Alumni Profiles for Ph.D. in Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology

List of names is arranged in alphabetical order by last name.

Complete list of alumni and their dissertations

Daniel Benjamin, Class of 2015

Daniel Benjamin is an Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences at the J. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University. Prior to NSU, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California in the Information Sciences Institute with a joint appointment in the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and in the Biomedical Ethics Unit at McGill University. Dr. Benjamin researches how complexity influences judgment and decision-making, particularly how humans interact with model output and technology. He applies decision theory to solve problems in policy-relevant settings including geopolitical prediction, meta-research in social and biomedical sciences, perceptions of climate change, and expert judgment. Further information on research is here.

Yuanchao Emily Bo, Class of 2014

Yuanchao Emily Bo is a research scientist at Northwest Evaluation Association.

Jay Breyer, Class of 1981

Jay Breyer is retired from Educational Testing Service (ETS) after working 30 years in various positions at ETS or one of its subsidiaries. Most recently he was Principle Project Manager responsible for implementing automated scoring for GRE, Praxis and TOEFL examinations. He currently is the chair of Fordham University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Deans Leadership Committee and chairs the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition at Fordham.

Jodi Casabianca, Class of 2011

Jodi Casabianca is a research scientist at Educational Testing Service.

Michael Chajewski, Class of 2011

Michael Chajewski is currently the principal psychometrician at Kaplan Test Prep in New York City, where he leads a team of psychometric and assessment specialists in supporting both operational test delivery and next generation research for personalized learning online.

Ezekiel Dixon-Roman, Class of 2007

Ezekiel Dixon-Roman is Associate Professor at University of Pennsylvania. He is director of the Master of Science in Social Policy Program, chair of the Data Analytics for Social Policy Certificate of the Masters of Science in Social Policy Program, and leading the SP2-Aliadas en Cadena Initiative, which is an evaluation of the Venezuela based NGO’s flagship program that provides training and certification in information and communication technologies for vulnerable women. He is trained in the social sciences and psychometrics and was a Harold Gulliksen Psychometric Research Fellow at ETS and an Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.

Liam Duffy, Class of 2018

Liam Duffy is a psychometrician at the College Board.

Joseph H. Grochowalski, Class of 2015

Joseph H. Grochowalski is currently a psychometrician at the College Board, and he specializes in test security analytics for the SAT exam. He also consults and publishes on topics relating to medical school assessment.

Scott Hershberger, Class of 1990

Scott Hershberger is Professor Emeritus at The California State University, Long Beach. Professor Hershberger has led in the creation of award-winning data science applications for healthcare fraud detection that have resulted in billions of dollars a year in savings. He has extensive knowledge and experience that spans professional, academic, and research sectors in data science, statistics, psychometrics, and research design. His deep knowledge of many machine learning and multivariate quantitative techniques has helped clients solve complex business problems across many industries (e.g., pharmaceutical, auto, retail, etc.). Scott has also developed several computer adaptive tests. He has also led quantitative teams and individual scientists in both the private and public sectors tasked with solving both short-term and long-term complicated business and scientific problems. He is the author or co-author of several books and more than 100 published papers in statistics and psychology.

Mark Himmelstein, Class of 2023

Mark Himmelstein is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Himmelstein studies interdisciplinary topics related to human judgment, decision-making, forecasting, and belief revision. 

Louis Hsu, Class of 1971

Louis Hsu is a professor emeritus in the Fairleigh Dickinson School of Psychology, a research affiliate at Rutgers University (SSI Program), and a senior analyst at FutureWorks Systems.

Jonathan Lehrfeld, Class of 2016

Jonathan Lehrfeld is a Psychometrician at ETS. Prior to that, he was Associate Director of Measurement Science at Council for Aid to Education (CAE).

Guangming Ling, Class of 2006

Guangming Ling is a senior research scientist at ETS.

Jennifer Lord-Bessen, Class of 2014

Jennifer Lord-Bessen is Director and Asset/Indication Lead of Patient Reported Outcomes Assessment at Bristol-Myers Squibb. She is an assessment specialist experienced in the creation, implementation, and evaluation of psychometric instruments across multiple industries and in multiple formats, and an expert in utilizing data analytics to create new systems and develop process improvements that optimize time and resources.

James Marcus, Class of 2014

James Marcus is Senior Research Associate of Patient-Centered Research at Evidera. After spending a while in the educational testing field, James shifted to patient reported outcomes (PRO) - essentially psychometrics for the pharmaceutical industry. As part of his work, he designs and leads the psychometric / trial analysis component of PRO research projects, both validating new instruments (including FDA submissions for medical product label claims) and analyzing PRO endpoints in randomized clinical trials.

Andrea McNamara, Class of 2016

After completing the program at Fordham, Andrea took some time to raise her children and teach part-time at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Teaching has always been her passion, and so this year Andrea returned to the classroom full time as a Chemistry and Forensics teacher at River Dell High School.

Rochelle Michel, Class of 2006

Rochelle Michel is Executive Director of Independent School Entrance Exam at Educational Records Bureau.

Glenn Milewski, Class of 2004

Glenn Milewski is the Chief Program Officer at ERB where he oversees all aspects of Educational Records Bureau's programs, including research, development, and psychometrics.

Jae Osenbach, Class of 2012

Jae Osenbach is Lead Psychometrician at NextStep Interactive.

Thanos Patelis, Class of 1994

Thanos Patelis is Research Scholar at Fordham University, Graduate School of Education. Thanos has over 28 years of experience in educational research, measurement, program evaluation, statistical analysis, assessment product development, graduate-level education, and research management. He has served as chair for the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment and he contributes to other professional organizations, including the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) and APA’s Division 5, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. He is associate editor for Applied Measurement in Education, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Athens Journal of Social Sciences, and a reviewer for several journals and professional organizations. He is a member of technical advisory committees for research and assessment.

Nazia Rahman, Class of 2013

Nazia Rahman is a research scientist at Law School Admission Council.

Jesus Salcedo, Class of 2006

Jesus Salcedo is an independent statistical and data mining consultant. He is a former SPSS Curriculum Team Lead and Senior Education Specialist who has written numerous SPSS training courses and trained thousands of users.

Stephen Sireci, Class of 1993

Stephen Sireci is Distinguished University Professor at UMass Amherst College of Education. He is the current President of National Council on Measurement in Education and is Director of Center for Educational Assessment, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Marie D. Thomas, Class of 1981

Marie D. Thomas is Professor Emerita at California State University San Marcos. She has held four professional positions. Her first position was with Touchstone Applied Science Associates in Elmsford, NY, where she primarily did computer maintenance and programming. At the College of Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx, she was an assistant, then associate professor of psychology. When she moved to San Diego, CA, she worked as a personnel research psychologist at Navy Personnel Research and Development Center, focusing primarily on issues related to women in the Navy. Finally, for 22 years she was a faculty member at California State University San Marcos, where she taught statistics, psychological testing, positive psychology, and other courses; did research; and served in a variety of administrative and faculty union positions.

Catherine Trapani, Class of 2013

Catherine Trapani is President of Psychstat Research and Consulting. Using her psychometric, quantitative, communication and collaboration skills, Catherine works as a consultant in the area of health and wellness for all.

Tammy Trierweiler, Class of 2010

Tammy Trierweile is Senior Measurement Scientist at Law School Admission Council.

Susana Urbina, Class of 1972

>Susana Urbina is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at University of North Florida. She taught courses in the areas of Psychological Testing, Assessment of Individuals, and History of Psychology for 35 years. She is a licensed psychologist and maintained a private practice in psychological assessment for several years. Dr. Urbina is co-author of the seventh edition of Psychological Testing with Anne Anastasi and author of Essentials of Psychological Testing, now in its second edition. Dr. Urbina has been active in the American Psychological Association, and has recently completed her second term in the Council of Representatives, representing Division 5.

Andrew Wiley, Class of 1999

Andrew Wiley was enrolled at Fordham from 1991 to 1999. Since graduating, he has worked in both the education and professional credentialing areas. He is currently one of three owners of a psychometric consulting organization, ACS Ventures, LLC, focused on areas like program design, test and program validation, and independent review and audit for assessment programs.

Frank Williams, Class of 2013

Frank Williams is Associate Director of Testing and Assessment at Center for Talented Youth (Johns Hopkins University).

Duanli Yan, Class of 2010

Duanli Yan is Director of Data Analysis and Computational Research at ETS.

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