Executive Master of Science
in Data Science for Public Policy

Nicolas Bottan is an applied micro-economist who uses behavioral insights to study important policy questions. His research interests fall in the fields of public economics, behavioral economics, and development economics. His current research focuses on three main areas: studying the role played by subjective expectations on people’s economic beliefs and decisions, understanding the extent to which social comparisons matter, and studying public policy questions, more broadly.

Professor Bottan previously worked as a consultant with the World Bank and as a research fellow with the Inter-American Development Bank.

He received undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics from Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires, Argentina and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

An executive with over 25 years of experience driving transformative initiatives in both public and private sectors. Known for crafting and executing strategies that optimize organizational effectiveness, foster innovation, and fuel sustainable growth. Ron specializes in leading complex projects aimed at modernizing critical services, delivering measurable results across diverse domains.

Recognized for building strategic alliances, leading organizational redesign efforts, developing impactful go-to-market strategies, and fostering stakeholder engagement.

Throughout his career, Ron spearheaded numerous large-scale initiatives, leveraging a unique blend of business strategy and IT transformation expertise. He thrives on tackling challenges and driving impactful change.

Ron’s focused on enhancing operational effectiveness within Health and Human Services, Public Utility, Transportation, Paratransit, Homelessness Services, Public and Affordable Housing markets. His efforts center on expanding capital funding opportunities, improving operational efficiencies in workforce development, enterprise inventory and asset management, and streamlining the housing development process for faster permanent placement.

He holds the MCMP-II certification from The Medicaid Institute, showcasing expertise in Medicaid policy, operations, and best practices. Additionally, as a co-instructor and professional in residence at Cornell University Institute of Public Affairs, he imparts insights and experience to aspiring public sector leaders and entrepreneurs.

Ron has gained valuable insights working with New Jersey Transit, New York City Housing Authority, New York City Department of Social Services, and New York City Department of Homeless Services, where he gained experience and knowledge of para transit, transportation policy, housing policy, capital and building projects, construction, regulations, and quality standards related to facilities planning and coordination, design and construction, renovation, repair, and maintenance, custodial and other building services, health/safety program coordination, lease and property management, land use, and environmental review activities, contract administration for facilities services, and warehouse operations.

Passionate about leveraging his skills and credentials to create positive and lasting change, his mission is to drive impactful transformations in the communities and organizations he serves.

Brandon Chiazza is a technology leader, consultant, and educator focused on helping organizations adopt and apply AI in meaningful, practical ways. As CEO of Modali Consulting, he works across AI, data, software, and enterprise transformation initiatives, advising clients on how to modernize operations and create value through technology. Brandon previously served as Chief Technology Officer for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, where he led major digital transformation efforts in procurement and public sector technology. He also teaches graduate-level subjects, including data engineering, natural language processing, data-driven organizations, and AI, and is passionate about making complex technical concepts accessible and actionable. Brandon’s work sits at the intersection of strategy and execution, combining executive perspective with deep technical experience. His forthcoming book, Operating Intelligence: How Enterprises Build AI That Lasts, shows executives how to move beyond demos toward governed context, proof of value, and operating-model change that creates and compounds value. He holds a Bachelor of Science and an MPA from Cornell University. 

Nicholas Sanders’ research focuses on environmental policy and regulation, environmental quality, health, and human behavior.

He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, on the editorial council of the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and a member of the American Economic Association and the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

Professor Sanders’ research has been featured in press avenues such as National Public Radio, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Economist, and his research has been cited by policymakers on issues such as Daylight Saving Time, air quality controls, and climate change.

He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Davis, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Tarcisio Alvarez-Rivero is a recently retired senior staff member of the United Nations, where he served for 29 years. He is currently an adjunct professor and lecturer at American University and IE University, Madrid, in addition to his classes at Cornell University.

At the United Nations, Professor Alvarez-Rivero’s last assignment was as Coordinator of the SPARK (Strategy, Partnerships, Accountability, Results and Knowledge) teams in the Office of the Under-Secretary General of the UN Economic and Social Commissions for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon. In this position, he oversaw ESCWA’s strategic planning and business intelligence processes as well as the evaluations, risk management, and internal control programmes. Professor Alvarez-Rivero also led ESCWA’s organizational learning and change management processes, including its transition to an AGILE-based business model. In addition, he oversaw the development of the UN Development System’s Regional Knowledge and Data Hub and ESCWA’s online Arabic learning management system.

Professor Alvarez-Rivero was a member of the UN Development Group’s Task Team on Programme Development and Results, and he led the UN Strategic Planning Network Task Force on Strategy and UNSDCFs, through which he coordinated the interagency processes that developed the planning guidance for all UN country offices (2020) as well as the update of the UN Development System guidance document on Results-Based Management. Professor Alvarez-Rivero was also a member of the principals group of the UN Evaluations Group and the UN high-level Task Forces on Strategic Human Resource Management and on Gender Finance.

During his UN career, Professor Alvarez-Rivero executed a number of field projects, including the development of national cleaner technology strategies in Argentina, Colombia, Nicaragua, the Slovak Republic, Tanzania, and Vietnam. He has also engaged in advisory services with several governments for the development of supply chain and environmental management initiatives, including projects in Denmark, Norway, Korea, Japan, and the United States. Professor Alvarez-Rivero was a member of the drafting committees of the ISO 14051 and ISO 26000 standards and led the drafting group of the International Federation of Accountants Environmental Management Accounting Guidelines. Additional achievements include the creation of the global programme on the 10-year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP), the establishment of the UN Office for the Decade of Water in Zaragoza, Spain, and the co-founding of the EMAN Global Network.

Prior to joining the United Nations in 1995, Professor Alvarez-Rivero worked in the private sector for over a decade, most recently as a representative agent for Cargill Inc. in Latin America, where he negotiated commodities contracts and managed commodities production and export programmes.

Anne Byrne is an applied microeconomist, with research interests in food and nutrition policy. She has a particular expertise in the economics of private food assistance, with award-winning work on the economic impacts of food pantries on the communities they serve. Her broader research portfolio spans agricultural production, government food assistance, food prices, food systems, and the intersection between health care and food security. Prior to joining the Brooks School, Byrne was a research economist with the Economic Research Service, a principal statistical agency within the United States Department of Agriculture.

Byrne is passionate about communicating policy-relevant information through clear writing, insightful data visualizations, and dynamic presentations. Her teaching portfolio includes microeconomics, data visualization, econometrics, and food systems and environmental policy.

Byrne received her PhD from Cornell University in Applied Economics and Management, her MS from Colorado State University in Agricultural and Resource Economics, and her BS from the University of Colorado in Applied Mathematics.

Sarah Kreps is the John L. Wetherill Professor in the Department of Government, Adjunct Professor of Law, and the Director of the Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, national security, and public policy.

She has written eight books, including the forthcoming book: Harnessing Disruption: Building the Tech Future without Breaking Society (Oxford University Press). Beyond these books, Professor Kreps’ work has appeared in a number of academic journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Science Advances, American Political Science Review, World Politics, International Security, and Journal of Cybersecurity, policy journals such as Foreign Affairs, and media outlets such as CNN, the BBC, New York Times, and Washington Post.

Professor Kreps is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and has held fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations (and is a life member), Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, West Point, and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs.

Professor Kreps received her undergraduate degree from Harvard, a master’s from Oxford and her Ph.D. from Georgetown. She served as an active-duty officer in the United States Air Force from 1999-2003.

Judith Germano is an attorney, entrepreneur, academic, public-company board member, and former federal prosecutor. Professor Germano has deep expertise in cybersecurity and technology governance, data privacy, regulatory compliance, complex financial and government fraud, enterprise risk management, and organizational communication.

Professor Germano was Chief of Economic Crimes at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and an Assistant United States Attorney for 11 years. She prosecuted and supervised investigations and trials of national and international impact on cybercrime, public corruption, financial fraud, and national security matters. Professor Germano previously worked as a litigator at a global law firm and in 2013 founded her own boutique law firm, GermanoLaw LLC, providing high-stakes legal and strategic advice and representation on civil, criminal, and regulatory matters to public and privately held organizations and their executives.

Professor Germano is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell University Law School and NYU School of Law. She is a Visiting Lecturer at Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy, a Senior Fellow in Cornell’s Tech Policy Institute, and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU’s Center for Cybersecurity. Professor Germano is a member of the board of directors of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCOM), serving on the enterprise risk and credit risk committees. She is also a 5x Ironman (140.6-mile) triathlete.

Dr. Tasha Austin-Williams is a principal within Deloitte’s Risk and Financial Advisory business, boasting an extensive career of over 25 years in professional services. Her expertise spans the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics across a multitude of domains, including commercial and federal audits, fraud detection and analysis, dispute resolution and investigations, and within the defense and international affairs sectors.

Dr. Austin-Williams plays a pivotal role in guiding Deloitte’s endeavors within the dynamic domain of artificial intelligence. Her distinctive contributions reside in pioneering innovative, insight-drive solutions that catalyze profound transformation for her clients’ core missions. Dr. Austin-Williams’ day-to-day role includes serving as the lead business partner, actively contributing to the advancement of state diplomacy’s critical mission. More broadly, she provides strategic guidance to C-suite executives and management across the federal community, aiding them in navigating the most intricate and distinctive data challenges facing their agencies. Additionally, Dr. Austin-Williams is instrumental in assisting organizations in evaluating their readiness for and adoption of AI solutions.

Dr. Austin-Williams also serves as the Executive Director of Deloitte’s Artificial Intelligence Institute for Government, where she plays a vital role in the organization’s mission to bolster its capabilities in pivotal domains, particularly in the realm of trustworthy and ethical AI. Her portfolio encompasses the significant task of amplifying Deloitte’s thought leadership and digital footprint within the sphere of AI for the public sector. Central to Dr. Austin-Williams’ mandate is the orchestration of a multifaceted ecosystem, drawing together diverse stakeholders comprised of government executives, leaders in nonprofit organizations, academia, policy makers, and technology firms.

Dr. Austin-Williams recently completed her Ph.D. research in artificial intelligence, which focuses on using AI to detect human bias to address disparities in higher education and with financial inclusion. She previously earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mathematics from North Carolina Central University and her MBA from Howard University, and she holds a Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Business Strategy and Applications from University of California, Berkeley, underscoring her commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements and their practical applications.

Dr. Austin-Williams currently serves on several boards, including the Board of Directors for NABA Inc., where she leads the Strategy, Innovation, and Technology Committee and resides in Bowie, MD, with her family. Her notable achievements were acknowledged in 2023 when she was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders by Women We Admire. In March 2024, Dr. Austin-Williams was recognized by Deloitte as one of the Top 10 Deloitte AI Trailblazers during Women’s History Month.

Ning Su is an expert on digital innovation, technology policies, and qualitative research methods. His research explores the transformation of organizations, markets, policies, and governance in the age of digitization and globalization, based on in-depth studies of private and public sectors across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Professor Su’s research has been published in top journals such as the Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), Information Systems Research, and the MIT Sloan Management Review. Professor Su advises a worldwide portfolio of multinational corporations, technology startups, government agencies, and public and not-for-profit organizations.

Professor Su is the recipient of MIT Sloan Management Review’s Top 10 Articles of 2021 recognition, Poets & Quants’ “40 Most Outstanding Business School Professors Under 40,” the inaugural Early Career Award of the Association for Information Systems, Giarratani Rising Star Award runner-up of the Industry Studies Association, Best Article Awards of the Decision Sciences Institute and IBM Global Research, and teaching awards and commendations at New York University’s Stern School of Business and Canada’s Ivey Business School. Professor Su has taught in major programs in Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, and NYU, as well as at Cornell University.