The faculty of the online University of Wisconsin Master of Science in Cybersecurity is one of its greatest strengths. You won’t find another cybersecurity program—online or otherwise—that brings such diverse expertise together in one place. That’s because the MS in Cybersecurity program is a collaboration among Wisconsin Online Collaboratives and eight University of Wisconsin institutions: UW–Green Bay, UW–La Crosse, UW–Oshkosh, UW–Parkside, UW–Platteville, UW–River Falls, UW–Stevens Point, and UW–Superior. Each faculty member brings a unique background of industry experience and education to the program offering students a truly multidisciplinary experience.
Meet the Faculty
Jennifer Butler Modaff, PhD | UW–La Crosse
Jennifer Butler Modaff, PhD, is an associate professor in communication studies at UW–La Crosse.
Dr. Butler Modaff earned a PhD in Communication Studies with a Certificate in Gender Studies, an MA in Sociology/Criminology, and a BA in Sociology/Criminology, all from Ohio University.
Tomi Heimonen, PhD | UW–Stevens Point
Tomi Heimonen, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Computing and New Media Technologies at UW–Stevens Point.
In his dissertation research, Dr. Heimonen developed and studied tools that support mobile information access with innovative user interface solutions, including search query visualization and result clustering. He has worked on various projects with CSCW and visualization emphasis, developing new ways to support collaborative processes in work groups and knowledge work with information visualization and novel interaction techniques. His current research is focused on multimodal and ubiquitous interfaces for collaboration, communication and information access in various contexts, from technologically augmented learning environments to process control rooms in automation industry.
Dr. Heimonen received his MSc in Computer Science from the University of Tampere, with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction, followed by a PhD in Interactive Technology on which he was advised by Professor Kari-Jouko Räihä.
Chad R. Johnson, MS | UW-Stevens Point
Chad R. Johnson, MS, is an assistant professor and information security consultant for UW–Stevens Point.
Mr. Johnson teaches courses in cybersecurity. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Sociology where he teaches courses in criminology. He is the author of several works on computer criminology, user/machine profiling, conducting digital investigations, and digital forensics.
Mr. Johnson received an MS in Criminology from UW–Platteville, and a BA in Political Science and Social Science from UW–Stevens Point.
David Penniston, PhD | UW–Oshkosh
David Penniston, PhD, is a professor in the Mathematics Department at UW–Oshkosh.
Dr. Penniston’s research interests are number theory and arithmetic geometry. His areas of study include modular forms, elliptic curves, partitions, degeneration of curves and jacobians and K3 surfaces.
Dr. Penniston received his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Georgia, an MS in Physics from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin.
George Thomas, PhD | UW–Oshkosh
George Thomas, PhD, is an associate professor and department chair at UW–Oshkosh.
Dr. Thomas’ research interests are artificial intelligence, with focus on coordination, task allocation and marketbased mechanisms in multiagent systems; machine learning and natural language processing; and computer science education.
Dr. Thomas received his PhD and MS in Computer Science from the University of Iowa, and his B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Kerala, Trivandrum, India.
Jon Totushek, PhD | UW-Superior
Jon Totushek, PhD, is an assistant professor at UW–Superior.
Dr. Totushek’s research is in Homological Algebra.
He earned a PhD from North Dakota State University.
Tony Varghese, PhD | UW–River Falls
Tony Varghese, PhD is a professor in the Department of Computer, Information, and Data Science at UW–River Falls.
D. Varghese has taught security courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels since 2015. He is the Academic Director on the River Falls campus for the cybersecurity program and developed 3 courses for this program: CYB 740, 755, and 765. He started teaching CYB 755 in Fall 2022.
He earned a PhD from the University of Minnesota.
Joshua Yue, PhD | UW–Platteville
Joshua Yue, PhD, is an associate professor of computer science and software engineering at UW–Platteville.
Dr. Yue’s research interests are software engineering with a special focus on program transformation systems and domain-specific languages (DSLs). He also has interests in high performance computing (HPC) and network security. His research is focused on program transformation techniques applied to languages widely used in HPC. The goal is to address a number of challenges in developing and maintaining HPC. He has several years of software development experience in the industry and worked as an assistant professor at the University of Central Missouri prior to joining UW–Platteville.
Dr. Yue earned his PhD and MS in Computer Science from the University of Alabama.
Mike Zorn, PhD | UW–Green Bay
Mike Zorn, PhD, is an associate dean and professor at UW–Green Bay in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology.
Dr. Zorn’s research interests relate to the development of chemical sensors and the use of sensors for environmental monitoring. Among other things, he is currently working on developing environmental sensor systems that use LoRaWAN communication strategies.
Dr. Zorn earned a PhD in Environmental Chemistry and Technology at UW–Madison, and a BS in Chemistry from UW–Green Bay.
Bios and photos coming for faculty listed below:
Mohammed Ashrafuzzaman, PhD | UW-Platteville
Nazim Choudhury, PhD | UW-Green Bay
Scott Dickmeyer, PhD | UW-LaCrosse
David Furcy, PhD | UW Oshkosh
Ronda Leahy, PhD | UW-LaCrosse
Omar Meqdadi, PhD | UW-Green Bay
Kaushik Nagarajan Muthusamy Ragothaman, PhD | UW–Parkside
Greg Ormes, PhD | UW–LaCrosse
Tim Pervenecki, PhD | UW-Superior
Steven Rosenberg, PhD | UW-Superior
Fnu Surina, PhD | UW-Superior
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