Bauer College Professor Named President of Decision Sciences Institute
Faculty Member Funda Sahin Takes the Reins of Global Academic Society
Published on April 28, 2015
Decision & Information Sciences Associate Professor Funda Sahin is the new president of the Decision Sciences Institute, effective April 2016.
Funda Sahin — an associate professor in the Department of Decision & Information Sciences (DISC) at the C. T. Bauer College of Business — has been named the new president of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI) beginning in April 2016.
Sahin, a member of DSI since her early doctoral student days, has previously served the Institute in various capacities including secretary, annual meeting program chair and vice president at-large before beginning her role as president-elect on the DSI board and Executive Committee for 2015.
She is one of only five women ever elected as president of the organization since its creation in 1969.
“My vision for DSI focuses on enhancing the brand globally,” Sahin said. “This starts with the better understanding of DSI’s core values and capitalizing on them.”
As one of the world’s leading academic societies, DSI boasts over 1,700 members in the Americas, Southeast Asia and Europe, with a focus on creating new knowledge and providing platforms for disseminating knowledge in the fields of supply chain management (SCM), business analytics and management information systems (MIS). Maintaining DSI’s already established platforms, including their flagship Decision Sciences Journal and the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, supporting the launch of the new Decision Sciences Journal in Supply Chain Management, as well as improving the quality of DSI’s conferences, is just part of Sahin’s plan.
“We want to attract thought leaders in the multidisciplinary areas of DSI — MIS, business analytics and supply chain management — but we’re also seeking those from finance and accounting,” Sahin said. “As we focus on creating knowledge in existing and new sectors, I want to provide leadership in our organization that elevates the society.”
Sahin is using her experience as Bauer College’s Ph.D. director for SCM to help support the creation of “colleges” within DSI, allowing like-minded researchers to collaborate and explore future research areas. Additionally, Sahin plans to streamline conference formats and best practices, promoting cohesiveness among all regions of DSI.
“The main reason I came [to Bauer] was to help grow the SCM department,” Sahin said. “I learned a lot from that process, and the department has made a lot of progress.”
Bauer faculty members have been instrumental in DSI’s growth. Professor Basheer Khumawala is a fellow of the Institute, and recently, DSI recognized Professor E. Powell Robinson for his efforts with its highest honor, the E. Grawoig Distinguished Service Award.