About
Administrative Team
Jóse L. Zayas-Castro, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator and Director
Professor, Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering
Dr. Jóse L. Zayas-Castro is professor of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering (IMSE) and former executive associate dean in the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida. He joined USF in 2002 as chair of the Department of IMSE. Prior to joining USF, Dr. Zayas-Castro was professor and graduate coordinator in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia. From 1983 to 1999, he was professor of industrial engineering at the University of Puerto-Rico-Mayagüez. During that time, he also served as department head and associate dean of engineering. Since 2014, Dr. Zayas-Castro has directed the University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Previously, he served asHe served as principal investigator of the NSF Florida-Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate Activity and is co-principal investigator of the USF NSF I-Corps site. Throughout his career, he has mentored more than 50 graduate students. In recognition of his contributions to diversity in global engineering, he has been honored with the USF Diversity Award (faculty) in 2019 and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE)’s Bernard M. Gordon Prize in 2006. His research focuses on healthcare systems engineering and improving the delivery of care, engineering entrepreneurship and innovation, economic and cost analysis, and improving engineering education.
Randy Larsen, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Chemistry, and and Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship
College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Randy Larsen is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and associate dean
for research in the College of Arts and Sciences. He received his BS and then Ph.D.
in chemistry from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Larsen completed postdoctoral
studies at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) prior to his first academic
position at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Previously, he served as the Chair
of the Department of Chemistry at the University of South Florida. His research interests
include the areas of sustainable energy (light porous materials), sustainable human
health (molecular basis of disease), and sustainable communities (green chemistry).
Bernard Batson
Associate Dean, Diversity and Inclusion
Bernard Batson is the director of Diversity Programs for the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF). He is the day-to-day administrator for the USF Sloan UCEM. Batson supports Ph.D. national recruitment and retention/professional development initiatives. He also assists Sloan scholars and graduates with fellowship applications, internships at national labs and obtaining employment within government, industry, and academia. Working with other university partners, Batson also facilitates internships, summer research experiences, and graduate school application assistance for URM undergraduates.
For his efforts in fostering inclusive excellence in STEM, he has been recognized with the Florida Education Fund’s William Jones Mentor of the Year Award (2018, 2011, 2009), Mentor on the Map Award from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (2015), and the Alfred P. Sloan Mentor of the Year Award (2013).
Nancy Diaz-Elsayed, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
UCEM Faculty Lead, Inclusive and Best Practices
Nancy Diaz-Elsayed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and PI of the Smart and Sustainable Systems Laboratory (S3 Lab) at USF. She was appointed to her present position after serving as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Nancy Diaz-Elsayed earned both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Previously, she received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Her current research interests include Future Manufacturing; Smart and Sustainable Systems; Data-Driven Modeling. Since her arrival to USF, Dr. Diaz-Elsayed’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Interior, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Defense, and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 2021, she was awarded a Florida Education Fund William R. Jones Most Valuable Mentor Award in recognition of her mentoring efforts supporting minority graduate students.
Jennifer Bosson, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Chair for Research, Department of Psyschology
Faculty Lead, Social Science Research
Jennifer Bosson is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Psychology at USF. She serves as the PI of the Gender and Interpersonal Dynamics Lab. Her research addresses questions concerning the self and social functioning. Dr. Bosson’s ongoing work on identity misclassification investigates the social-cognitive mechanisms that underlie rigid adherence to social role norms. This work demonstrates that behaviors relevant to people’s valued identities (e.g., gender, political orientation) often reflect powerful needs for interpersonal and intrapsychic harmony. In other lines of research. Dr. Bosson’s research has been highlighted by NPR, Newsweek, CBS Morning News, and other media outlets.
Michelle Henderson, Graduate Assistant
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Daniela Duran Cantarino, Graduate Assistant
Doctoral student, Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering
Jorge Acuña Melo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering