AIS From the Start
Piecing Together the IS Puzzle
May 2
Before the establishment of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), information systems (IS) research was characterized by a fragmented landscape with limited coordination and collaboration among scholars, practitioners, and educators. While emerging as a distinct discipline, the field lacked a unified platform for scholarly exchange, sharing of knowledge, and advancement of research agendas.
From Vision to Reality: The Formation of the Association for Information Systems and the Volunteers Who Made it Happen
June 6
The storied history of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) is one that goes back further than many realize. The organization’s history didn’t begin the day the ink was dry on its constitution or at the formation of the first Information Systems (IS) conference, or when the first stand-alone IS program in a university was created.
The Evolution of IS Research and the AIS eLibrary
July 18
Central to the success of IS research is the Association for Information Systems (AIS) eLibrary, which stands as the central repository for research in the ever-evolving field of information systems (IS). While many important journals paved the way for IS research, the eLibrary’s history reflects the growth and transformation of IS research itself, mirroring the field’s journey from the era of new and misunderstood area of study to the diverse and growing field that it is today.
Ten Questions
Ten Questions with Jane Fedorowicz
May 2, 2024
The first guest in the 30th Anniversary series is Jane Fedorowicz, the 19th president of AIS, and Professor Emerita at Bentley University following her retirement in 2023. Previously, she held the Chester B. Slade Professor of Accounting and Information Systems and held a joint appointment in the Accountancy Department and the Information and Process Management Department. She was integral in the creation of Bentley’s STEM-designated Masters’ Degree in Accounting which offers five concentrations with strong analytics and information technology foci. Prior to serving as president of AIS, she was heavily involved in the ICIS Women’s Breakfast, which later became the AIS Women’s Network. She served as the 2019 ICIS Conference Co-Chair with Helmut Krcmar and went on to serve as the ICIS Representative on AIS Council for one year.
Ten Questions with Munir Mandviwalla
May 16, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions features Munir Mandviwalla, longtime AIS member and founder of the AIS Student Chapters program. The program, which began in 2009, has long been a source for Information Systems undergraduates to develop their careers and build networks beyond their home universities. In addition to the Student Chapters program, Munir has been instrumental in the work done on the IS Job Index, which is the only longitudinal assessment of placement, demographics, jobs, search, acceptance, geographical patterns, and knowledge of information systems (IS), management information systems (MIS), and computer information systems (CIS) graduates. Inaugurated in 2013 and published every 2 years, each report is based on several thousand recent graduates from more than 30 universities across the United States.
Ten Questions for Ping Zhang
June 6, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions features Ping Zhang, who served as the first Historian for AIS. Her work in the mid 2010s helped to set the foundation for the history of the association and the IS discipline, and many of her interviews and written pieces are still referenced today. She was the author of the first article published in the AIS research flagship journal JAIS.
Ten Questions for Guillermo Rodriguez-Abitia
July 5, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions focuses on Guillermo Rodriguez-Abitia. He has been a member of AIS for more than 20 years and he was pivotal in bringing AIS to the Latin American region through the founding of LACAIS (Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of AIS), the ISLA Conference (Information Systems in Latin America) and RELCASI, the Latin American and Caribbean Journal of AIS. He has served in many roles as an AIS volunteer, including three different roles on the AIS Council.
Ten Questions for Ryan Wright
July 19, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions comes from Ryan Wright, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. His research interests include cybersecurity, privacy, and the diffusion of innovations. He served as Vice President of Membership on the AIS Council for four years and was instrumental in the formation of the AIS Doctoral Student College.
Ten Questions for Blake Ives
August 1, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions comes from Blake Ives, Professor Emeritus at the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Blake played a major leadership role in the development of electronic infrastructure for the information systems academic discipline.
Ten Questions for Cynthia Beath
August 15, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions comes from Cynthia Beath, Professor Emerita at the University of Texas, Austin. A pioneering leader in AIS, she served as the first Chair of the ICIS Women’s Breakfast, now the AIS Women’s Network, and held various key roles, including Vice President of Publications.
Ten Questions for Dorothy Leidner
September 19, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions features Dorothy Leidner, the Leslie H. Goldberg Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor in Business Ethics in the McIntire School of Business at the University of Virginia. As a long-time volunteer of the association, she has served in many roles, including 2015 ICIS Co-Chair and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems. On Sep. 1, she started her term as AIS President.
Ten Questions for Cathy Urquhart
October 3, 2024
This week’s Ten Questions comes from Cathy Urquhart, Professor Emeritus of Digital Business at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, and visiting Professor at the Department of Informatics can Lund University, Sweden. Cathy served as Vice President SIGS and Member Services on the AIS Council for four years.
Ten Questions for Manju Ahuja
April 16, 2025
This week’s Ten Questions comes from Manju Ahuja, Frasier Family Chair of Information Systems at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. A pioneer in gender and IT research, she co-led two major NSF grants to enhance inclusivity in STEM. She currently serves on the leadership team for a $1M NSF ADVANCE grant to improve advancement structures for women in STEM at her university.