Sarah Abramowitz was the John H. Evans professor, department chair of Mathematics and Computer Science, and department chair of Business at Drew University. She worked at Drew for 27 years before retiring in May 2025.
Abramowitz is the co-author with Sharon Weinberg and Daphna Harel of “Statistics Using IBM SPSS: An Integrative Approach,” “Statistics Using Stata: An Integrative Approach,” “Statistics Using R: An Integrative Approach,” and has served as an Associate Editor and Social Media Editor of the Journal of Statistics Education.
She earned her PhD in Mathematics Education from New York University, her MA in Mathematics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and her BA in Mathematics from Cornell University.
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Chris Apelian earned his B.S. in mathematics and chemistry at Rutgers University in 1988. In 1993 he completed a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU, and joined the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Drew. He has published papers in applied mathematics, specifically applications of probability and stochastic processes in the modeling of turbulent transport, and he and a colleague (Dr. Surace) have written an undergraduate text on real and complex analysis. He is currently interested in agent-based modeling and the role of simulation in science. Other interests include oil painting, playing the drums, and annoying his coauthor.

Kamal Benslama is an experimental particle physicist. He is a faculty member in the Physics department at Drew University, affiliated faculty with Drew’s Data Science Program, and a Visiting Scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). His work includes major multinational experiments such as ATLAS at CERN, the Mu2e collaboration at Fermilab, and the international DUNE experiment. He is also deeply involved in teaching, big data and machine learning applications in particle physics, and mentoring students and outreach through programs like QuarkNet. For more details, see his Wikipedia page.

Chris is a Mechanical Engineer and Data Scientist with more than 20 years of experience in technical leadership and analytics. He currently serves as a Senior Data Analyst and Engineer at NYU Langone Health, where he designs mission-critical data ecosystems for hospital supply chain operations. Throughout his career, he has worked across a variety of high-stakes sectors, including heavy industrial manufacturing, aerospace, and medical devices. Chris has transitioned from managing millisecond-level time-series data in manufacturing operations to architecting modern, AI-driven workflows and relational SQL models. His industry experience includes serving as a technical lead for major SAP ERP rollouts and developing custom data acquisition software for complex physical systems.

Chris earned his Master of Science in Data Science from Drew University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. He is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. Starting in the spring of 2026, he has joined the Drew faculty as an Adjunct Professor, where he focuses on teaching Database Design and SQL Querying.

Outside of the classroom, Chris is a lifelong athlete who continues to play ultimate frisbee at the national level. He also enjoys participating in motorsports, downhill skiing, and traveling around the world with his wife.

Seth Harris recently earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Dartmouth College. Before joining Drew in 2015, he taught courses at Dartmouth (where he also earned an M.A.), at Case Western Reserve University (where he earned a M.S. and a B.S.), and at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Dr. Harris’s research interests are in mathematical logic and computability theory, particularly the Reverse Mathematics program, in which we ask the question: “Which axioms are necessary to prove a given theorem?” Dr. Harris enjoys hiking on the Appalachian Trail, choral singing, and anything related to his home state of Vermont.

Prasad Kothapalli earned a M.S. in Applied Data Analytics from Boston University and a M.S. in Computer Science from University of Hyderabad, India. Prasad Specializes in Machine Learning, Digital Transformation, and Database Programming and worked on several projects in the industry for the last 30 years. In 2021, he joined the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Drew University as an adjunct faculty. He teaches DATA 602/DATA 220 Business Analytics in Python and DATA 552 SQL and Relational Databases.

Steve Kass attended Pomona College (B.A., Mathematics) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison (M.A. and Ph.D., Mathematics), and he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Montreal and Los Alamos National Laboratory before coming to Drew in 1988. Dr. Kass’s recent publications and conference talks are in his research area of Dynamical Systems. Earlier publications include a book and several articles about Lie Algebras, as well as articles and book chapters on database programming, and he has served as a faculty reader for the Advanced Placement exam in Computer Science.

In pursuits outside of mathematics and computer science, Dr. Kass is a member of New York City’s Dessoff Choirs, where he has sung since 1997, and he co-edited and co-authored a 1998 review of HIV-related opportunistic infections and their treatments. His interests include language, light bulbs, weather, and things that can be taken apart, such as cars. Dr. Kass is sometimes referred to within the department as “the other Steve.” He lives in Madison and can often be seen around campus walking his dog, Keeper.

Diane Liporace earned a M.S. in Computer Science from Montclair State University, and received a B.S. in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from Mercy College. She is co-author of a research paper, Urban Legislation Assessment by Data Analytics with Smart City Characteristics. In 2017, she joined the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Drew University as an adjunct instructor. Diane served as an instructor for the New Jersey Governor’s School at Drew from 2022 to 2025. She is a member of the leadership team for the Garden State Java User Group (GSJUG), which promotes all things Java. Before working in academia, Diane was a Staff Level Software Engineer at IBM, automating semiconductor manufacturing equipment and processes.

Yi Lu received a Ph.D. in Statistics from the Ohio State University in 2017. She has taught a few undergraduate classes at Ohio State and worked as a statistical consultant on various research projects with graduate students from other disciplines. She studied both History and Mathematics as an undergraduate (Mars Hill University, North Carolina) and enjoys using statistics in very diverse applications. Her current research interests include Bayesian methods, functional data, and curves and images. She recently moved to New Jersey and loves running in her spare time.

Adam Michlin received his MS degree in Computer Science with an emphasis on Cybersecurity at Monmouth University and his BS degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has over two decades of experience teaching Computer Science at the high school level, additional experience as a reader, grader, tutor, and professor of Computer Science at the collegiate level, and experience as a Director of Technology.

His specialties include offensive and defensive IT and Computer Science Cybersecurity, Computer Architecture, Computer History and K-12 Computer Science Education. His duties include being responsible for the K-12 Computer Science Teaching Credential program.

Alex Rudniy earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2012. Before joining Drew University, he taught at the University of Scranton and Fairleigh Dickinson University. He holds both an M.S. and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the National University of Radio Electronics in Ukraine. Dr. Rudniy’s research focuses on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and their applications. Outside of academia, he enjoys spending time outdoors.

Steve Surace earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from New York University’s Courant Institute. His mathematical interests include analysis, mathematical physics and cosmology. Dr. Surace is the Associate Director of the New Jersey Governor’s School in the Sciences. In his spare time he enjoys cars, ping-pong, and hanging out, most notably at Firehouse Pizza, John’s and Starbucks. Dr. Surace is sometimes referred to within the department as “the other Steve.”