Congratulations to this year’s 21 Department of MIS and Institute for Business and Information Technology scholarship recipients! 

Richard J. and Maureen Brennen Endowed Scholarship

Mata Fofana

Bill and Jean Devaney Endowed Scholarship

Tina Le

Yusuf G. Mandviwalla Endowed Scholarship

Iman Aaliah Hadba

Ron and Ronda Riddell Endowed Scholarship 

Emily Ahn

James and Andrea Stewart Endowed Scholarship

Joshua Lee

IBIT AmerisourceBergen Scholarship

Aashmun Doshi

IBIT Kyndryl Scholarship

Abdalaziz Sawwan
Zhengkun Ye

IBIT Meta Scholarship

Ethan Chheda

IBIT Pfizer Scholarship

David Levit

IBIT Scholastic Scholarship

Rachel Koffel

IT Leaders Scholarship

Pin-an Chio
Adam Foster-Baird
Scott Lafferty
Kelly Deng
Deepya Paramata
Yuxuan Chen
Carly Krieger
Tyler Bolling
Abdul Mukhtar
Anna Lu

Senior Allyson Yu took a winding path to the MIS Department, as her interests evolved during the pandemic. Yu started out at Temple with a dual major in biology and visual studies in 2019, but she switched to MIS junior year.

Fortunately, all of these disciplines came together to inform Yu’s current work, WebORA, a website that helps organic chemistry students learn by interacting with 3D molecular reactions. Yu presented the project at the peer-reviewed ACM SIGACCESS for Accessibility and Computers conference in October and won first place in the Undergradate Student Research Competition.

The inspiration for the project came from a certificate course Yu took that had a small section about web accessibility. “It really interested me, because I’m very passionate about design thinking and coming up with solutions to help people in their everyday lives,” says Yu.

“Students with disabilities are underrepresented in the STEM fields in higher education. I wanted to create a project that would hopefully bring more awareness to this issue,” she says.

Yu drew from various parts of her studies to inform her work. As a biology major, Yu had worked with Steven Fleming, an organic chemistry professor, to help develop a 3D molecular application.

She also pulled from her MIS courses on user experience and web development. In particular, Yu credits her UX professor Munir Mandviwalla for giving her a framework for usability testing.

Yu’s JavaScript, HTML and CSS skills also enabled her to help the WebORA developer with implementing the accessibility features.

But Yu’s favorite part of the project was her interviews with organic chemistry students as they demoed the prototype she created. “Hearing stories of students in their learning journeys was really eye opening,” says Yu. “Bringing awareness is a big thing—making students feel seen and removing barriers in the curriculum.”

Yu was thrilled when she heard her project was accepted and that she would have the opportunity to talk about it more. “It felt really unreal. And I’m excited,” says Yu.

To support her project, Yu received the Creative Arts Research and Scholarship (CARAS) grant from Temple University.

“Something I’ve learned from this project is that Temple has a lot of resources,” says Yu. “I’m thankful that I go to a school where if a student wants to do something, they’ll have professors who will do their very best to support you.”

Professor Munir Mandviwalla received the Sandra Slaughter Service Award from the Association for Information Systems at the  International Conference for Information Systems held in December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The award recognizes “longstanding members who have provided leadership within the Association, particularly through such activities as participating in the SIGs/chapters/colleges, strengthening the conferences, and participating in AIS-sponsored journals.”

This honor reflects the MIS community’s high esteem for Professor Mandviwalla and his many contributions to the field. 

Attending a performance at the Isarphilharmonie music hall in Munich sounds like a lovely way to spend a summer evening. But the concert there on July 17, 2022, had much deeper significance for Stauffer Professor of MIS Jason Thatcher. 

“It was amazing,” said Thatcher, recounting how his partner, daughter, friends, and students were among the people in the audience.

Thatcher’s community had turned out to see him receive the prestigious TUM Ambassadorship from the Technical University of Munich on stage, along with other scholars from around the world.

TUM is well-known as one of the top universities in the European Union. The TUM Ambassador is an interdisciplinary award given annually in Munich.

“It was unexpected,” says Thatcher, of his award nomination. TUM faculty and students nominate their colleagues who they believe have made substantial contributions to the academic life of the university. 

Thatcher holds a faculty appointment at TUM and has held visiting appointments at the Information Technology University-Copenhagen and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

While at TUM, Thatcher says he’s learned a lot about project management, gathering data, and “looking at research problems through new eyes from my colleagues.”

His research includes work on digital platforms, IT workforce, and digital nudges in partnership with major corporations and government agencies in Germany.

“Absent the TUM relationship, I would never have had a chance to participate in research that examines how digital platforms are changing how firms manage relationships with key stakeholders and business partners,” Thatcher says.

Thatcher also works on technology use and stigma in the United States, including the dangers facing veterans who post about PTSD on social media. His recent findings are scheduled to appear in Personnel Psychology.

“We’re presently extending that work to examine how technology use can further stigmatize people with mental health conditions in Germany,” he says. 

According to Thatcher, the Isarphilharmonie concert, meeting TUM President Thomas F. Hofman, and the award dinner were all unforgettable. However, he is perhaps most grateful that the ambassadorship will enrich his academic life by solidifying his working relationships at TUM.

“It was affirming the relationships with my colleagues in Munich that made it special,” Thatcher says.

During her career, Rhea Prabhu (BBA ‘17) has served as a trusted advisor to clients across several different industries, including financial services and life sciences. The throughline in her work is helping organizations leverage innovative and emerging technologies while prioritizing cybersecurity and managing risk.

Depending on the client, that might look like developing a vulnerability management program, or creating executive dashboards to show security risk posture across an enterprise.

Prabhu’s resume includes stints at Grant Thorton and Deloitte. She currently serves as a Cyber Security Senior Associate at Ernst & Young.

At EY, Prabhu creates custom security solutions for her clients’ unique operating environments. And she continues to draw upon the skills she honed and networks she grew during her time at Temple.

“What stuck out to me about many of my classes at Temple was their emphasis on creating solutions to real problems—not just theoretical scenarios,” says Prabhu. They helped me to stretch my creative and technical skills and learn how to interact with clients.”

Prabhu also credits being a part of Temple AIS as a member and officer with helping her develop a community of peers and smoothly transition into the workforce. “The IT fairs, awards, socials, and competitions impressed on me the importance of developing a network in addition to applying myself in class. Many of the connections I made there are cherished relationships to this day,” she says.

How do entertainment executives decide what content to produce? As a Technical Program Manager at the Santa Monica offices of Disney Streaming, 2023 Temple “30 under 30” recipient Ciara Murphy (BBA ‘16) leads the Data Solutions teams to help figure it out. They help determine what you watch on some of your favorite streaming (Disney Plus, Hulu) and linear (ABC, FX) channels. 

Murphy’s teams collect data as it relates to content, like Disney Channel shows and The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. “Then we transform the data to make it easy for analysts and business folks to create insight from it,” says Murphy.

After spending a few years at Cigna, Murphy found a great culture fit at Disney with a fun team who challenges and pushes each other—reminiscent of her experience at Temple. 

“Working on group projects at Temple was similar to my career experience so far in the way that you have this big idea, then you break it up into more achievable milestones,” says Murphy.

“The curriculum overall really challenged my way of thinking and taught me how to approach problems in different ways,” she says.

Murphy encourages undergrads to get a solid foundation in data and analytics. “Especially in this economy, decisions are very data driven. And having accurate data on customers is super important to operate your day-to-day business,” she says.