Adjunct Faculty

Aisha Behr leverages dual roles in industry and academia to advance deep learning

Teresa Donnellan — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 15:17:30 +0000

Aisha Behr leverages dual roles in industry and academia to advance deep learning Teresa Donnellan Wed, 01/08/2025 - 10:17

With degrees from ��AV in civil engineering, systems engineering, and earth systems and geoinformation sciences, alumna Aisha Behr’s path to becoming a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is as diverse as it is inspiring. Now a director for the AI and machine learning business units at CGI, Behr also serves as an adjunct professor in George Mason’s Department of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), teaching applied information technology (AIT) classes in machine learning and deep learning.

Behr started her career in government contracting, where she first encountered the burgeoning field of data science.

Her work required her to apply data science techniques to geospatial analysis, sparking a deep interest in the subject. While working full-time, Behr pursued a PhD in earth systems and geoinformation sciences at George Mason. Her dissertation, which aimed to improve the SVD algorithm with spatial statistics, highlighted her innovative approach to integrating machine learning with spatial data.

Aisha Behr. Photo provided

While balancing her professional career with her academic pursuits, Behr found a new calling in teaching, starting as an adjunct after completing her PhD in 2020. Her industry experience proves invaluable in the classroom, allowing her to offer students a unique perspective on the practical applications of their studies.

"I wanted to make sure that students had a really good process and experience through the whole course," said Behr. By providing code templates and practical assignments, she ensures that students can confidently apply what they learn in the AI and machine learning field.

Behr's teaching philosophy is centered around making complex concepts accessible and engaging. She developed the courses AIT 636 Interpretable Machine Learning and AIT 746 Applied Deep Learning to emphasize hands-on learning.

“Dr. Behr has been an exemplary adjunct in the IST department, playing a critical role in developing our new applied AI technologies concentration for the master’s in AIT program, as well as several graduate courses,” said Ioulia Rytikova, an IST professor and the director of the master’s program in AIT.

Behr is excited about the potential of generative AI and other emerging technologies. She will continue integrating such advancements into her teaching, possibly through guest lectures and hands-on labs.

"I want our students to be able to have exposure to these very, very new technologies," she emphasized, noting that she likes to demonstrate to students how keeping up with technology can give them a competitive edge in their careers.

"I enjoy learning new concepts,” said Behr. “Being able to show a student that you can learn and then accelerate your career is why I like it so much."

Behr’s journey is a powerful example of how passion, adaptability, and a commitment to education can lead to a fulfilling and impactful career. Her dedication to bridging industry and academia ensures that her students are well-prepared to navigate and excel in the ever-evolving field of AI and machine learning.

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Ioulia Rytikova

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Artificial Intelligence

applied information technology graduate programs

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From punts to proof: George Mason adjunct helped solve the NFL’s “4th-down problem”

Nathan Kahl — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:13:37 +0000

From punts to proof: George Mason adjunct helped solve the NFL’s “4th-down problem” Nathan Kahl Fri, 12/13/2024 - 09:13

4th Down Bot

The New York Times' Fourth Down Bot is based on Burke's models

Read Burke's reflection

��AV alumnus Brian Burke’s career path, from fighter pilot to ESPN data analyst, demonstrates that whether it’s a 4th-and-inches decision or a career pivot into analytics, calculated risks can pay off.

Brian Burke. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

In 2009, the NFL’s two best teams—the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts—faced off in a pivotal showdown. Late in the game, acclaimed football genius and Patriots coach Bill Belichick attempted to get a first down on a fourth-down play deep in Pats’ territory. Converting would win the game for the Patriots, but a failure would give the ball to the Colts in prime field position. When the Colts stopped Tom Brady’s completion inches short of the first-down marker, Peyton Manning took the field and easily won the game for the Colts.

At the time, many considered the decision a huge blunder, given the conservative, risk-averse culture among NFL coaches, who usually choose the “safe” option of punting the ball on fourth down. But today’s coaches are more likely to be aggressive in these situations, supported by an emerging focus on analytics and a column written at the time by Burke, now a Systems Engineering and Operations Research (SEOR) adjunct faculty member.

He turned a hobby of analyzing sports data into something of a big deal, founding Advanced Football Analytics in 2006, where he published his findings, in addition to consulting with NFL teams; the New York Times would sometimes print his writing and analysis. A column on Belichick’s decision turned him into an overnight stats celebrity.

“I did the math and estimated that the decision to go for it increased the Patriots’ chance to win the game by 9 percentage points. I wrote up a short article for the Times saying it was the right thing to do, and didn't realize it was going to be controversial,” said Burke, who completed a master's degree in operations research at George Mason in 2015. “The Times cross posted to my website and when I woke up the next morning my phone was blowing up.”

The data shows that NFL coaches should be more aggressive on the 4th down than they frequently are. Photo by Wikimedia

In 2015 ESPN recruited him to be a sports data scientist, which he does from his home in Reston, Virginia. “I’ve got a charmed existence, for sure,” he laughed.

His career started far from campus or a football field; Burke fulfilled a childhood dream when after high school he became an F-18 Naval fighter pilot. He earned a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and after leaving the service worked for a defense contractor.

But he couldn’t help marrying his love of sports with an analytical mind. “I was talking with a coworker one day of this notion that ‘defense wins championships’ in football; people say it, but is it true?” Burke said. “You could download of data from ESPN.com in the mid 2000’s and I had a regression analysis software and decided to put in the numbers, build some models, and see what came out.”

This love of data and desire to launch his second career led him to wander into the SEOR offices in the Nguyen Engineering building one day in 2014, with no appointment. Late faculty member Andy Loerch, who also served in the military, asked if he could help Burke. The two bonded.

“From that moment on, I thought, ‘This is a great place for me,’” Burke said.

Loerch inspired Burke to enroll at George Mason and became his mentor. When he finished his program, Loerch and Ariela Sofer, then department chair, encouraged him to create a class on sports analytics as an adjunct.

Burke loves the role. “I really enjoy it and enjoy sharing what I know. You don’t know something unless you can teach it, so it forces me to nail down the basics and examine assumptions and go back to first principles.” He said he appreciates the opportunity to connect with fellow SEOR faculty members. “The creative friction when we’re together gives me great ideas.”

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data analytics

Sports Analytics

Systems Engineering and Operations Research

Adjunct Faculty

Alumni

All About the Adjuncts: Part-Time Faculty Bring Their Full-Time Careers—and Colleagues—to the Classroom

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 17:56:31 +0000

All About the Adjuncts: Part-Time Faculty Bring Their Full-Time Careers—and Colleagues—to the Classroom Andrew J Schappert Thu, 01/19/2023 - 12:56

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Gebreselassie Tesfamichael

William (Bill) Bolling

John G. Milliken

Mark Langevin

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Char Mollison’s T-shirt gives another reason adjuncts are the coolest.

To the students, the person standing at the head of the classroom imparting wisdom is the “professor.”

Most students are not aware—or even consider—that the professor maybe an associate professor, an assistant professor, a tenure-track professor, an endowed professor, a professor emeritus, a visiting scholar, or even a distinguished visiting scholar. Little do they realize, each title comes with its own privileges and duties.

Add to this age-old academic hierarchy the adjunct professor.

Adjunct instructors are part-time teachers at universities and represent about 40 percent of the total number of professors in the U.S. That is up from 24 percent in 1975.

At ��AV, there are some 1,360 adjuncts who help teach the school’s 39,000 students.

Since its founding at Mason’s The Institute of Public Policy (TIPP) in 1990, the Schar School of Policy and Government has hired countless adjuncts, hand-picked for their knowledge, experience, and connections in nearby Washington, D.C. Since 2020, the school has employed 130 different adjuncts, with about 50 of them teaching the 1,720 Schar School undergraduate and graduate students at any given time.

Not all adjuncts teach consecutive years, or even semesters, although a few, such as the late D.R. Butler taught undergraduate courses for 20 years. And many teach at multiple universities at the same time—89 percent of them nationwide work at more than one school—while also holding down significant fulltime jobs.

“I teach at other universities in the region when asked, and I serve on nonprofit boards of directors,” said Char Mollison, who also teaches nonprofit management courses at American University. She’s also a senior fellow of the Center for Advanced Governmental Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Why Mollison does it is typical of adjunct responses to the question.

“The best thing is the opportunity to teach,” said Mollison, who serves on Mason’s Adjunct Faculty Committee, which represents part-time faculty to the university’s administration. “So many of us known as ‘willing adjuncts’ do it because we have expertise in our subject and love to teach. And the opportunity to teach Mason students is a privilege.”

Mollison offered that the quality and enthusiasm of Schar School students makes her job all the more enjoyable.

“I’ve taught at four universities in the region, three of which are private universities,” she said. “The graduate students at Mason are far superior overall: They tend to be a bit older, often with jobs and even families, and they are serious and disciplined about their studies; they don’t take education for granted.”

For Ron Marks, a career CIA agent who, as a visiting professor of cyber and intelligence, teaches national security policy and new technology, said the best thing about teaching is “the interaction with young minds.”

But the life of an adjunct, no matter how enjoyable, offers challenges. Mark Langevin, who has taught in the Global Commerce and Policy program since 2014, said effective planning is a major consideration.

“Since my other professional pursuits take up much of my time, I have to be very careful to plan my time accordingly so that my students can benefit from my teaching, and sometimes, mentoring…I am also inspired by the opportunity to teach and work with students at the Schar School.”

High Profiles, Notable Names

The Schar School has a reputation for hiring part-time faculty members who are well established, widely published, and maintain high profiles in their careers. At one point, two longtime former U.S. Representatives— Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.)—taught an undergraduate course together.

Current adjuncts include former CIA intelligence officer and current chief operating officer of the Lawfare Institute David Priess; director of the Center for Climate and Security Erin Sikorsky; chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority John G. Milliken, also a former Virginia secretary of transportation; former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling; former minister of finance and development of Eritrea Gebreselassie Tesfamichael; and others. New to the staff this year is former Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni.

They come to the Schar School by reaching out to administrators to networking with current and past faculty to being in the right place at the right time. Ashley Grant, a group leader of Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction at the nonprofit government research institute the MITRE Corporation, asked an adjunct acquaintance if the school was in need of anyone with her expertise.

“As luck would have it,” she said, “they were looking for a professor to teach Global Health Security.” She began in 2019.

Special Guest Speakers Abound

Like many Schar School adjuncts, relationships in their professional fields run deep and as such, many distinguished practitioners make classroom appearances as guest speakers.

For instance, Marks recently invited Jon Rosenwasser, budget director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to speak to Marks’ Congress and Intelligence class. “He summarized the class beautifully without being asked and reinforced all the lessons from the term,” Marks said. “The students were thrilled.”

“I try to recruit speakers who offer much different, often foreign or international perspectives,” said Langevin. “Given my expertise in Latin America, I have presented Brazilian and Chilean trade policy experts and diplomats to my students. I also bring in former students who can speak with authority on a particular issue intersecting the course content.”

John Byrne, a longtime expert in illicit crimes, teaches a seven-year-old course called International Money Laundering, Corruption, and Terrorism. He’s also the former executive director of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).

“Our model is to expose students to a variety of experts from the ACAMS board and in the [money laundering] community,” he said. Les Joseph, a former adjunct at the Schar School and chief of the financial investigation section of banking giant Wells Fargo & Company, guests lectures in Byrne’s classroom, as do Dennis Lormel, the first head of the FBI’s Terrorist Financing Operation Section; Don Fort, former chief of the IRS Criminal Section; and Sara Crowe, the staff expert on financial issues for Polaris, the anti-human trafficking organization.

In addition to sharing their experiences and knowledge, Byrne hopes the guest speakers “offer the students insight to how a career in this field, whether in the government or the private sector, can assist society. I am happy to report that a number of students have stayed in touch and have progressed in our community.”

For her part, nonprofit expert Mollison brings one or two guest speakers to each class. “I have been able to make use of global connections from my career,” she said, particularly when the classes are online.

‘Long-Term Relationships’

Teesta Ghosh has been a consistent part-time instructor at the Schar School since 1999, after reaching out to the emerging policy school at Mason. “Since then, I have not looked back,” she said. Courses she has taught include International Relations, Democracy in Global Perspective, International Law and Organizations, and Politics of South Asia.

Ghosh’s respect for her students exemplifies the earnest effort many of the Schar School adjuncts bring not only to the classroom but beyond—and it earned her a nomination for Teaching Excellence and Mentorship Award at Mason.

“I have done my best to support my students, the department, and the university over the years,” she said. “I write many letters of recommendations for students who are applying for either jobs, graduate school, or internships every semester and also during my summer break when I do not have any teaching responsibilities. And I have mentored students who have reached out to me to do independent studies—remuneration for which is token—and undergraduate research projects.”

As for “the best part” of being an adjunct, Ghosh said the answer was easy: “It’s the long-term relationships that I have developed with my students in the 23 years that I have taught here.”

Sometimes it’s the professor who is the student: “I have learned a lot from my students as well,” she said. “Mason has a very diverse student body, with students coming from many different countries around the world. Since I teach international politics, it has opened my eyes to their personal experiences—for example, as a refugee—and to cultural, social, and political nuances of their countries, which I would have no way knowing even if I read hundreds of scholarly books and articles.”

Last question: Are you an “easy A”?

“Good question!” she replied. “My answer is: It depends on who you ask. I have received both bouquets and brickbats from my students—but that, of course, is part of the job.”

Mark Langevin celebrates the end of the semester with students and recent grads.

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Adjunct Faculty

Global Health Security

Global Commerce and Policy

Nonprofit Management

Faculty

Schar School News January 2023

Campus News

innovative classes

Adjunct Faculty

Aisha Behr leverages dual roles in industry and academia to advance deep learning

Learn more about Information Sciences and Technology at George Mason

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From punts to proof: George Mason adjunct helped solve the NFL’s “4th-down problem”

4th Down Bot

Read Burke's reflection

Topics

All About the Adjuncts: Part-Time Faculty Bring Their Full-Time Careers—and Colleagues—to the Classroom

In This Story

Request program information

Learn more about the Schar School

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