Business professor focuses on AI, research, new courses - The University of Tulsa
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Business professor focuses on AI, research, new courses

Artificial intelligence is changing the way the world works, and faculty at The University of Tulsa have a pulse on those changes.

Kazim Topuz is an associate professor of business analytics and operations management in UTulsa’s Collins College of Business. He recently published a paper looking at how a super-charged AI tool can act as a diagnostic roadmap for mental health disorders.

Kazim Topuz

Topuz is the director of the master’s in business analytics program and has proposed incorporating more AI-focused courses, including two new courses: Introduction to AI for Business Students and Advanced Machine Learning. Many of his students are employed at leading companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and the Bank of Oklahoma.

Topuz said he enjoys the small classes at UTulsa. “This is what we call a personal touch,” he said. “These small class sizes that you can have allow for these personal relationships with students. You can spend more time with students, which can affect their life on a personal level. Because when you are presenting to a large class, you don’t get this personal relationship as much as you do in small class sizes.”

Topuz is also dedicated to mentoring students. Ten of his students are presenting their research at local and national conferences this year, with several submitting their work to leading academic journals under his guidance. He created OM-Bee, a chatbot that assists operations management students using lecture materials, and KAI, an AI-powered digital assistant for the master’s program.

UTulsa graduate student Narges Salehin took Foundation of Analytics with Topuz in fall 2024. “The course was incredibly impactful and one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had during my studies,” Salehin said.

She said it’s important to highlight how much Topuz cares about the success of his students, not just during the course but throughout their time at the university. “He is an excellent mentor who inspires confidence and ensures students feel supported in achieving their goals,” Salehin said. “His dedication, kindness, and unwavering support make him someone I deeply respect and admire.”

Topuz holds a doctorate in industrial engineering from Wichita State University, with a dissertation on data mining applications in health care, and master’s degrees in information systems engineering from Lehigh University and industrial and systems engineering from Rutgers University.

Outside of academics, the professor takes pride in his Turkish heritage with his involvement in the Turkish community in Tulsa. He is also an avid pickleball player and enjoys time with his family.