investigating Individual Differences in Dispositional and Situational Trust

Si Chen
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Brian Deal, Landscape Architecture
Dissertation:
Urban Informatics Systems Science Using Engaging Interface and Machine Learning in Spatial-temporal Analysis

Juan Alfonso De La Rosa
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Stan Ruecker, Graphic Design
Dissertation:
Multilayer future system-mapping using decentered prototypes: A participatory tool for design of public infrastructure in complex social environments

Ryan Ingebritsen
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Steven Taylor, Music
Dissertation:
Auditory Kinesthesia: A Framework to Facilitate The Design and Performance of Interactive Music Systems

Ming Jiang
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. J Stephen Downie, iSchool
Dissertation:
The Influence of Optical Character Recognition quality on the Robustness of Representation Learning

Chang Liu
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, iSchool
Dissertation:
Sociotechnical Matching: Furniture Manufacturers at the Peripheries of Chinese Economic Reform

Hans Muller Paul
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Matthew Hudson, Crop Sciences
Dissertation:
Development and Application of Machine Learning Tools for the Advancement of Energy Crop Genetic Manipulation using CRISPR/Cas Technology

Monica Porteanu
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Kevin Hamilton, New Media & Dean, Fine and Applied Arts
Dissertation:
Decision-Making For a Regenerative Society: Voice-Based Emotion AI

Yaguang Sun
PhD: 2022
Advisor: Dr. Stan Ruecker, Graphic Design
Dissertation:
New Challenges for Smartphone Apps Among Chinese Urban Older Persons During the Covid-19 Pandemic

James Balamuta
PhD: 2021
Advisor: Dr.Jeffrey Douglas, Statistics and Dr.Stephen Culpepper, Statistics
Dissertation:
Bayesian Estimation of Restricted Latent Class Models: Extending priors, link functions, and structural models

Kelechi Ikegwu
PhD: 2021
Advisor: Dr.Robert J. Brunner, Accounting
Dissertation:
Machine Learning and Information-Theoretic Approaches for Financial Applications

Brandi Smith
PhD: 2021
Advisor: Dr.Rebecca L. Smith, Pathobiology
Dissertation:
Health Disparities, Environmental Toxicants and Midlife Women’s Health Outcomes

Pan Zhang
PhD: 2021
Advisor: Dr. Sandra Rodriguez-Zas, Animal Sciences
Dissertation:
Integration of Bioinformatics Approaches to Study Transcriptome patterns Associated with Complex Traits at the Gene and Isoform Levels

Fizza Mughal
PhD: 2020
Advisor: Dr.Gustavo Caetano-Anolles, Crop Sciences
Dissertation:
Evolution of Protein Structure, Function, and Dynamics in Biological Systems

Santiago Nuñez-Corrales
PhD: 2020
Advisor: Dr. Erik Jakobsson, Molecular & Cellular Biology
Dissertation:
Toward a Unified View of Complex Multiscale Stochastic Systems: A Generalized Theory of Interactions and Its Computational Infrastructure for Their Universal and Efficient Investigation

Justin Pence
PhD: 2020
Advisor: Dr. Zahra Mohaghegh, Nuclear Plasma and Radiological Engineering
Dissertation:
Theorizing and Quantifying Organizational and Social Factors in Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Complex Systems

Siva Ratna Kumari Narisetti
PhD: 2020
Advisor: Dr.Vivechkanand Chunoo, Agricultural Leadership Education and Dr.Michael Twidale, iSchool
Dissertation:
Utility of Agricultural Mobile Apps Among Indian Rural Farmers

Mikko Tuomela
PhD: 2020
Advisor: Dr. Michael Twidale, iSchool
Dissertation:
Individual Reading Types and the Effects of Automated Annotation

Aseel Addawood
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Umberto Ravaioli, ECE
Dissertation:
Understanding Misinformation on Twitter in the Context of Controversial Issues

Jarai Carter
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Lulu Rodriguez, Agricultural Communication
Dissertation:
Use of and Information Seeking Behaviors on Facebook Among Illinois Farmers and Farm Families

Usawadee Chaiprom
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Matt Hudson, Crop Sciences
Dissertation:
Analysis of Soybean Gene Regulation Reveals Regulatory Mechanisms of RHG1-Mediated Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode

Hsiao-Ying Huang
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Masooda Bashir, iSchool
Dissertation:
Examining Older Users’ Online Privacy-Enhancing Experience from a Human-Computer Interaction Perspective

Kangjae Lee
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Mei-Po Kwan, Geography
Dissertation:
Integration of GIS and Machine Learning Techniques to Investigate the Impact of Environmental Contexts on Travel Modes

Kyungho Lee
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Donna Cox, Art & Design
Dissertation:
Understanding the role of Visual Metaphors in Emerging Media Arts Research and Practice

Halie Rando
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Anna Kukekova, Animal Sciences
Dissertation:
Genomic Response to Selection for Behavior

Daniel Wickland
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Matthew Hudson, Crop Sciences
Dissertation:
Computational Methods For Genomic Variant Calling and Analysis

Sean Wilner
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. John Hummel, Psychology
Dissertation:
Narrative Comprehension Through Analogy: A Study in Cognitive Modeling and Narrative Clustering

Xuesong Yang
PhD: 2019
Advisor: Dr. Mark Hasegawa-Johnson, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Dissertation:
Dealing with Linguistic Mismatches for Automatic Speech Recognition

Syed Abbas Bukhari
PhD: 2018
Advisor: Dr. Alison Bell, Animal Biology
Dissertation:
Neurogenomic Dynamics Following Social Interactions in Male Threespined Sticklebacks

Michael Junokas
PhD: 2018
Advisor: Dr. Guy Garnett, Music
Dissertation:
A Singular Synthesis: Investigating Timbral Synthesis and Control Systems Through the Integration of Music Composition and Machine Learning

Ankit Rai
PhD: 2018
Advisor: Dr. Barbara Minsker, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Dissertation:
Inferring Landscape Preferences from Social Media Using Data Science Techniques

Kiumars Soltani
PhD: 2018
Advisor: Dr. Shaowen Wang, Geography
Dissertation:
A Distributed Workload-aware Approach to Partitioning Geospatial Big Data for Cybergis Analytics

Joseph T. Yun
PhD: 2018
Advisor: Dr.Brittany Duff, Adverstising
Dissertation:
Analyzing the Boundaries of Balance Theory in Evaluating Cause-Related Marketing Compatibility

Tom Le Paine
PhD: 2017
Advisor: Dr. Thomas Huang, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dissertation:
Practical Considerations for Deep Learning

Yan Liu
PhD: 2017
Advisor: Dr. Shaowen Wang, Geography
Dissertation:
High-Performance Evolutionary Computation for Scalable Spatial Optimization

Khuram Shahzad
PhD: 2017
Advisor: Dr. Juan Loor, Animal Sciences
Dissertation:
Systems Physiology and Nutrition in Dairy Cattle: Applications of Omics and Bioinformatics to Better Understand the Hepatic Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Adaptations in Transition Dairy Cows

Brent Fegley
PhD: 2016
Advisor: Dr. Vetle Torvik, iSchool
Dissertation:
Mechanisms Driving the Formation and Success of Collaborations between Scientists in Biomedicine

Arshan Nasir
PhD: 2015
Advisor: Dr. Gustavo Caetano-Anolles, Crop Sciences
Dissertation:
Structural and Functional Advances in the Evolutionary Studies of Cells and Viruses

Scott Nixon
PhD: 2015
Advisor: Dr. Sandra Rodriguez-Zas, Animal Sciences
Dissertation:
Study of Phenotypic and Gene Expression Response to Bacterial Challenge