Faculty

Kirk Borne is a Data Science Fellow at Booz Allen Hamilton. Prior to that, Dr. Borne was a professor of astrophysics and computational science at George Mason University for 12 years, where he did research and taught students in the undergraduate and graduate data science programs. Prior to that, Dr. Borne spent nearly 20 years supporting data systems activities for NASA space science missions, including a role as NASA's Archive Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Erik Brynjolfsson is director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, Schussel Family Professor at the MIT Sloan School. His research examines the effects of information technologies on business strategy, productivity and performance, digital commerce, and intangible assets. At MIT, he teaches courses on the Economics of Information and the Analytics Lab. Professor Brynjolfsson was among the first to measure productivity contributions of IT and the complementary role of organizational capital and other intangibles.

Alberto Cairo is a journalist and designer, and the Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication of the University of Miami (UM). He is also the director of the visualization program at UM’s Center for Computational Science. He has been head of information graphics at media publications in Spain and Brazil. The author of several books such as 'How Charts Lie' (2019) and 'The Truthful Art; (2016), Cairo currently consults with companies and institutions like Google, and has provided visualization training to the European Union, and more.

Emilio Isom is a highly experienced analytics and business intelligence leader who has worked in industries spanning automotive, supply chain & logistics as well as consumer goods manufacturing. In his current role he serves as the Senior Director of Analytics where he is responsible for creating enterprise analytic capabilities for the Cox Automotive Sales function. Always continuing to learn and “sharpen the saw”, he is currently pursuing his Masters in Analytics at Georgia Tech.

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic tells stories with data. She is the author of Storytelling with Data: Let’s Practice! and Storytelling with Data: a Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals, which has been translated into a dozen languages, used as a textbook by more than 100 universities and serves as the course book for tens of thousands of SWD workshop participants. For nearly a decade, Cole and her team have delivered interactive learning sessions highly sought after by data-minded individuals and organizations all over the world.

Franklin Story Musgrave M.D. is a retired American astronaut that has completed six space missions. He is also one of the most educated people to have traveled into space. A mathematician, aviation technician, instrument technician, military pilot, Air Force doctor, National Heart Institute post-doctoral, and bio physics instructor. His first flight into space was on April 4, 1983 and his last voyage was 7th December 1996. Operational duties included shuttle deployments, satellite launches and service, and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Gebhard Rainer, CEO at Sandals Resorts International, has more than 35 years’ international experience in the hotel industry, having lived and worked in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the United States and the Caribbean. A hospitality veteran with global operations and international finance experience, he served more than 20 years at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, including 2 years as executive vice president and CFO. From 2014 to 2016, he served as president and Chief Operating Officer for the luxury brand Coach.

Gary Urton is the Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. His research focuses on a variety of topics in pre-Columbian and early colonial Andean cultural and intellectual history, drawing on materials and methods in archaeology, ethnohistory, and ethnology. He is the author of many articles and of numerous books and edited volumes on Andean/Quechua cultures and Inka civilization, including many single author books.

Robin L. Washington is a member of the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc. and Salesforce.com, where she serves as chair of the audit committee. Ms. Washington served as Executive Vice President and CFO of Gilead Sciences, Inc., from May 2008 – November 2019 where she oversaw Global Finance, Facilities and Operations, Investor Relations and the Information Technology organizations. Ms. Washington is a CPA and holds a BA in business administration from the University of Michigan and a MBA from Pepperdine University.

Howard Dresner is founder and Chief Research Officer at Dresner Advisory Services, and Chair of the Real Business Intelligence Conference. He is one of the foremost thought leaders in BI and performance management, having coined the term “Business Intelligence” in 1989. He has published two books on the subject, The Performance Management Revolution – Business Results through Insight and Action and Profiles in Performance – Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change.

Jim Ericson is Vice President and Research Director with Dresner Advisory Services. Jim has served as a consultant and journalist who studies end-user management practices and industry trending in the data and information management fields. From 2004 to 2013 he was the editorial director at Information Management magazine (formerly DM Review), where he created architectures for user and industry coverage for hundreds of contributors across the breadth of the data and information management industry.

Elizabeth is a Research Associate at Dresner Advisory Services and has 9 years of experience in business intelligence, data visualization, KPI development, report preparation, account reconciliations, process improvement, and documentation. Prior to her time with Dresner Advisory, Elizabeth was an Investment Banking Operations Finance & Control Associate at Goldman Sachs where she designed key performance indicator packages for the global investment banking operations team.

Chris von Simson is a Research Director at Dresner Advisory Services. Previously, he was vice president of customer engagement at MicroStrategy, Inc., where he managed the strategy, research, development, and implementation of programs to create a bond between the software organization and its end user constituents. Prior to his career in high tech, Mr. von Simson was a Course Leader at Amersham and Wycombe College in England.

Brian Lett is a Research Director with Dresner Advisory Services. He has 30 years experience in the IT industry, including 11 years at Gartner, where he supported the organizations research around business intelligence, the electronic workplace, content management, and operations management technologies. During this time he created and implemented Gartners real-time analysis program and led and created content strategies for Gartner Research.