Saleha Khumawala, University of Houston, received a Women of Excellence Award for her work in developing and leading the successful Study Abroad India program for Bauer College students, as well as developing a microfinance education model that uses the tools and success of microfinance to support client children’s education.

saleha@uh.edu

Stephen Edward Lunce, 59, Professor and Chair of the Management Information Systems Department in the Dillard College of Business Administration at Midwestern State University, died on May 4, 2007, of complications from an April 8 traffic accident.

Steve was an extremely active member of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) and the Southwest Decision Sciences Institute (SWDSI). He served DSI as regionally elected vice president (2001-2003) and as a member of the Board of Directors, Nominating Committee, Regional Activities Committee, and Doctoral Consortium Faculty. He was initiated into Alpha Iota Delta in 1990 and served multiple terms on the Alpha Iota Delta Liaison Committee. Steve was president of Alpha Iota Delta at the time of his death. In addition, he served as a reviewer, discussant, and/or session chair at almost every annual meeting since 1990 and published numerous papers in the DSI and SWDSI conference Proceedings.

<see the full article in the October 2007 Decision Line>

Robert T. Sumichrast was chosen to be dean of the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, effective July 1. Formerly dean of Louisiana State University's business college, Sumichrast succeeded P. George Benson, who left to become president of the College of Charleston. Sumichrast, an authority on management and operations science, was on the faculty of Virginia Tech University from 1984 to 2003, and also taught at Clemson University where he received a doctoral degree in management science. He has held several leadership roles in the Decision Sciences Institute and received a first-place award for a paper he presented the DSI annual meeting in 2004.

busdean@terry.uga.edu

Shawnee K. Vickery, professor of operations management in the Broad School of Business at Michigan State University, has been appointed associate dean for academic affairs and research. Her responsibilities include faculty recruiting, human resources, research and research centers, PhD programs, academic strategic planning and information technology services. She had been acting associate dean for Academic Affairs and Research during the 2006-07 academic year. She is also the co-director of the Supply Chain Management Master's Degree program and director of the Integrated Master's Degree Program in Manufacturing and Engineering Management. She received her PhD from the University of South Carolina and has been with the Broad School since 1984. Dean Vickery's research and teaching interests are in the areas of supply chain management, operations management, and management science.

vickery@msu.edu