By Jill Yesko, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 10-2-07
Robert and Lissa Shelley McDowell
GREENSBORO, NC – The McDowell Research Center for Global IT Management, the nation’s first center to investigate the international applications of information technology, is to be dedicated on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Later that day, the Bob and Lissa Shelley McDowell Gallery at the Weatherspoon Art Museum at will also be dedicated.
The McDowell Research Center dedication will be held at 2:30 p.m. in Room 441 of the Bryan School of Business and Economics where the Center will be housed.
The Center is named for Microsoft Vice President Robert McDowell and his wife Lissa Shelley McDowell, a 1968 UNCG graduate.
The Center’s mission is to support and stimulate the application of information technology in organizations worldwide, with an emphasis on the Piedmont Triad region, North Carolina, and the United States. Research projects focus on contemporary issues facing companies around the globe. The Center contributes to the IT-related industry clusters in the Triad region aiding in the economic development and business environment of affected firms. The Center offers programs targeted to both for-profit and non-profit businesses.
The Bob and Lissa Shelley McDowell Gallery will be dedicated at 6 p.m. at the Weatherspoon Art Museum. Gallery 7, the museum’s largest exhibition hall, is to be named in honor of the McDowells. The gallery showcases the Weatherspoon’s largest exhibitions and currently features a retrospective of works by American artist Sol LeWitt that runs through Dec. 9.
In March the McDowells’ gave $350,000 to UNCG as part of a $3.85 million pledge to UNCG to establish the Center, as well as to support the Weatherspoon Art Museum and Communication Across the Curriculum, UNCG’s signature program of cross-departmental academic excellent, student development and excellence in teaching.
The McDowell gift was made through The Students First Campaign, UNCG’s $100 million capital fund drive that is currently underway. To date more than $85 million has been raised.
"The McDowell gift makes a national statement about the quality of our information systems management programs,” said Dr. James K. Weeks, dean of the Bryan School. “It presents a transformational opportunity for our research and instructional programs.”
“Through the McDowell gift, experts from academia and industry will gather at UNCG to explore innovative ways to use information technology in the global business environment,” said Dr. Prashant Palvia, the Joe Rosenthal Excellence Professor and PhD program director in the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management at the Bryan School.
“This wonderful gift will provide long-term, future support for core, mission-driven programs of the Weatherspoon Art Museum: exhibitions, publications and education,” said Nancy M. Doll, director of the Weatherspoon. “And now, we have the delightful opportunity to name our major exhibition space in honor of two generous and dedicated friends.”
Robert McDowell is vice president for Information Worker Business Value at Microsoft, Corp. Before joining Microsoft, he served as a partner at Ernst & Young where he founded and managed its strategic business systems practice. McDowell has more than 35 years of experience in the information technology industry and is the author of “Driving Digital,” and “In Search of Business Value: Ensuring a Return on Your Technology Investment.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Virginia Military Institute and a master of science degree in business administration from Boston University.
Lissa Shelley McDowell’s passion for art was kindled during her undergraduate years at UNCG where she studied advertising and design. Since graduating in 1968, she has worked as an administrator and educator at colleges and universities, as well as with the San Antonio Art Museum. An avid collector, she has a gallery in their home on San Juan Island, Wash., that showcases her impressive collection.
