Keynote Speaker

Prof. Arun Rai

Biography

Arun Rai is Regents’ Professor of the University System of Georgia at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He holds the Robinson Chair of IT-enabled Supply Chains and Process Innovation and the Harkins Chair of Information Systems.  He is currently serving as the Editor-in-Chief of MIS Quarterly. He was named Fellow of the Association for Information Systems in 2010 for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and service to the Information Systems discipline, and received the INFORMS Information Systems Society Distinguished Fellow Award in 2014 for outstanding intellectual contributions to the Information Systems discipline. He is a four-time recipient of the Robinson College of Business Faculty Recognition Award for Research, has received the Robinson College of Business Faculty Recognition Awards for Teaching and for Service, and was appointed Regents’ Professor in 2006 for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and service.

For over 25 years, Dr. Rai’s research has examined how organizations can leverage information technologies in their strategies, inter-organizational relationships, and processes, and how systems can be successfully developed, implemented, and utilized to address business and societal problems. His studies have been sponsored by major organizations across sectors (e.g., IT, healthcare, automotives, transportation, manufacturing, financial services, government) as well as by thought leadership forums and government agencies. Dr. Rai has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and is ranked among the top scholars for publications in the Information Systems discipline’s premier journals. His work has been extensively cited in the Information Systems discipline and in the top journals of other disciplines including Accounting, Computer Science, Education, Healthcare, Marketing, Operations Management, Strategic Management, and Psychology. He has also given over 100 invited talks and keynotes to both academic and industry audiences.

Dr. Rai has chaired 29 doctoral dissertations and served as committee member on another thirty. Several of his former Ph.D. students hold senior leadership positions at their universities as well as at leading scholarly journals and professional organizations. He has developed and taught courses at the master’s and doctoral levels related to IT and strategy, supply chain management, technology and innovation, theory development and research design, and a variety of research methods. He has also developed and delivered executive education programs for major organizations, has consulted with C-level executives on digital innovation, and serves on the Board of Directors for a multinational healthcare corporation and for a leading hospital system in India.     

Dr. Rai co-founded the Robinson College of Business’ Center for Process Innovation (CEPRIN), an interdisciplinary research center on digital innovation that promotes industry-university partnerships. He serves as the Director for CEPRIN’s interdisciplinary Ph.D. program and recently completed a third three-year term as Chair of the Robinson College of Business Promotion and Tenure Committee. He has served as Senior Editor and Associate Editor for Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, and Management Science, and as a panelist for the National Science Foundation.