Amit Batabyal is an expert on microeconomic issues in general and international politics with particular reference to South Asia.

He can also speak on natural resources and the environment, international economic development and international trade, South Asian politics and economics, globalization and its impact on rich and poor nations, and corruption and bribery in developing countries. Also regional economic growth and development and the management of invasive species.

He has published more than 500 books, book chapters, refereed journal articles and book reviews. Batabyal has presented research at conferences and in universities in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia and won numerous national and international awards for research.

At RIT, his primary responsibilities are research, teaching and service.

Batabyal earned his bachelor's in applied economics and business management from Cornell University (1987), master's in agricultural and applied economics from University of Minnesota (1990), and Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from University of California at Berkeley (1994).

Joseph Fornieri is a professor of political science at RIT and a leading scholar on the life and political thought of Abraham Lincoln. Fornieri has conducted extensive research, written and spoken widely on Lincoln's political accomplishments, thought, and influence on modern society. He was awarded a Fulbright to Prague in 2009, appointed to the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, 2009 and is also a member of the Lincoln Forum. Some of his books include Abraham Lincoln's Political Faith, Lincoln's America: 1809-1865, published by Southern Illinois University Press, and The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln, now in its second edition. He is completing a book on Lincoln's statesmanship that will be out in 2014.

Ron Hira is an expert on outsourcing (including offshore outsourcing), technology policy, high skill immigration, and research and development policy.

He is a licensed professional engineer, a research associate with the Economic Policy Institute and the co-author of Outsourcing America (AMACOM Books 2005).

Hira teaches courses on technological innovation, communications and public policy. He has appeared on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and “NOW with Bill Moyers,” and his expertise has been cited in numerous publications including The New York Times and Time magazine. He has participated in countless conferences related to science/technology workforce issues and has twice testified before congress on national economic policy.

Hira completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Science Policy & Outcomes at Columbia University and holds a Ph.D. in public policy from George Mason University, a master’s in electrical engineering from George Mason University and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Benjamin N. Lawrance holds the Barber B. Conable Jr. Endowed Chair in International Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology. A graduate of Stanford University and University College London, his research interests include comparative and contemporary slavery, child trafficking, globalization, human rights, and asylum. He has published five books, the most recent on trafficking in women and children with Ohio University Press. Professor Lawrance is also a consultant on the contemporary political, social and cultural climate in West Africa and has served as an expert witness for over 180 asylum claims of West Africans in North America and Europe. He is the recipient of national and international awards, including fellowships at Yale, Harvard, the University of Notre Dame, the Rotary Foundation, and the University of California President’s Fellowship in the Humanities.