BYU IS Faculty Among Top Researchers

PROVO, Utah – Jul 19, 2016 – The latest Association of Information Systems research rankings have been released and — once again — Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management has a view from the top. 

Based on the number of published articles in the six leading journals of the information systems field, the Marriott School Department of Information Systems ranks No. 11 in the world, with 16 published articles in the last three years. 

“It is amazing what our department has done in terms of research,” says Marshall Romney, information systems department chair. “We are proud of our faculty for their commitment to both high quality research and excellent teaching.”

Though the Marriott School does not have a PhD program and the IS department is smaller in size than other peer institutions, initiatives have been implemented to encourage research. For example, the department offers a pre-PhD track for students in the master’s of information systems management program in which students work with faculty to get first-hand experience with the research process.

“There are only a few who choose the pre-PhD track, but it helps them get into excellent PhD programs,” Romney says. “A number of them then come back to BYU as professors with a huge foot forward in producing research.”

Newly hired professors in the department also teach multiple sections in the same course rather than multiple different courses, enabling them to focus more time and effort on research. As a result, the IS department has more than tripled the number of published articles in the last three years.

Two BYU IS faculty in particular — Anthony Vance and James Gaskin — tied for No. 12 among faculty worldwide with five publications apiece. In addition, alumnus Paul Lowry, who received a bachelor’s degree in information systems in 1991 and an MBA in 1997 from BYU, reported the highest number of publications in the world in the last three years. Greg Moody, a BYU MISM alumnus who graduated in 2006, ranked No. 8 with seven publications.

“The rankings are all the more impressive when you consider the quality of education the department provides,” Vance says. “The Marriott School as a whole is raising the bar and much of this expectation is self-imposed. The faculty really want to continue to see BYU as a leader in the IS field.”

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems and public management. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,300 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.