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ISDS' Alan Hevner Named Distinguished University Professor by Provost's Office

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (May 4, 2017) -- Alan R. Hevner, an Eminent Scholar in the Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department, has one more esteemed title to add to his curriculum vita: Distinguished University Professor.

University of South Florida Provost Ralph Wilcox on Thursday announced the designation that the university bestowed on three professors, including Hevner. Other professors honored are Robert D. Frisina, with the College of Engineering's Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering; and Roger Ariew, with the College of Arts & Sciences' Department of Philosophy.

Hevner joins three other Muma College of Business professors who have previously been named Distinguished University Professors: James Stock, a marketing professor who received the honor in 2011; management professor Walter Nord, recognized in 2000, and the late Arie Beenhakker, who won the award in 1987.

Hevner has participated in many doctoral consortia to support the education and training of faculty and doctoral students in design science research methods and is considered a thought leader in design science paradigms.

"I am most grateful to be honored by my faculty peers as a Distinguished University Professor at USF," Hevner said. "My impact in the field of information systems and technology design have benefited from my collaborations with many talented scholars from around the world. It is exciting to know that my efforts have contributed in some way to numerous research projects that have produced design innovations to address important societal problems and opportunities."

Hevner is no stranger to academic accolades.

He holds the Citigroup/Hidden River Chair of Distributed Technology and has been elected by his peers as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a Fellow of the Association for Information Systems. International recognition has come in the forms of a Schoeller Senior Fellow at the Friedrich Alexander Universitat Erlanger-Nurnberg, Germany from 2014-17 and a Parnas Fellow at Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre this year. Hevner also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to design-science research in 2009.

He has more than 14,000 citations of his work, including a groundbreaking 2004 MIS Quarterly article that has more than 8,800 citations, ranking among the most widely cited publications in the entire field of information systems.

That research involved a design science paradigm, which seeks to develop and verify theories that explain or predict human or organizational behavior. He has been a leader in bringing design science research methods into information-systems research and has presented numerous seminars internationally on the topic.

"Being nominated for DUP status is a significant honor," Wilcox said, "because it indicates that the individual has an outstanding scholarly record and has made significant contributions to USF and her/his  profession."

The purpose of the Distinguished University Professor program is to recognize senior members of the USF system faculty who have distinguished themselves among their peers both within and outside the university. The title is awarded to three senior faculty per year through a nomination process that includes an external peer review and identifies those honored as outstanding members of their profession.

"While the profiles of successful candidates may vary, they normally will have achieved international recognition in research/scholarship/creative activity," according to the guidelines for the honor. However, candidates with teaching accomplishments and professional service also are considered.