IS History

IS History

 
Information systems (IS) at the UCLA Anderson School of Management has a long and substantial history. In this section, we document and revisit this history. We are aided in this by an archive of Channel, a newsletter published from 1974 to 1985. To revisit the early history of IS (C & IS as it was then known) as an academic area, please see the Channel archive. Here are some highlights.

Summer 1974
Profs. Ephraim McLean and Kenneth Siler introduced the entire incoming MBA class to the capabilities of the APL programming language.

Spring 1976
Professor Clay Sprowls initiated a project to introduce students to the PSL/PSA system at GSM.

Fall 1976
The newly formed C & IS Associates held its first meeting at the Kirkeby Center Restaurant in Westwood on Monday, October 23.

Winter 1979
The C & IS Colloquium Series was inaugurated with Dr. Barry Boehm making the first presentation on January 11.

Fall 1979
The third MIS Career Night was held on October 10, with over 70 MIS executives discussing career opportunities with more than 120 GSM students.

Winter 1980
The executive education program "Managing the Information Resource," co-sponsored by C & IS and Nolan, Norton & Company, was launched, with 44 execs attending the opening session on January 20.

Summer 1980
On Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17, 34 MIS academicians and professionals met at GSM to plan the first Conference on Information Systems, to be held December 8–10 in Philadelphia.

While the IS Area dates back to the early 1970s, computing at UCLA and AGSM has earlier important roots, going back to the SWAC computer in the 1950s. Professor Clay Sprowls, a true pioneer in business school computing, provides a personal memoir.

The story of the origins and rise of IS at UCLA is also told by Professor Burt Swanson in the article “The Rise of Information Systems at the Graduate School of Management, UCLA,” which was published in Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 38, 32, 2016. Copies can be obtained here.

IS Curriculum
With the closure of the IS Area in July 2013, we include in our history the curriculum retired from the school at that time. Please see our IS curriculum archive. Earlier versions of the curriculum, which underwent many changes over the years, are not presently available.

Curriculum Archive

IS Colloquium Series
Founded in 1979, the long-running Information Systems Colloquium Series for many years featured bi-weekly research presentations from scholars around the world. The last presentation in the series was held in February 2009. Please visit our IS Colloquium Series archives for a complete history of speakers and presentations.

Colloquium Series Archive

IS Working Paper Series
The Information Systems Working Paper Series, now discontinued, was for many years a publication of the ISRP, providing for the early dissemination of research, usually prior to its more formal publication elsewhere. The IS Reprint series included these more formal publications, many of which superseded the original working papers. Updated through 2015, our index to IS working papers and reprints can be downloaded by those interested. Because working papers were typically revised by their authors within months of their issuance, we do not maintain the papers themselves for current distribution. For copies, please contact the authors directly.

IS working papers and reprints