Ph.D in Information Systems
For additional information about the Ph.D program in Information Systems contact:
Mr. Rodney Ouzts
IS Ph.D. Program Assistant
P.O. Box 26165
Bryan School of Business and Economics, Room 441
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC 27402-6165, USA
Phone: 336.334.4346
Fax: 336.334.4550
Email: RMOuzts@uncg.edu
Visit the ISOM Department home page for information about the faculty and other department programs.
Information Systems and Operations Management
Current Information Systems Ph.D. Candidates
The Information Systems Ph.D. Program has 100% placement of its graduates in positions.
Sherrie Cannoy is a graduate of UNCG where she received both her undergraduate
and Master’s degree. As an undergraduate, she double majored in Business Administration and
Information Systems and Operations Management. She went on to earn a Masters Degree in Business
Education as well as MSITM degree from the Bryan School of Business and Economics Department of
Information Systems and Operations Management. Her research interests include health informatics
and e-healthcare, security and privacy issues and social affects of information systems in
organizations. Her industry experience has been in both healthcare and educational organizations
where she has taught extensively. She is a member of the North Carolina Health Information and
Communications Alliance (NCHICA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
(HIMSS). Among her volunteer activities, Ms. Cannoy serves as a judge at the annual state Future
Business Leaders of America conference.
Hua Dai earned her undergraduate degree from the Xi’an Jiaotong
University in Xi’an, China and Masters Degree from the Technical University of Denmark
in Copenhagen. A native of China, her areas of research include mobile commerce, electronic/mobile government, Globle IT, security and privacy. Her personal philosophy
which guide her in her research and life are based on the principles from Confucius’
writings which state: “Rectify the mind, cultivate the person, regulate the family,
govern the state, and promulgate the great virtues.”
Cindi Jones Khanlarian is a certified public accountant and certified
management accountant who is currently an instructor in the Bryan School of Business and
Economics Department of Accounting and Finance. Part of her research has focused on students
learning and if information technology assists students in earning better grades. Other research
interests include outsourcing, customer retention and e-commerce. She is a graduate of Converse
College where she earned her undergraduate degree and of Boston University where she earned her
graduate degree in accounting. She and her husband own two local businesses, the Pinetop Tennis
& Swim Club and Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
Vishal Midha graduated in the Summer of 2007 and is now Assistant Professor at University of Texas Pan American. Vishal attended India’s Panjab University where he earned his
undergraduate degree. He went on to earn a Masters Degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla
and Texas Tech University. Now in his final year in the Information Systems Ph.D. program, he
has published in several journals including Electronic Commerce, Communications
of AIS and the International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies.
In 2006, Mr. Midha published a paper with fellow IS Ph.D. candidate, Rakesh Babu, titled
“Accessible E-Learning: Equal Pedagogical Opportunities For Students with Sensory
Limitations.” The piece won the Best Paper Award at the Southern Association for
Information Systems Conference. His working papers include research on Open Source Software
and Learning Management Systems. Recently married, he was born in India. He will graduate
in Summer of 2007.
Praveen Pinjani graduated in the Summer of 2007 and is now Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at Delaware State University. Born in India, he earned his Masters degree from Texas Tech University and also
attended Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management in New Delhi where he earned a PG
Diploma in Management. He earned his undergraduate degree from Delhi University, India.
His research interests focus on Global Virtual Teams and Global IT management. His has
published in several leading journals including Information and Management and CAIS. Mr.
Pinjani, consistently presents papers at the Americas Conference on Information Systems,
the Global Information Technology Management Conference and several Decisions Sciences
Annual Meetings. In 2006-07, he received the Wachovia Fellowship Award for Dissertation
Research and was nominated for Best Paper at the AMCIS Conference held in New York in
2004. His professional experience includes working as an Assistant Manager with the
Zurich Asset Management and as a Senior Marketing Officer for Dundee Investment
Management Research, Ltd. In his spare time, he volunteers for community service at
non-profit organizations, loves reading, playing chess, fiddling with electronic
gadgets and socializing. He plans to graduate in the Summer of 2007.
Richard Schilhavy received his Masters of Science in Information
Systems from Indiana University and his Bachelor’s of Science in Business
Administration from the University of Evansville, Indiana. He has published papers in
the Journal of Information Privacy and Security (JIPS) and at proceedings at INFORMS
and Decisions Sciences Annual meetings. His research interests include information
technology innovation, diffusion and adoption, technology framing, reputation systems,
ethics, information assurance, governance and policy. His teaching interests include web
design and development, web application programming and systems analysis and design.
Sandra A. Vannoy received both her B.S.B.A. and MBA degrees from
Appalachian State University. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, she was a lecturer
for eight years in the Department of Computer Information Systems at ASU where she
received the Walker College of Business Faculty Excellence Award. Her research has been
published in information systems journals and in proceedings such as the Hawaii
International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS) and the Americas Conference on
Information Systems (AMCIS). Ms. Vannoy's industry experience includes banking, healthcare
finance and information systems, and partner in a small technology firm specializing
in providing clinical and financial technology solutions to long-term health care
facilities. Her research interests include e-business, Web services, social computing
and technology adoption behaviors, and outsourcing.
Rakesh Babu was born in Sambalpur, India. His career goal has
always been to teach at the university level. After earning a degree in chemistry,
he took a position as a high school instructor but soon switched his career plans to
IT thanks to a new software that enabled visual impaired individuals to use computers.
With this new technology, he quickly earned a Masters in Management Information Systems
from Central Michigan University. His past research topics include information security,
geographic information systems, e-learning and inclusive curriculum in higher education.
Lately, his primary research interest has been of a more personal nature. Due to his own
loss of vision, he has been researching accessible technology-mediated learning for
people with disabilities, in particular students who are visually impaired.
Anupam Kumar Nath earned both his undergraduate and graduate degree
in computer science from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. After coming to the United
States, Mr. Nath enrolled in the Computer Science Ph.D. program at North Dakota State
University but decided that he wanted to study more than the technology side of computer
science and transferred to UNCG. He is pleased with the change and is enjoying the UNCG
Information Systems Ph.D. program which puts more emphasis on the “personal”
side of information technology. Recently, Mr. Nath presented a paper on “Factors
Influencing the Perceived Security of the Customers” at the 2007 Southeast Decisions
Sciences Institute Conference.
Fergle D’Aubeterre earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the
Universidad Tecnologia del Centra (UNITEC) in his native Venezuela. After moving to the
United States, he earned his MBA from Central Michigan University. He has over seven years
experience working in the IT industry including positions held with Du Pont of Venezuela,
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan, among others. Since joining the IS Ph.D. program,
he has presented numerous papers at conferences throughout the world and seen his work
published in the Electronic Government, an International Journal and Issues in
Information Systems. He recently book chapters with UNCG ISOM Professor Al Salam in the
Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, E-Government and Mobile Commerce and with UNCG ISOM
Professors Lakshmi Iyer and Rahul Singh in Semantic Web Technologies and eBusiness: Virtual
Organizations and Business Process Automation.
M. Naveed Baqir brings eight years of corporate experience on the national
and international level in professional software and IT Systems development to the program
along with teaching experience at universities in Pakistan and United States. In 2004-2005,
Mr. Baqir earned his MBA and MS in Technology Management from Eastern Illinois University.
He earned his MSc in Computer Science from International Islamic University in Pakistan and
BSc in Mathematics and Physics from Bahauddin Zakariya University. Mr. Baqir’s areas
of interest include socio-political impacts of information communication technologies (ICTs)
on economic development in developing counties along with historic development of ICT
policies in developing countries and their relationship with accelerated national economic
activity. In December of 2006, Mr. Baqir was invited to conduct a research study
on the role of ICTs in the socio-economic development of Pakistan and received funding
from the government of Pakistan to develop a documentary and write papers on the topic.
He and his wife recently welcomed their first child, a daughter, into the world.