纪念美国管理信息系统学科奠基人

高登.戴维斯教授

新学期，在制作《统计信息管理与检索》课程课件的过程中重温信息管理与信息系统专业发展历史，在检索美国管理信息系统学科发展历程时，发现明尼苏达大学卡尔森学院名誉教授高登.戴维斯已经于2022年5月6日去世，享年91岁的消息。虽素未谋面，但作为他《管理信息系统》著作的忠实读者，突然发现这样的消息，默默有点悲哀。之前对于他的记忆，始终停留在1967年，明尼苏达大学设立管理信息系统博士项目的层面，虽偶尔有好奇，基于网络搜索引擎检索过一些关于他的信息，但却没有深度挖掘，现在想来，着实有些自责，谨以此文纪念。

 拓展阅读：

https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-520919-576595.html

https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/news/remembering-professor-emeritus-gordon-b-davis

https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/centers-institutes/mis-research-center/history

附录1：高登戴维斯教授去世

Professor Emeritus Gordon B. Davis died on Friday, May 6 at the age of 91. A true pioneer, Gordon helped establish the Carlson School as a leader in Management Information Systems (MIS).

2022年5月6日星期五，引领卡尔森学院成为管理信息系统（MIS）学科领导者的高登.戴维斯教授去世，享年91岁。

Despite receiving an offer for a partnership in a paper company in International Falls, Minnesota, he decided to join the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor in 1961. He jokingly explained his rationale at the time in an alumni magazine profile: “Once I make the big bucks, I’ll never be a professor. I better go try it now while I’m poor.”

1961年，他拒绝了企业合作邀请，进入明尼苏达大学，担任助理教授。

That decision would lead to a trail of historic firsts. By 1968, Gordon became one of the founders of the academic discipline of information systems. Alongside his colleagues, Gary Dickson and Tom Hoffman, he started the first formal academic degree program in MIS and was also the first to write a textbook for the discipline. His foundational work would serve as a model for academic programs at other universities. Gordon also led the Management Information Systems Research Center (MISRC) which worked with local companies to contribute to the advancement of the field. MISRC served as the first sponsor of MIS Quarterly, the premier academic journal in the field. Gordon served as its publisher until 2004.

1968年，他成为管理信息系统学科的创始人之一，他与同时Gary Dickson和Tom Hoffman一起启动了管理信息系统的第一个正式学位课程，也是第一个为该学科编写教科书的人。他所从事上述基础工作为国际管理信息系统学科发展奠定了基础。他还领导建设了管理信息系统研究中心，该研究中心不仅从事校企合作，还成为该领域首屈一指的学术期刊MIS Quarterly的首个赞助商。

拓展阅读：https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/centers-institutes/mis-research-center/history

Gordon’s legacy lives on through his students, colleagues, and the ongoing work at the Carlson School, which is consistently ranked as one of the top programs in MIS. During his time overseeing the MIS doctoral program from 1968 to 1993, he served as advisor, co-advisor, or committee member to more than 100 doctoral students. Under his leadership, a visit to Minnesota became a rite of passage for MIS academics with a large number of influential thinkers, researchers, and scholars building their Minnesota connections.

1986年至1993年在建设管理信息系统博士课程过程中，培养并引领了上百名管理信息系统学科博士，并面向全球慷慨接收该领域的访问学者。

Gordon helped establish the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) as well as the Association of Information Systems (AIS), for which he served as the fourth president. Gordon received numerous recognitions for his outstanding scholarly contributions and service to the field. Among some of the major recognitions were ACM Fellow, AIS Fellow, INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow, and AIS LEO award for lifetime achievement in the field of information systems.

他还辅助建立了信息系统国际会议（ICIS）以及信息系统协会（AIS）并出任主席，获得该领域的终身成就奖。

Gordon was a prolific writer and contributor to the discipline. He published 23 books and over 150 articles. His citations are in the hundreds of thousands with his monograph, Writing the Doctoral Dissertation, being used by over 60,000 doctoral students. To recognize Gordon’s impact on fostering the development of new generations of MIS researchers, in 2020, the INFORMS Information Systems Society instituted the Gordon B. Davis Young Scholar Award to honor young scholars who are well on their way toward making great intellectual contributions to the discipline. He gave talks and taught in over 25 countries and received three honorary doctorates from the University of Lyon, University of Zurich, and Stockholm School of Economics.

高登教授出版了23本著作，发表了150多篇文章，引用高达十万次。为表彰高登教授的贡献，信息系统协会于2020年设立以他的名字命名的青年学者奖。

While Gordon retired as Honeywell Professor of Management Information Systems and became an emeritus faculty in 2004, he remained active giving talks, advising faculty and doctoral students, and reviewing articles for several years. After retirement, he was a constant presence for over a decade at the Information and Decision Science Department’s weekly seminars.

2004年，高登教授从霍尼韦尔管理信息系统教授职位上退休并成为名誉教授。

Visitation will be held at O’Halloran and Murphy Funeral Home, 8700 Valley Creek Road in Woodbury, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11. Funeral Services will be held at noon on Thursday, May 12 at the Edgerton Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 2335 Edgerton Street, Little Canada. A visitation from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. will precede the funeral. A private burial at Lakewood Cemetery will follow the funeral services. For those wishing to view the funeral online, the service will be broadcast at this link (this link opens in a new browser window or tab).

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the University of Minnesota Foundation designated to the Gordon B. Davis Undergraduate Scholarship in Information Systems. Checks can be sent to UM Foundation PO Box 860266 Minneapolis MN 55486-0266. Gifts can also be made online at giving.umn.edu (this link opens in a new browser window or tab)by searching “Gordon B. Davis Undergraduate Scholarship in Information Systems.” For questions, please contact Kate Ostrem, kostrem@umn.edu or (612)624-5256.

https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/news/remembering-professor-emeritus-gordon-b-davis

附录2：美国管理信息系统研究中心历史沿革

At the Forefront of MIS since 1968

For more than 50 years, the MIS Research Center has helped industry professionals and academic researchers connect with one another in order to foster the creation and sharing of knowledge in the MIS field.

The University of Minnesota's management information systems (MIS) academic program and the Management Information Systems Research Center (MISRC) were founded in 1968, making them among the first in the emerging field of management information systems.

In the fall of 1967, University of Minnesota professors Gordon Davis, Gary Dickson, and Tom Hoffmann began planning for a formal program in the organizational use of computers in information systems. To help inform the curriculum and build the program, the professors sought the support of IS professionals in the business community. To facilitate this academic-industry link, the professors invited internationally select Minneapolis-St. Paul companies known for investing heavily in information systems to join the MIS Research Center. Twenty-one companies joined the MISRC as founding “Associate Companies” the following summer.

Collaboration with Industry

As MISRC partners, Associate Companies were able to provide input on the direction of the University’s program, recruit its graduates, gain access to research outputs, and participate in training programs.

From the beginning, representatives from the Associate Companies helped to select research and program topics. Representatives provided valuable perspectives to the academic researchers by reporting on changing industry conditions, needs, and trends.

The first year of the MISRC featured lectures by nationally known speakers, including Alain Enthoven of Stanford University and James Emery of the University of Pennsylvania. In the years that followed, the speaker series evolved to become one of the core activities of the MISRC.

First Director, a New Academic Journal, and Growth

Gordon Davis

Originally housed in the basement of Blegen Hall on the University's West Bank campus, the MISRC established an office next door to a computer center with a CDC 3200 (purchased in 1968 partly with MISRC funds). Gordon Davis (pictured) became the first director of the MISRC, and reported directly to the dean of the School of Management (then the College of Business Administration). Two part-time secretaries provided support; graduate assistants helped as needed.

After the first two years of operation, it became clear that a senior faculty member alone could not adequately perform all of the needed MISRC functions while still teaching, conducting research, and guiding doctoral students. In response, the position of assistant director was created. Through the years, this invaluable position has been filled both by University appointees and by Associate Company personnel.

In March 1977, a joint venture of the MISRC and the Society for Information Management published the first issue of MIS Quarterly (this link opens in a new browser window or tab), an academic journal originally based out of the MISRC offices. MIS Quarterly caters to both the academic and practitioner IS communities.

James Wetherbe, formerly associate dean of administration and associate professor of MIS at the University of Houston, joined the University of Minnesota MIS faculty in July 1980 and became the new director of the MISRC. Professor Wetherbe brought valuable management experience in industry and administrative experience at several universities. This enabled Professor Davis to devote more time to leadership of the MIS academic area, and in 1981 Davis became the first Honeywell Professor of Management Information Systems, an endowed chair specifically designated for MIS, fittingly bestowed upon a pioneer of MIS in academia.

In 1985 the MISRC and MIS Quarterly  moved to the third floor of the new Hubert H. Humphrey Center. Besides having windows for the first time, the move brought the MISRC onto the same floor as the MIS faculty.

In December 1997, the MISRC and the entire Carlson School of Management moved into the new Curtis L. Carlson building. (Previously various Carlson School operations inhabited portions of three different West Bank buildings).

The MISRC 50 Years Later

Over the decades, the MISRC has partnered with numerous companies on research, programs, and other initiatives of importance to the corporate IS community. At the same time, the University’s academic programs have educated thousands of information systems students who now work, teach, and conduct research around the world.

In 2018, we celebrated our 50th anniversary with an event and conference that brought many former students, faculty members, and industry partners back to campus. The University of Minnesota is proud to have played a significant role in the development of information systems as an academic field.