iSchool Dean Liddy expands leadership team to reach new goals

Margaret Spillett
(315) 443-1069

Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) Dean Elizabeth D. Liddy has appointed Robert Heckman to the new position of senior associate dean and Ian MacInnes to the position of associate dean for academic affairs.

“We are fortunate to have such depth of leadership talent in the iSchool, as well as willingness for gifted scholars to expend their energies and talents for the wider benefits of the school, our students and the University,” Liddy says. “It is a time of growth in reputation, enrollment and research funding for the iSchool, and with this leadership team we will be able to reach or exceed our goals.”

Heckman most recently served as associate dean for academic affairs, a position to which Liddy appointed him in August 2007. At that time, Liddy created the new position of associate dean for research and doctoral programs and appointed Jeffrey Stanton to the role, which he continues to perform for the iSchool.

Heckman later was tapped to lead the SU-JPMorgan Chase Curriculum Committee, at which time MacInnes was appointed interim deputy to the associate dean for academic affairs. As the SU-JPMorgan Chase collaboration expanded, so did Heckman’s responsibilities to the project.

“This new division of labor gives me more time to develop the school’s connection to the world of practice, as we’ve been doing with the JPMorgan Chase project,” Heckman says. “Through that collaboration, we’re integrating hands-on learning experiences, new curriculum, extended internships and a range of other opportunities for students. My hope is to institutionalize the process we’re developing with JPMorgan Chase and to take that model out to other universities and potential corporate partners.”

In his new role, Heckman will continue his work on the JPMorgan Chase project as a newly appointed member of the senior program management team. Throughout 2009, he will work on establishing effective organizational structures to bring global enterprise technology learning experiences to the broader university, particularly in the liberal arts. “A liberal arts major combined with the professional preparation of the global enterprise technology minor is a powerful and marketable package,” Heckman says.

In the iSchool, Heckman will continue to lead the student and faculty service activities, including advising, enrollment management and employer relations, and he will work with iSchool professor Scott Bernard, director of executive education, to develop the iSchool’s growing presence in the executive education market.

Heckman came to the school in 1992 with more than 20 years’ experience in the information services industry as a senior manager of data processing operations, systems development and information systems marketing in the financial world. He served as program director of the M.S. in information management (IM) and the executive IM programs. In his teaching, he promotes learning in three distinct communities: scholars, students and professionals. His research has focused on strategy and planning for information resources and teaching and learning strategies for information professionals.

He holds a Ph.D. in information systems from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.

MacInnes will work with program directors and staff to accomplish academic program objectives; arrange course scheduling; determine teaching assignments for full-time faculty and adjuncts; coordinate with iSchool professor Susan Bonzi, director of instructional quality, on implementing goals related to instructional quality; and manage oversight of courses and instructors.

“In his interim position, Ian has embraced these functions enthusiastically and effectively,” Liddy says. “I am grateful that he has agreed to take on this assignment on a more official basis as associate dean for academic affairs.”

MacInnes said he is excited to assume this new position, especially at this moment in the iSchool’s history. “This is a very important time for the school, and we’ve got so many projects that are increasing the school’s impact,” he says. “Also, right now in the school, we have new program directors who bring new energy and ideas to improving the programs. I see part of my role as assisting these people in achieving their goals.”

MacInnes expects to continue teaching “Applied Economics for Information Managers” (IST 619). “I enjoy teaching, and I believe I have developed an effective method for teaching that course, which I’d like to continue,” says MacInnes, who won a 2007 Excellence in Online Teaching Award from the Web-Based Information Science Education Consortium.

MacInnes has been on the iSchool faculty since 1999 and focuses much of his research on information industry strategy, including electronic commerce, digital transactions, virtual world economies and public policy for information and communication technologies. He has served on the University Senate for the past eight years, including four as chair of the Senate Committee on Appointment and Promotions, and was recently invited to join the Senate Budget Committee, which oversees the financial planning of the University and advises the Chancellor and her Cabinet. He holds a Ph.D. in political economy and public policy from the University of Southern California.