Smarter Projects & Stronger Leaders in the Age of AI
Join us for the official launch of Columbia University’s new M.S. in Project Management program, an event that brings together industry leaders and faculty to explore the evolving landscape of project leadership in a world shaped by innovation and AI.
Discover how this future-ready program prepares students to lead complex initiatives across industries by blending human-centered leadership, digital fluency, and responsible integration of emerging technologies. Hear from visionary speakers, engage in dynamic discussions, and be part of a new chapter in graduate education at Columbia.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required and is open until Thursday, October 23rd, 2025.
Opening Remarks:
Troy Eggers, Dean, Columbia School of Professional Studies
Moderator:
Evangelia Ieronymaki, Program Director and Senior Lecturer in Discipline, M.S. in Project Management, M.S. in Construction Administration
Dr. Evangelia Ieronymaki is a professional civil engineer, program director, and senior lecturer in the discipline of Construction Administration at Columbia University School of Professional Studies. She holds both S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a specialization in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. She also holds M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees from the National Technical University of Athens in earthquake structural engineering and civil engineering, respectively.
Before joining Columbia, Dr. Ieronymaki was a tenured associate professor of Civil Engineering at Manhattan University, where she led academic initiatives, advised student research, and contributed to accreditation and institutional planning efforts. At Columbia, she contributes to academic planning and curriculum design across both the M.S. in Construction Administration and the M.S. in Project Management programs. She has developed courses in project management, construction management, and leadership, aligning course content with industry practices and emerging trends.
Her research focuses on tunneling, soil-structure interaction, numerical methods in geotechnics, and the impacts of climate change on infrastructure. She has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed publications and has presented her work at major international conferences. She is also a recipient of the Dean’s Applied Research Award at Columbia and has delivered keynote presentations at ASCE and DFI conferences.
In parallel with her academic career, Dr. Ieronymaki is an active freelance civil engineering consultant, collaborating with leading architecture, engineering, and planning firms on challenging projects involving deep excavations, retaining systems, and foundation design. Her notable contributions include geotechnical work on high-rise developments in New York City, due diligence evaluations for multimillion-euro real estate transactions, and field research for the Crossrail tunnel project in London.
Dr. Ieronymaki is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), and the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA), where she has served on technical committees and as a student chapter advisor. She chaired the 53rd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium and has been recognized with honors such as the Women in Deep Foundations Award and a Future Leader designation by ARMA.
With over 15 years of combined academic and industry experience, Dr. Ieronymaki is committed to preparing the next generation of project leaders by integrating real-world engineering insight, applied research, and industry-informed practices into the classroom. She is fluent in English, French, and Greek. Outside of her professional life, she is a former national jujitsu champion in Greece and an advocate for resilience, innovation, and equity in the engineering profession.
Panelists:
Project Management Faculty and Course Instructors
Steven Cohen, Senior Vice Dean, Columbia School of Professional Studies; Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs, School of International and Public Affairs
Steven Cohen is a Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and Senior Vice Dean of Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. In addition to his role as the Director of the M.S. in Sustainability Management, he is also the Director of the M.P.A. in Environmental Science and Policy at SIPA. He serves on the Board of Directors of Homes for the Homeless, the Board of Directors of Willdan Energy Solutions, and the Board of Directors of the Institute on the Environment.
From 2002 to 2006, he directed education programs at the Earth Institute. Dr. Cohen previously served as Vice Dean, Director of Graduate Programs in Public Policy and Administration, and Associate Dean for Faculty and Curriculum at SIPA. Dr. Cohen served as a policy analyst in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and served on the Agency’s Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology.
Dr. Cohen is the author of Environmentally Sustainable Growth: A Pragmatic Approach (2023), The Sustainable City (2017, now co-authored in its 2021 second edition), Understanding Environmental Policy (2006, 2014), Sustainability Management (2011), and The Effective Public Manager (1988, now co-authored in its 2013 fifth edition), and the co-author of Management Fundamentals (2020), Sustainability Policy: Hastening the Transition to a Cleaner Economy (2015), The Responsible Contact Manager (2008), Strategic Planning in Environmental Regulation (2005), Tools for Innovators: Creative Strategies for Managing Public Sector Organizations (1998), and Total Quality Management in Government (1993).
He contributes to the School of Professional Studies' blog Tomorrow's Minds at Work on a weekly basis. Join Steve Cohen's blog distribution list
Dr. Cohen has taught courses in public management, policy analysis, environmental policy, management innovation, and sustainability management. In 1982, Cohen developed and, until 2001, directed Columbia’s Workshops in Applied Public Management and Applied Policy Analysis, bringing practical professional education into the center of Columbia’s Public Administration curriculum. He has conducted professional training seminars in total quality management, strategic planning, project management, and management innovation.
Dr. Cohen was born in Orange, New Jersey, raised in Brooklyn, New York, and now resides in New York City. He and his wife, Donna Fishman, have two wonderful daughters, Gabriella and Ariel, and three granddaughters, Lily, Noa, and Adi.
Ibrahim Odeh, Founding Director, Global Leaders in Construction Management (GLCM) Program; Chair, Engineering and Construction Management Program, Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia Engineering School
Dr. Ibrahim Odeh is the founding director of the Global Leaders in Construction Management (GLCM) program and the chair of the Engineering and Construction Management program at the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia Engineering School. He is a unique combination of a strategist, academic, innovator, and entrepreneur. His work seamlessly merges the worlds of industry and academia, spans the global construction market, and provides leading construction firms with unique market insights, growth strategies, and advice on digital transformation and technological trends that are reshaping the construction and engineering industry. Companies that Odeh has collaborated or worked with from an advisory perspective, consulting role, or research collaboration effort include Turner Construction, World Economic Forum, Royal Commission for AlUla, Nesma & Partners, Skanska, Parsons Corporation, The Vertex Companies, ExxonMobil, Dentons, AECOM, AI Engineers, WGI Engineering, Plaza Construction, and many others.
Odeh worked as an advisory committee member at the World Economic Forum on the “Future of Construction” project. In 2017, he served for two years as an advisory board member at Financial Times—Future of Construction Summit on a similar initiative. He sits on several advisory boards and committees, such as Tough Leaf, AI Engineers, EnTech Engineering, Trunk Tools, Infraclear, Taiyo, and GrydSense. In 2021, Odeh was also appointed as an advisory board member at the GI Hub, a G20 initiative that is now part of the World Bank’s Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), focused on connecting the global infrastructure community and sharing insights to facilitate delivery of global economic, social, and environmental outcomes through increased and improved infrastructure.
Odeh was also the first instructor to introduce, in fall 2016, the first massive open online courses (MOOCs) to educate global learners in the area of construction management under the Coursera platform. The number of learners registered for Odeh’s courses to date has reached more than half a million from 190 countries, and he has more than a million global followers. His courses ranked third globally under the business category on Coursera for several years. Odeh also is a regular active speaker, delivering several keynote presentations in different countries globally in the area of digital transformation and the future of the construction industry. Odeh has won several prestigious awards and recognitions, such as the 2023 McGraw Hill Pathfinder Award, which recognizes educators for innovative and inventive methods and for breaking new ground in their approach to education on a global scale, and Columbia University’s prestigious Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, a top honor presented to only five recipients from nearly 1,000 nominations. He was also named Top 20 Under 40 by Engineering News-Record and Top 40 Under 40 by Consulting-Specifying Engineer. Odeh received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds an MBA degree.
Scott Rosner, Program Director and Professor of Professional Practice, M.S. in Sports Management
As director of the Master of Science in Sports Management program, Scott Rosner leads all programmatic and curricular development efforts, creates professional development opportunities for students, and manages all strategic planning efforts for the program, including marketing, enrollment, student life, and alumni affairs. Rosner is also a Professor of Professional Practice, teaching graduate-level courses in the discipline of Sports Management.
Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia in January 2018, Rosner was a practice professor in the Legal Studies and Business Ethics department at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the faculty associate director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative. He taught courses in Sports Business Management and Negotiation and Dispute Resolution to undergraduate and MBA students, and taught Sports Law at both Wharton and Penn Law School. He was a five-time recipient of the prestigious Whitney Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching (2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2017). He has been the co-host of the Wharton Sports Business Show, a weekly look at the business of sports on SiriusXM’s Business Radio (channel 111), which has been heard on Tuesdays from 4–5 p.m. (Eastern) since its debut in January 2014. Rosner was also the program director of the Wharton Sports Business Academy, a summer program for rising high school juniors and seniors. Prior to being promoted to the rank of practice professor in July 2016, he was a practice associate professor from July 2013–June 2016, a practice assistant professor from July 2010–June 2013 and a full-time lecturer in the same department from July 2002–June 2010. He served as the faculty associate director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative since its inception in 2004 and served as the faculty mentor to the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s basketball team from 2003–2008.
Rosner has led consulting projects with a variety of clients both in his role as a faculty member leading student project teams and as the Principal of Hudson Sports Consulting, a sports advisory firm that provides a wide range of services in the business and legal aspects of the sports industry. Clients include: Philadelphia Phillies, PGA Tour, Soccer Without Borders, Adidas, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the National Football League (multiple engagements), Major League Baseball (multiple engagements), Northwestern University, the Philadelphia 76ers (multiple engagements), the Detroit Pistons, the United States Tennis Association, Madison Square Garden Sports, the Philadelphia Eagles (multiple engagements), the New York Jets (multiple engagements), FedEx, AT&T (multiple engagements), New York Road Runners, Philadelphia Sports Congress, Red Bull, the Philadelphia Union (MLS) (multiple engagements), AVP Tour, AOL Sports, NBA Developmental League, Sports Capital Partners (Real Salt Lake), USA Football, Cloud 9 Skiing, San Diego State University, and The Sacks Group.
Rosner is the lead author of The Business of Sports, a leading textbook in its second edition that synthesizes a collection of the leading scholarly sports business articles, the first such volume in the field. In addition, he has published numerous articles in highly regarded law reviews and journals and has made numerous presentations at academic conferences. His expert views have been presented on multiple occasions in Sports Illustrated, Sports Business Journal, ESPN.com, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, National Public Radio, MSNBC, and CNBC.
A native of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, Rosner resides in northern New Jersey with his family. His hobbies include reading and playing soccer. An avid runner who has completed two marathons and numerous half-marathons, Rosner has also been an active member of the community. He has taught a weekly law class to high school students and has coached in both inner-city and suburban youth soccer programs, including a position in the pilot program of the Nike P.L.A.Y.Corps.
Shahryar Shaghaghi, Program Director, M.S. in Technology Management; Professor of Professional Practice, Enterprise Risk Management; Technology, Risk Management and Cybersecurity Executive.
Shahryar is a Professor of Professional Practice, Program Director for the M.S. in Technology Management program, Senior Faculty member of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program and SPS Faculty Executive Committee member. For more than 6 years, Shahryar has been a lecturer with ERM, focusing on IT Risk Management, Third-Party Risk Management, Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategic Communications courses. Shahryar brings significant industry experience, over 30 years of wide range of leadership roles in technology, risk management, cybersecurity and data privacy.
By leveraging his extensive cybersecurity, technology, and risk management implementation and leadership experience garnered from his tenure with major global consulting, financial services, and government entities, Shahryar has successfully helped many organizations achieve their goals and optimize their critical and strategic programs while managing and mitigating risks. Some highlights of his career and key accomplishments are listed below:
Chief Technology Officer with Quantum Xchange, developed and executed Quantum Xchange’s technology roadmap to enhance the company’s broader post-quantum crypto-agile infrastructure strategy, through continued product innovation
Partner and practice leader in Technology and Risk Management with major management consulting organizations including Deloitte, Kurt Salmon, BDO, and CohnReznick
As the Executive Vice President and Head of IT Risk Management at Citigroup (at the time the largest bank in the world), led the largest risk and compliance implementations in the history of the bank and achieved “satisfactory rating” from OCC and FRB
Served as the senior advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of NY to oversee and review all FRBNY’s cybersecurity program policies, standards, and frameworks for the FRBNY’s Internal Audit
Led New York City Department of Education’s Cybersecurity Assessment and enhancement programs
As a member of AICPA’s Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) and Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) Cybersecurity Working Group, Shahryar developed SOC for Cybersecurity (SOC 3) attestation framework
Built and led Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Technology Consulting practices for BDO and CohnReznick
Developed Deloitte’s Information Security Practice and designed the Operations Maturity Model (OMM) for Accenture
Consulted and led various Global Technology Transformation and Risk Management programs for major organizations including American Express, JPMC, BNP Paribas, Mass Mutual, AXA-XL, Brown Brothers, Fidelity, Adidas, etc.
Presented and advised Board of Directors with cybersecurity and data privacy reporting and conducted training and workshops
Performed interim CISO role for some clients and provided cybersecurity education and advisory services to Audit Committee of Board of Directors
Advised various organizations on risk quantification by aligning business risks to technology and cyber risks
Managed engagements using industry recognized standards and frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-53, ISO 27001, FFIEC, SOC 2, COBIT, CMMI, HIPAA, PCI DSS, HITRUST, CIS, ITIL, GDPR and CCPA
Throughout his career provided internal awareness, external market presence, and brand recognition through teaching and training, white papers, publications, webinars, and speaking engagements
Participated and led various inclusive diversity groups at Deloitte and Citigroup
RECEPTION
The event will conclude with a reception featuring light refreshments, passed hors d’oeuvres, and opportunities to connect.
Event schedule:
- 5:30 PM - Open registration / check in for panel attendees
- 6:00 PM - Welcome guests to the event panel discussion
- 6:05 PM - Welcome remarks and panel introduction
- 6:10 PM - Panel discussion
- 6:45 PM - Q&A
- 7:00 PM - Reception
- 8:00 PM - Event concludes, departures
For more information about the event, please contact the Project Management Program, Michele Trizzino, mt3163 [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu.
To obtain additional information about the Master of Science in Project Management at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, please contact an Admissions Counselor at projectmanagement [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (projectmanagement[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu).
For additional information about program offerings at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies, please contact an Admissions Counselor at inquire [[at]] sps [[dot]] columbia [[dot]] edu (inquire[at]sps[dot]columbia[dot]edu).
If you require closed captioning, sign-language interpretation, or any other disability accommodations, please contact Disability Services, disability [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu (disability[at]columbia[dot]edu), at least 10 days in advance.
Please visit Columbia University’s Hub for Emergency Preparedness (https://preparedness.columbia.edu/) to stay up to date on the latest campus health and safety policies.
This event is open to individuals irrespective of identity and sex.