Paul Beckman, Ph.D.

Faculty Site URL: https://faculty.sfsu.edu/~pbeckman/

Paul A. Beckman received his B.S. (Geology, 1984) and B.S. (Geophysics, 1985) from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis and his M.S.M. (Management Information Systems, 1984), M.S.I.E. (Human Factors, 1996), and Ph.D. (Management Information Systems, 1996) from Purdue University-West Lafayette, IN.

His work experience includes four years as a programmer/analyst and systems analyst at Hewlett-Packard as both an employee and consultant, nine years as an academician/researcher at San Francisco State University, and seven summers of work as a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses.

During the past nine years he has performed leading-edge research related to human performance, virtual environments, wireless mesh network technologies and business models, and the impact of social connectedness on task performance.

Education: 

• B.S. in Geology (1985), University of Minnesota-Minneapolis
• B.S. in Geophysics (1986), University of Minnesota-Minneapolis
• M.S. in Management with an emphasis in Management Information Systems (1988), Purdue University-West Lafayette
• M.S. in Industrial Engineering with an emphasis in Human Factors (1996), Purdue University-West Lafayette
• Ph.D. in Management with an emphasis in Management Information Systems (1996), Purdue University-West Lafayette

Research Interests: 

• Human performance
• Virtual reality and virtual environments
• Task:interface concordance in information searches
• Wireless mesh networks
• Impact of social connectedness on task performance

You may access the following research papers and research projects by scrolling through Professor Beckman's SFSU faculty website page:

• March Madness Basketball Tournament: There is More Parity on the Men’s Side than on the Women’s Side
• Computing Machinery and Reality
• Who Are the Most-Connected Venture Capitalist Board Members in the Technology Sector?
• Informed Consent to Participate in Research Project: “Student Interactions Impact on Sense of Belonging”

Honors and Awards: 

• Central Research Grant, Institute for Defense Analyses ($10,000) (1994)
• SFSU Research and Professional Development Assigned Time award (1998)
• Lam Family College of Business Dean's Research Fellowship ($10,000) (1998)
• Research and Professional Development grant ($5,000) (2000)
• Vice President