Faculty in the Center for Information Assurance Studies

Mark Schmidt

Founder & Director, Center for Information Assurance Studies
Professor of Information Systems
Ph.D., Mississippi State University
MSIS, Mississippi State University
MBA, St. Cloud State University
B.S. Southwest State University

mbschmidt@stcloudstate.edu

His research focuses on information security, end-user computing, and innovative information technologies. He has authored over 50 manuscripts on various topics in computer security and management information systems. In March 2008 and in February 2012 he coordinated one week computer forensics training programs for law enforcement sponsored by the National Forensics Training Center at Mississippi State University.

Jim Q. Chen

Co-Director of the Master of Science in Information Assurance program
Professor of Information Assurance
Ph.D., 1995, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in management information systems

jchen@stcloudstate.edu
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/qjchen/

His research interests include information security, E-commerce, and executive decision support systems. His publications have appeared in Journal of Global Information Management, Information Systems Management, Journal of Internet Commerce, Communications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Systems Development Management, among other journals.

Tirthankar Ghosh

Assistant Professor of Information Technology Security
Ph.D., Florida International University, in Electrical Engineering
M.S., Florida International University, in Computer Engineering
B.E., Jadavpur University, India, in Electrical Engineering

tghosh@stcloudstate.edu
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/tghosh/

His research interest is in trust modeling and routing security in wireless ad-hoc networks. He is a member of IEEE and ACM, and has published several journal articles and book chapters. Recently he got a grant to set up an ad-hoc network testbed on campus and do empirical research on security and routing algorithms in ad-hoc networks. He has taught courses on intrusion detection, firewall, wireless networks and security in ad-hoc networks.

Dennis Guster

Professor of Information Systems
Ed. D. University of Missouri-St. Louis
M.S., Bemidji State University
B.S., Bemidji State University

dguster@stcloudstate.edu

He has been involved in computer security for 30 years and has devised and taught numerous courses related to information assurance. Further, he has published numerous articles and undertaken sponsored research projects in the area. Hisresearch emphasis is pedagogical aspects of teaching information assurance and security within a distributed computing environment. Recently he has taught courses in computer security policy, client/server security and security management.

Susantha Herath

Chair & Professor of Information Systems
Ph.D. Keio University, in computer engineering
M.S. University of Electrocommunications, Japan, in industrial engineering management
B.S. Sri Jayawardenapura University, Sri Lanka, in business administration

sherath@stcloudstate.edu

His research interests are in information assurance and security. He has taught numerous courses related to security and has published many papers. Herath is a senior member of the IEEE. Together with other faculty members in the Department of Information Systems, Herath initiated and helped develop the St. Cloud State Center for Information Assurance and information assurance graduate program. He has been organizing the annual computer security conference series at St. Cloud State since 2002.

Kate Mooney

Chair and Professor of Accounting
Ph.D. Texas A&M University

kkmooney@stcloudstate.edu

Mooney is the Dr. Norbert Lindskog Chair in Accounting at St. Cloud State University. She teaches courses on fraud and forensic accounting. She is a graduate of the Fraudwise Academy Bootcamp at Texas A&M University, where she earned her Ph.D. In addition to numerous articles, she has authored four books including: "Sound Investing: Uncover Fraud and PRotect Your Portfolio:. She is also active at the national level of several professional organizations including the AICPA, and served as a trustee for a multi-employer health and pensions benefits fund. As a CPA, she was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to the Minnesota Board of Accountancy, where she served as board chair.

Amos O. Olangunju

Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology
Ph.D. University of North Carolina, Greensboro
M.S. Queen's University
Certificates, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Bioinformatics, Cryptography and Information Security and Digital Communication Networks

aoolagunju@stcloudstate.edu
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/aoolagunju

Olagunju served on the Oxford University Round Table on Balancing the Interests for the Regulation of Cyberspace. His research is focused on formal verifications of security algorithms and protocols. He regularly teaches cryptography, computer network security and open systems interconnection layers security at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Dien Phan

Professor of Information Systems
Ph.D., University of Arizona in MIS
MBA, University of Minnesota
B.S., St. Cloud State University

phan@stcloudstate.edu

Before joining the faculty of the Minnesota State University system, Phan worked at IBM in Rochester, Minnesota, as a software architect in the IBM’s Distributed Data Management Architecture group.

His interests include software engineering, project management, group collaboration, IT security and electronic commerce. He published many research articles on many well-known journals such as Computerworld, Information & Management, Information Systems Management and the Journal of Information Systems Education.

Changsoo Sohn

Associate Professor of Information Systems
Ph.D., 2000, Southern Illinois University, Management Information Systems
MBA, Southern Illinois University

csohn@stcloudstate.edu

He joined the information systems department in the fall of 2000. Between 2003 and 2006, he served as associate dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration at The Catholic University of Korea.

His main research interests are electronic commerce and e-service quality management. His research was published in many journals and conference proceedings. His article, coauthored with Suresh K. Tadisina, won the “Kanji Prize for Best 2008 Article” in Total Quality Management and Business Excellence.

Erich Rice

Instructor of information systems
J.D., 2004, William Mitchell College of Law
MSIA, 2015, St. Cloud State University
B.A. 2000, St. John's University

eprice@stcloudstate.edu

Rice joined the Department of Information Systems in the Fall of 2016. He was previously an adjunct instructor at St. Cloud State University. He has worked in the healthcare industry in a Fortune 25 company and has published various articles in the field of information systems and IT security.

Steve Minkler

Former CIAS graduate assistant

Minkler is a 2011 graduate of the Master of Business Administration program in the Herberger Business School. He holds a Bachelor degree in Education from the University of Minnesota, served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked in private and public education before beginning his graduate studies.

Center for Information Assurance Studies