Lara Khansa named Sonny Merryman Inc. Professor

2 Jul 2020

Lara Khansa discussed business analytics during a talk on Ut Prosim Weekend in spring 2019. Photo by Charlie Whitescarver.

Lara Khansa, professor of business information technology and associate dean for undergraduate programs in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, has been named the Sonny Merryman Inc. Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The Sonny Merryman Inc. Professorship was established in 1998 by Sonny Merryman Inc. and Floyd W. Merryman III to attract and retain eminent scholars in the Pamplin College of Business. The professorship is awarded to an outstanding member of the Pamplin faculty who will retain the title until retirement or departure from the university.

A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2008, Khansa ranks among the top 50 researchers worldwide for research productivity in the information systems field and top 10 in the world for publications in the Journal of Management Information Systems, one of Pamplin’s elite journals. She has published more than 40 refereed journal articles, numerous book chapters and conference proceedings, and has several articles under review or in various stages of preparation in top information systems journals.

Khansa has served as an editorial board member and as associate editor for several journals in her information systems discipline and has been an invited speaker at numerous international conferences and universities. She is frequently interviewed in leading media outlets regarding her expertise in human-computer interaction and healthcare analytics and operations research.

In addition to her research, Khansa serves on many graduate committees, teaches graduate-level courses, and has been actively engaged in organizing research seminars and graduate student support services.

Khansa received a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and an M.S. in electrical engineering, MBA in finance and investment banking, and Ph.D. in information systems, all from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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