This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
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New Faculty Faces

Published: December 7, 2006
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Name: Kathy R. O'Donnell
School: School of Management
Department: Accounting and Law
Academic Title: Lecturer and assistant to the chair
Academic Degrees: B.A., education, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Ind.; M.B.A., accounting, UB

Areas of Special Interest: Auditing, governmental accounting, not-for-profit accounting, business combinations

The most significant issue in my academic field is ethics. I'm a C.P.A., licensed in New York State.

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Name: Michalis Petropoulos
School: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Department: Computer Science and Engineering
Academic Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Degree: Ph.D., University of California-San Diego
Areas of Special Interest: Database systems, data integration, XML data management, database interfaces

The database field is facing new challenges as vast amounts of data become available on the Web. Novel frameworks, such as data integration systems and ubiquitous computing environments demand unified access to such distributed data. Database researchers are working on data models and mediation languages that capture the semantics of heterogeneous sources, as well as sophisticated visual interfaces that help users access and navigate complex data, and processors that retrieve data across multiple databases efficiently.

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Name: Wei Sun
School: College of Arts and Sciences
Department: Communicative Disorders and Sciences
Academic Title: Assistant Professor
Academic Degree: Ph.D., University at Buffalo
Area of Special Interest: Hearing science

One of my current projects is to study the developmental changes of the central auditory system and how the changes involve the acoustical signal processing. For example, how the auditory cortex is involved in temporal acuity, frequency discrimination and auditory memory. What's the cellular and physiological basis for these functions? The results of these studies may lead to new insights into pharmacologic therapies for improving auditory memory and learning deficits in children, aphasia patients and cochlear implant users.