Prior to joining the college of IS&T, Briana worked for IBM for 8 years as a software developer and then transitioned to academia. She was an Assistant Professor at Southern Polytechnic State University (now Kennesaw State University) for 20 years in the Computer Science department. She was the Undergraduate Coordinator for the Computer Science and Software Engineering programs, helped to found the Computer Game Design and Development degree program, and served as the lead for 2 successful ABET accreditation visits. She has a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from Tulane University, a master's in computer science, and a PhD in Human-Centered Computing from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research area is Computer Science Education where she explores cognitive load theory within programming, broadening participation in computing and expanding and preparing computing high school teachers.