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Our Faculty

College of Science and Technology

At the University of South Carolina Upstate, we take pride in our dedicated faculty members, recognized as some of the best in the region. Our faculty, experts in their fields, represent all academic areas and are committed to academic excellence.

Our faculty are focused on helping students succeed and grow in their chosen fields of study. With a combination of real-world experience and academic rigor, they provide hands-on learning opportunities, preparing students for successful careers.

Explore our faculty below and discover how their expertise and dedication make the University of South Carolina Upstate a leader in higher education across the Upstate South Carolina region.


Chunyu Ai | Professor of Computer Science

Chunyu Ai | AIC@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Computer Science

864-503-5361

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: G.B. Hodge Center, 218
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Wireless Sensor Networks
  • Data Management
  • Social Networks

Resume (PDF)

Deshia Breaux, MBA, PhD | Professor & Director of Graduate Programs

Deshia Breaux, MBA, PhD | dbreaux1@uscupstate.edu
Professor & Director of Graduate Programs

864-503-5920

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 208
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Graduate Education
  • Rural Health
  • Health Disparities
  • Health Informatics

Resume (PDF)

Melissa Davis | Senior Instructor & Director of Cybersecurity Lab

Melissa Davis | MJDAVIS2@uscupstate.edu
Senior Instructor & Director of Cybersecurity Lab

864-503-5345

College: College of Science and Technology (CST), Division of Mathematics and Computer Science
Building and Room Number: G.B. Hodge Center, 208
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Network Infrastructure
  • Security Cybersecurity Virtualization

Resume (PDF)

Mahesh Dawadi | Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry

Mahesh Dawadi | mdawadi@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry

864-503-5751

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 409
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Performance enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cells
  • Photophysics of donor-acceptor organic compounds or polymeric materials
  • Photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceuticals wastewater
  • Computational chemistry

Resume (PDF)

Timothy Ellis | Senior Instructor, Director of Process Improvement

Timothy Ellis | ELLISTW@uscupstate.edu
Senior Instructor, Director of Process Improvement

864-503-5292

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: John C. Stockwell Administration Building, 116
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Process Improvement

Resume (PDF)

Polinpapilinho Katina | Associate Professor

Polinpapilinho Katina | PKATINA@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor

864-503-5272

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Media Building 214A
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Complex System Governance
  • Critical Infrastructure Systems
  • Engineering Management
  • Manufacturing Management
  • Systems Resilience
  • Engineering System
  • Pathology Systems
  • Engineering Systems Theory

Resume (PDF)

Tamara McGovern | Instructor

Dr. Tamara McGovern | mcgovet@uscupstate.edu
Instructor

864-503-5485

College: College of Science and Technology (CST), Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 209

Resume (PDF)

Chad Mueller | Senior Instructor of Chemistry

Chad Mueller | CMUELLE2@uscupstate.edu
Senior Instructor of Chemistry

864-503-5712

College: College of Science and Technology (CST), Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 208

Resume (PDF)

Ben Montgomery | Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science and Associate Professor of Biology

Ben Montgomery | montgo55@uscupstate.edu
Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science and Associate Professor of Biology

864-503-5764

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: G.W. Hodge Center, 203

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Plant reproductive ecology
  • mating systems
  • barriers to hybridization

Resume (PDF)

Anita Nag | Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Anita Nag | anitan@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

864-503-5714

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 406
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Biochemistry

Resume (PDF)

Bernard Omolo | Professor of Mathematics/Statistics

Bernard Omolo | OMOLO@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Mathematics/Statistics

864-503-5362

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: G.W. Hodge Center, 223
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Statistical Genomics
  • Genetics and Bioinformatics
  • Bayesian Methods
  • Cancer
  • Global Public Health

Resume (PDF)

George Owenga | Instructor

George Owenga | gowenga@uscupstate.edu
Instructor

864-503-5291

College: College of Science and Technology (CST), Division of Mathematics And Computer Science
Building and Room Number: G.W. Hodge Center, 229
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Big Data Analytics
Dr. Susan Richardson | Director of PC, Instructor

Dr. Susan Richardson | richarsh@uscupstate.edu
Director of PC, Instructor

864-503-5674

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Media Center, 205
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Health Informatics
  • Health Information Management
Dirk Schlingmann | Professor

Dirk Schlingmann | schlingm@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Mathematics

864-503-5226

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: G.W. Hodge Center, 210

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Applications of Mathematics
  • Technical Computing in Music

Resume (PDF)

Dr. Kimberly Shorter | Associate Professor of Biology

Dr. Kimberly Shorter | SHORTEKR@uscupstate.edu
Associate Professor of Biology

864-503-5716

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 316

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Effects of Excess Dietary Consumption of B-vitamins on Epigenetics
  • Effects of miR-718 Overexpression on Epigenetics

Resume (PDF)

Elham Sohrabi | Assistant Professor

Elham Sohrabi | esohrabi@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Mathematics

864-503-5290

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: G.W. Hodge Center, 221

Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Financial Mathematics
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

Resume (PDF)

Victor Summers | Assistant Professor

Victor Summers | vsummers@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Mathematics

864-503-5042

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: G.W. Hodge Center, 231
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Algebraic Topology

Resume (PDF)

Grover Walters, DBA | Assistant Professor of Informatics

Grover Walters, DBA | waltersi@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Informatics

864-503-5666

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Media Building, 207
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Assessing LLM-Based Generative AI Assistants in Distance Education

Resume (PDF)

Dr. Ginny Webb | Professor of Microbiology

Ginny Webb | WILL4283@uscupstate.edu
Professor of Microbiology

864-503-5976

College: College of Science and Technology (CST)
Building and Room Number: Horace C. Smith Science Building, 313
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest: Dr. Webb’s research involves the study of the yeast Cryptococcus which causes meningitis in immunocompromised patients. The lab studies virulence factors produced by the yeast as well as how the yeast responds to its environment and antifungal treatments. In addition, Dr. Webb studies food safety and storage protocols, examining factors that may affect foodborne illnesses. Additional research areas include examining predictors of preventative behaviors and vaccination acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resume (PDF)

Xudong Zhang | Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Xudong Zhang | xudongz@uscupstate.edu
Assistant Professor of Computer Science

864-503-5766

College: College of Science and Technology (CST), Division of Mathematics And Computer Science
Building and Room Number: G.B. Hodge Center, 219
Research/Scholarship/Area of Interest:

  • Machine Learning/Deep Learning in Cybersecurity
  • Speech Enhancement
  • Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)