Dr. Chris F. Kemerer, the Douglas Drane Career Development Associate Professor of Information Technology and Management, has been appointed to the newly created position of acting associate dean for information technology at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
"Chris will serve as the School's chief information technology officer," explained Dean Glen Urban, drawing on an analogy to a similar position in corporate organizations. "His role will be to make sure that the perspectives and opportunities associated with the pervasive and rapidly evolving field of information technology are reflected at the highest levels of the School's management and long-term planning."
The appointment is a part of Sloan's plans to be a leader in implementing new technologies for teaching. "Just as information technologies are revolutionizing the processes and practice of business, so they will revolutionize the processes and practice of education," Kemerer said. "Sloan must be creative and proactive in tapping the opportunities offered by ongoing advances in computers, software, networking and telecommunications."
A major focus of the strategy is to develop effective "distance learning" methods that take advantage of the latest technologies to teach and interact with students, faculty and corporate representatives in a wide variety of remote sites. The tools and techniques developed will be applied in support of the growing number of international partnerships Sloan is building around the world, particularly in Asia.
Another application of these methods will be to limit the amount of on-campus time required of students participating in a novel industry-focused degree program in systems design and management under consideration by the Sloan School in conjunction with the School of Engineering. They will also open up new possibilities for executive education programs as well as in alumni relations.
An expert on information technologies, and in particular software engineering management, Professor Kemerer has been at MIT since joining the faculty as an assistant professor in 1987. He was promoted to associate professor in 1992. Before coming to MIT he was a principal at American Management Systems, Inc., a systems development and consulting firm. He holds a BS degree in decision sciences and economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and both the MS and PhD in systems sciences from Carnegie Mellon University.
A version of this article appeared in the November 9, 1994 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 39, Number 11).
