With more than 30 years of experience in a career spanning industry, consultation, and academia, Professor Hansford is an educator and researcher who specializes in data analytics, computer science and applied AI.
While studying at Mount Union College and later Wright State University, Hansford was also working in the industry and getting hands on experience. Over the years he worked with various firms in Ohio and discovered his passion for teaching.
“During the time of my last consulting gig, I was doing a lot of training with people who were learning CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools, and that kind of parlayed into adjunct work. Which eventually led me to full-time teaching, which I’ve been doing for the last 10 years,” Hansford said.
He explained that learning how to review data and take action based on the data has been important throughout his career.
“At LexisNexis, my first job out of college, I saw firsthand how information could be organized and searched online at scale. In consulting, I learned that data is more important than software. Companies will throw away old software but keep the data because it’s incredibly valuable,” Hansford said.
He also said he has seen some companies collect and analyze data but then never take action, which allows problems to fester instead of getting fixed. Data can be very useful but only if it is properly utilized.
Much of the time data has a reputation for being rather cold and impersonal, reducing people to numbers, but Hansford thinks that data can be a powerful force for good, as it can help you learn new things about people in different ways that might otherwise be missed, as well as finding unexpected connections.
As a professor, Hansford regularly works with success coaches to review student performance based on their data, such as how often they log in and which assignments they have or have not done. Taking this into account they come up with personalized ways to hopefully move them up a letter grade.
“When that progress happens, that’s really encouraging. We take action based on data.” Hansford said.
He has seen how much technology has advanced over time and how it continues to grow and change, with AI being the latest game changer.
“The impact of data can be seen in just about every stage of my career and in every walk of life. We have smartwatches, smartphones [and] smartglasses with AI…I really want an AI lawn mower, but I have to talk my wife into that one,” Hansford said.
Many students feel that they are not a “math person”, and that tech knowledge is not important if they are not a programmer or computer science major. But Hansford says that data literacy benefits students regardless of what field they are going into, as many people will end up analyzing data or building dashboards of some kind without ever touching code.
“Data and AI are touching every industry…Data and AI open up endless opportunities. We live in a hyper-connected, data-driven, interdisciplinary society,” Hansford said.
As the world grows ever more reliant on technology, skills related to technology will continue to be useful no matter what path someone’s studies or career might take them. Hansford had some advice that any student can apply in life that will help them in an ever changing world.
“Stay curious. Ask questions. Be flexible and adaptable because technology is changing much faster than most people can keep up with,” Hansford said. “But your ability to learn and always be learning is very important. Data is not just numbers, it’s really stories about people, and used well it can make a real positive impact.”
Erik Larson, reporter
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