Robert H. Smith School of Business Professor Named Editor of Top Journal

College Park, Md. – November 15, 2010 – Ritu Agarwal, professor and Dean’s Chair of Information Systems at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, was named editor-in-chief of Information Systems Research. She will assume her role January 1, 2011.

“Information Systems Research is widely considered the top academic journal in the area of information systems,” said G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “Ritu’s prestigious appointment validates her leadership in the field. Her achievements demonstrate the caliber of prominent faculty we have at the Smith School doing top-ranked, game-changing research.”

Agarwal was selected by a committee and interview process, and plans to make the quarterly journal even stronger to better serve the needs of its constituencies. Information Systems Research is a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). The quarterly journal incorporates theory, research and intellectual development focused on information systems in organizations, institutions, the economy and society.

Agarwal is the founder and director of the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems at the Smith School. She has published more than 80 papers on information technology management topics in journals including Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, Management Science, and Journal of Management Information Systems. Her current research is focused on the use of information technology in health care settings, quality transparency in health care, and online social networks.

Agarwal has worked extensively with Fortune 500 companies including 3M, Freddie Mac, Dow Chemicals, Rohm and Haas, AstraZeneca, NCR, and others on a variety of research and consulting engagements and made several presentations to groups of senior IT and business executives. Her research has been sponsored by the Society for Information Management, U.S. Department of Labor, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and DARPA.

She has served a variety of editorial appointments, including most recently as a senior editor forInformation Systems Research, and an associate editor for Management Science. She is a member of ACM, the Association for Information Systems, INFORMS, and the Academy of Management. She received her Ph.D. in management information systems from Syracuse University.