NEW ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS APPOINTED FOR UA WALTON COLLEGE’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Information Technology Research Center (ITRC) in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has announced the appointment of E. Reed Doke as associate director of research and Pam J. Schmidt as associate director of activities and services.

Bill C. Hardgrave, executive director of the ITRC, said, "We are pleased to have both Reed and Pam join the Center. The addition of this team will help us expand our scope of activities, research and workshops and provide even more services to our business and industry members."

Walton College’s ITRC was established in the college in 1999 with funding from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. The center leads research and advances the practice in the development and use of information technology (IT) for enhancing the performance of individuals and organizations. Managers from the information systems departments of the state’s top business and industry serve on the ITRC board of advisors and work closely with the ITRC to address IT issues.

Doke joins the Walton College as a clinical professor of information systems and was previously a professor of computer information systems at Southwest State University, Springfield, Mo. He holds a B.S. in business and an MBA from Drury University and a Ph.D. in management from the Walton College. He has published five books and numerous research articles on IT and systems development.

As associate director of research, Doke is responsible for promoting IT research, collaborating on research projects with ITRC member companies, research reporting, IT working paper management, and grant proposal writing. In addition, he will teach courses in the information systems department.

Schmidt joined the Walton College in 2000 as an executive in resident. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science, with honors, from the University of Kansas. She holds a master’s of management degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a master’s of science degree in computer science from the University of Southern California.

Schmidt served over 15 years in computer systems research and development at AT&T Bell Laboratories where she was in charge of projects in computer software and hardware design, data networking and Internet multimedia applications. She has a diverse background including working as a UNIX operating system programmer, systems analyst, project manager and business manager for three leading telecommunications development companies. Most recently, she was director of high speed Internet service for the Ameritech five-state region at SBC Communications.

As associate director of activities and services, Schmidt manages the day-to-day operations of the ITRC, serving as project lead for ITRC event planning, communication, Website design, reporting and new projects. In addition, she will teach courses in the information systems department.

Hardgrave added, "In today’s economy, the effective use of information technology to support business processes is critical. We are leading research efforts to find even more efficiencies through new technologies."