Meet Natalya Goreva, Assistant Professor of Information Technology Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Assistant Professor Natalya Goreva, Ph.D., has been teaching information technology and related classes in Point Park University's School of Business since 2008. She earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in mathematics and computer science from Ivanovo State University in Russia and a doctorate degree in business information systems and education from Utah State University. Goreva is a member of the International Association of Computer Information Systems and the Association for Computing Machinery. She has published various research articles on IT security issues and international e-commerce. View Goreva's full bio.
What inspired you to pursue the field of information technology?
By the end of my master's degree program I had completed six years of pure mathematics and was looking for something related to my major of applied/computational math but more "down-to-earth." I applied to five Ph.D. programs, four in computer science and one in business information systems. Ironically, the BIS program was the one I chose. I received a full tuition assistantship. It turned out to be a fortunate decision. Not only did BIS stimulate my interest, I also got to work in two rapidly developing areas -- IT security and e-commerce.
Why did you choose to teach at Point Park?
That's very simple: I moved to Pittsburgh from Utah because my family was here. I taught for two years at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. When Point Park announced an opening in their IT program, I jumped at the opportunity.
What classes do you teach?
- Introduction to Computer Literacy
- Website Building with HTML
- Object Oriented Systems Design and Analysis
- IT for Managers
- Web Design and Development
- User Interface Design and Development
- Intro to Database/Advanced Database Systems
- Secure Programming
- Electronic Commerce II
- Security Issues in IT
- Introduction to Network Design
- Issues in Management Information Systems
How has your knowledge of five languages (Russian, English, French, Japanese and Italian) helped you in your career?
I like learning languages and cultures. It is my hobby and actually, it is what brought me here to the U.S. Learning languages helps me, not necessarily directly, but as a good exercise for the brain and memory. I could never concentrate on only one area. I always need a "distraction." For example, learning Japanese helped me to survive when I was writing my dissertation. A language is just like a math problem. It takes a little more time to solve, but is always solvable.
Do you offer any hands-on projects in your classes?
All the time. Business information technology is a field that needs substantial hands-on experience. In my web development classes, for example, students are required to develop actual websites which will become part of their academic portfolios. Also, in my IT security classes, students choose a business and conduct a study evaluating the strength of its IT security systems.
What advice do you have for prospective students considering a career in information technology?
Choose an area in IT and become the best in it. It does not matter if you choose IT security, networking or database administration - good specialists are always needed in all of these areas. Information technology continues to be one of the fastest developing careers so no matter how good you are in your field, you will always need to keep up with the continuing advancements in your area.