Guiding Seidenberg Forward: Get to Know Dean Chen

As of August 16, 2024, Dr. Li-Chiou Chen has stepped into the role of Interim Dean at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. With an extensive background in cybersecurity and a strong commitment to student success, Dr. Chen is ready to guide Seidenberg toward continued progress. She aims to further expand programs like cybersecurity, game development, and artificial intelligence, while fostering a supportive and collaborative environment for both faculty and students. In this interview, Dr. Chen reflects on her career journey from Taiwan to New York City and Pace University, her passion for technology, and delves deeper into her vision for the future of Seidenberg.

I’m very curious about your journey and how you got to the position of Seidenberg’s interim dean, how your life path and your career path have gotten you here. Could you tell me a bit about your background and how you became interested in the tech field?

Sure. Let’s start with where I came from and how I got here. I’m originally from Taiwan, where I earned my master’s degree in management information systems. After that, I worked for a year in market research for a computer company called Acer but soon discovered that I am more interested in the technical aspect of computing.

During my undergraduate years, I was a student assistant for developing information systems of the university supervised by one of our professors, which sparked my interest in system design and development. After I left Acer, I switched gears to work as a software engineer managing the systems and databases I had helped develop as a student. I always considered myself a programmer and liked to automate processes with my programming skills. Even before cybersecurity was a well-known term, I loved exploring various operating systems to see what I could do with them. Some of my friends moved to the United States for further study, and I thought it could be a great adventure for me as well. That's when I decided to pursue a PhD and went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in their engineering and public policy program.

The education in Carnegie Mellon had a profound impact on me. Many research projects I was involved with were interdisciplinary. That is, researchers in different disciplines worked together to solve a problem. While I worked with the information technology group, we also explored the public policy issues relating to the adoption of new technology. Because of my earlier interests in systems and security, I was connected to work with the Computer Emergency Response Team/Coordination Center in the university’s Software Engineering Institute. I began developing simulation programs and tools to analyze computer security incidents, which then later became the focus of my dissertation where I built computational models to assess security risks.

And after that you got a job at Pace University?

After completing my PhD, I wanted to move to a bigger city and Pace University felt like the right choice. I moved to New York to become a professor in the department of information technology (IT), and I started teaching and conducting research in cybersecurity. While I was doing my PhD, I learned more about how to conduct research and write papers, but less about how to teach students in a college classroom. So, in the first couple of years, I spent a lot of time on adjusting myself to the classroom and on preparing materials that are at the right level for my students.

While I was adjusting to my teaching role, I also started to do more work in the research area and started applying for grants to support research activities and students who worked with me. My first federal funded grant was on developing web security tools and teaching modules. I really liked the experience and the collaboration with colleagues and students. This experience led me to the NSF-funded grants from the CyberCorps®: Scholarship for Service program. This program offers student scholarships in cybersecurity and has helped us recruit and train many students interested in this area. This is a program very dear to my heart and would like to keep it going along with other academic programs supporting it.

That’s an incredible path you created for yourself. And after teaching for a while, you took on different and bigger roles at Seidenberg as well. How did this bring you to your new position of Interim Dean of the school?

I had some experience in education administration before I took on the new position. Up until this August when I took on the role of Interim Dean, I was the Executive Director of our cybersecurity programs, where I handled academic programs, research grants, and Pace’s designation in the Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense. But even before that role, I was the IT Department Chair for several years. These administrative roles have taught me how to balance academic and administrative duties. My previous experience prepared me for the new role, and now I get to look at the whole school from a different angle. I can look at it from a very holistic view, and can have a more strategic perspective about which direction to take Seidenberg in.

If we think of the school as a boat, as Interim Dean I am basically the captain. This doesn’t mean that I am driving the ship myself, but I need to guide the direction of the school and need to ensure we are all working together. This includes the faculty and staff, as well as the students.

It’s not just about the captain’s direction, everyone on this boat plays a vital role in determining where we are going, and together we are forming a collective vision. So, what I am most excited about is this collaborative journey.

I love that analogy. So, if you can envision a path for the school over the next year, what would that look like?

I think that the school has a very good foundation right now. Comparing to where we were a decade ago, the school is in a very different place. We should thank the efforts of the past deans for leading us to this positive trajectory. The technology landscape is changing and there will always be challenges and new trends, so we must adapt and evolve with the changing world. At the moment, we have a lot of new programs and majors, like the BS in Game Development, as well as the expansion of our cybersecurity programs and AI initiatives. The faculty have a wide range of research grants and activities, and we are supporting a lot of our students in a variety of extra-curricular or experiential learning activities.

All of these are areas I would like to focus on. While we are continuing this upward trajectory by looking for new directions to expand, we need to enrich the student experience inside and outside the classroom.

I am very grateful that many of our alums and industry advisers are enthusiastic in helping our students by providing them opportunities and guiding them to jumpstart a bright future.

And do you have anything to add, something that you would say to the students who will be reading this article?

I want students to consider Seidenberg as their home, a place where you can not only study, but also make friends and participate in things you are interested in beyond the classroom. And it’s important that you feel supported, that you feel like you can always find someone to talk to at the school. And then after you have graduated, I want you to feel like you have grown, matured, and have a connection to something greater. But also, that Seidenberg will always be your home to come back for support and friendships.