Andrew Bernat

Executive Director

Dr. Andrew Bernat was a founding member and chair of the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at El Paso (spending 20 years there), NSF Program Director and now the Executive Director of the CRA.

He has some 70 refereed publications, roughly equally in disciplinary research and in computing education, a large number of presentations and in excess of $25 million in externally funded activities. In recognition of "... his success in creating arguably the strongest computer science department at a minority-serving institution ...", the Computing Research Association honored him with the 1997 A. Nico Habermann Award. Outside interests include steam locomotives, narrow gauge railroads, SCUBA and his wonderful grandchildren.

Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

Betsy Bizot

Director of Statistics and Evaluation

Betsy started at CRA in 2004. She has two main responsibilities there: the annual CRA Taulbee Survey of Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Information departments; and evaluation of programs to encourage members of underrepresented groups toward research careers in computing.

She received her B.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech in 1978. While working in software development, she earned an MBA from Tulane University in 1984. The combination of coursework and on-the-job experience led her to an interest in successful technical teamwork and leadership, and to a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Tulsa in 1988. She did some statistical software development, then worked for 14 years for Career Vision, a not-for-profit in the Chicago suburbs, conducting research and product development related to career choice and career satisfaction. She is happy to bring the social science research and computing branches of her professional career together at CRA.

Betsy is interested in underrepresented groups in science and engineering, career paths in research (especially computing research), and in making information available to people in forms that are useful for decision making.

Sandra Corbett

Manager of Administrative Support

A native of Washington, DC and first generation college graduate, Sandra received her B.A. in Information Systems from Strayer University in 2009.  She is currently pursuing a dual Masters Program in Information Technology Database Administration and MBA at the University of Maryland University College where she will be completing the first Master's program in November 2011.  While pursuing her higher education, Sandra was invited to join the ACM student program and has been inducted into the Alpha Sigma Lambda, Alpha Chi, and Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society.

Prior to joining CRA, Sandra worked with DC government as a Program/Budget Analyst.  Sandra developed and monitored the Administration's 5.5M annual budget by ensuring dollars were allocated to the appropriate projects and program initiatives designated for the Administration.  Her responsibilities also included handling the budgetary and HR components for approximately 230 full-time and part-time employees of the Administration.   Sandra was instrumental in streamlining many of the business processes of the Administration and developing and designing database tracking systems which provided a mechanism for performing real-time data analysis of tax returns as they relate to DC residents.   

Erwin Gianchandani

Director, Computing Community Consortium

Dr. Erwin Gianchandani is Director of the NSF-funded Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows) Project.

Erwin received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia in May 2009.  His research focused on developing computational systems biology-based tools for reconstructing and analyzing intracellular biochemical reaction networks in silico, with the goal of better understanding fundamental diseases and identifying therapeutic targets.  Erwin has co-authored 13 peer-reviewed publications in leading technical journals in the field as well as one book chapter, attended several international conferences to present his work, and been involved with two patent disclosures and multiple Federal grants.  Erwin received his M.S. in biomedical engineering (2007) and B.S. in computer science (2005) from the University of Virginia.

Before joining CRA, Erwin was a 2009-10 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, and he worked on various computing research initiatives – including health information technology – at the National Science Foundation.  Previously, he was Director of Innovation Networking at the University of Virginia, reporting to the university’s Vice President for Research.  In that role, he headed up BMEplanet, a global network for bioengineering established by the university.

Full Bio and Publications

Peter Harsha

Director of Government Affairs

Peter Harsha is the Director of Government Affairs for the Computing Research Association, an organization representing 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering and related fields; 26 industrial research labs; and 6 affiliated professional societies. In his position, Peter works to help CRA influence computing research policy by improving public and policy maker understanding of the nature of research, and by increasing the computing community’s awareness of and participation in policy issues. Prior to joining CRA in October 2001, Peter spent six years working for Congress, beginning as a member of the personal staff of Congressman Nick Smith of Michigan. In the 106th and 107th Congresses, Peter served as a member of the professional staff of the House Science Committee as Chairman Smith’s designee on the Subcommittee on Research, working on a portfolio of issues that included oversight of the National Science Foundation, Information Technology, the U.S. Fire Administration, and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. Peter is a graduate of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan.

Kenneth Hines

Research Analyst

Kenneth Hines has been recently welcomed to the CRA staff as a Research Analyst. Kenneth obtained his Master of Arts degree in Applied Sociology with a focus on research methodology, statistics and evaluation in December of 2009 from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Previously, Kenneth gained valuable experience through Johns Hopkins University where he was involved with the Center for Prevention and Early Intervention on a program called "PATHS to PAX," a program that focuses on teaching effectiveness within Baltimore City Schools. He also branched out to the American Academy of Pediatrics where he worked on a longitudinal study funded by the National Cancer Institute on Drug Abuse and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study was focused on the Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE). He too engaged himself in the DIVE Laboratory in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. As a graduate student at UMBC, he served as a teaching assistant for various courses including Research Methodology. Kenneth resides in Germantown, Maryland and enjoys playing golf in his spare time.

Sabrina Jacob

Administrator

Sabrina Jacob has been with CRA since August 2007 as the Sr. Administrative Assistant. One of her primary duties is overseeing/managing the ads that appear on the CRA website as well as in the hardcopy of CRN. Sabrina did her undergraduate work in Psychology at UMUC.

Prior to joining CRA, Sabrina worked many years with different non-profit organizations both nationally as well as internationally. She also spent a number of years working at NBC, PBS, and C-SPAN as a master control engineer, a producer and a director.

In her spare time Sabrina loves to read between juggling her schedule as a soccer mom for her son Joshua and maintaining his very busy academic and social schedule.

Delicia C. Mapp

Sr. Statistician

Delicia Mapp holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Clark Atlanta University and a Master of Science degree in Statistics from the University of Virginia.  She has applied her skill set as a Statistician within multiple arenas including clinical trials, market research and the federal government.

Melissa Norr

Policy Analyst

Melissa Norr joined CRA's government affairs team in 2006. Prior to that she worked in public affairs and public relations at the Optical Society and at two public relations firms. Melissa received her BA from Penn State University and her MPS from George Washington   University.

Kapil Patnaik

IT and Web Services Manager

Kapil is an Electrical Engineer with an M.S. in Telecommunications and Network Computing from the George Washington University. He manages CRA's IT infrastructure and web properties wearing multiple hats as System Administrator, Web-Architect-Developer-Designer along with managing a hybrid help-desk environment.

He is a tech-fanatic, with a very keen interest in photography, cognitive science, philosophy, history and travel.

Erik Russell

Director of Programs

As Director of Programs at CRA, Erik is involved with a broad range of programs focusing on human resources, community-building, and connecting CRA with the other organizations advancing computer science and engineering. He supports several CRA committees such as the Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W), the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC), the CRA Deans Group, and others.

Before joining CRA, Erik worked to advance computer science education through his service as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow within the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering at the National Science Foundation.   As part of the Education and Workforce Program at NSF, which included initiatives such as Broadening Participation in Computing, and the Computing Education for the 21st Century, Erik has been actively working to engage and retain students from underrepresented groups in computer science.

Jean E. Smith

Senior Communications Associate, CRN Editor

Jean joined CRA as a contractor early in 1997 to coordinate an NSF-sponsored workshop and co-edit the resulting CRA report, "Research Challenges for the Next Generation Internet." She became a staff member in fall 1997 and has contributed in a variety of activities as needed. Jean has been Editor of CRA’s newsletter, Computing Research News, since 1999. She oversees three annual CRA awards programs—the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award, A. Nico Habermann Award, and Outstanding Service Award. In alternate years she assists the organizing committee for CRA's Biennial Conference at Snowbird in planning the program and publicizing the conference to the computing research community. Jean's responsibilities also include activities of the CRA Board of Directors, including elections, semi-annual meetings, and annual reports.

Prior to joining CRA, Jean spent more than 15 years as a policy analyst at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment in the Communications and Information Technology Program. She worked on a number of congressional reports doing research and writing, editing, and managing various aspects of the assessment and publication processes. Before joining OTA, she was the program assistant for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program based at the UC Medical Center in San Francisco. Early in her career, she was executive assistant to the Chief of Medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal (McGill University), and a high school teacher. A native of Nova Scotia, Jean received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Acadia University and a teaching certificate in business and commerce from the Ontario College of Education in Toronto.