10-06-2025
When I look at the journey that has brought me to lead the new Management Information Systems (MIS) Department at the Daniels School of Business, it's impossible not to be inspired by both our legacy and our unprecedented opportunities for the future. Despite only six tenure-track faculty, our department faculty have already established a national reputation for academic performance. Purdue ranks 18th in North America in publishing research articles in top information systems journals. This record is a testament to the depth of expertise we bring to the intersection of business and technology.
The Daniels School’s recent restructuring — moving from two departments to nine — signals a bold ambition: to make the Daniels School the most agile, tech-integrated business educator in the country. This new model matches my own philosophy: Genuine impact is built when research excellence, transformative teaching and deep partnerships with industry combine. In my journey, both at Georgia Tech and the Daniels School, I’ve focused on how digital technologies transform organizations and individual experiences — a thread that now runs through everything we do in the MIS Department.
From studying Amazon’s e-commerce “long tail” and the impact of social media in fintech, to working with industry on explainable AI, I have witnessed how innovation becomes powerful when it is made accessible and inclusive. That experience is the foundation for our department’s vibrant academic culture, one defined by operational excellence, intellectual rigor and truly collaborative partnerships. We are a community for scholars and students who want to do more than react to industry shifts; we aim to shape the landscape itself. In practice, this means advancing our research speaker series, regularly convening intra-department forums and forming advisory boards that ensure everything we teach is infused with real industry perspective.
To realize our vision, we have set three ambitious goals for this year:
Our north star is impact, measured through tangible research results, graduate placement rates and the degree to which our alumni and partners emerge as ambassadors who return to invest in our work. Even in a volatile market, our business analytics graduates are placed at a rate of 85%, a figure that outpaces national peers.
The most profound trend in business education is the demand for nimble, technology-driven curricula — rapidly replacing the “traditional” two-year MBA model. Our programs, including the Master’s in Business and Technology (MBT) and the MS in Business Analytics and Information Management, are refreshed annually to ensure students are trained in the latest advances, from AI to computational finance. Courses are developed in close collaboration with industry partners such as Lilly and Microsoft, ensuring that the curriculum reflects the latest market trends and remains highly relevant to today’s business and technology landscape.
The MBT program is also expanding to Indianapolis, actively seeking corporate partnerships that provide students with experiential learning opportunities tied directly to industry needs. Our undergraduate analytics major, boasting 100+ students per year, reflects surging demand for data-driven business education.
Despite a small team, our scholarly productivity is exceptional: Our faculty publish in leading journals, such as Management Science, Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly. We are proud to include major award winners and rising stars, like Alex Moehring, who just started his second year and has already earned more than 800 citations.
With the new school structure, the Daniels School is uniquely positioned to build the future of business. Our graduates are trained not just to navigate but to lead in a world where technology is everywhere — a world in which eight of the top 10 global firms are technology-driven. By infusing STEM rigor into business education and offering innovative pathways such as interdisciplinary minors and 4+1 programs, we empower leaders who are at ease with both analytics and management.
This is more than an organizational update; it is a strategic transformation. We are committed to scalable, market-responsive business education, and to forging deep alliances with industry that deliver real value for students, faculty and corporate partners alike.
Together, we are forging the future — where business and technology meet, and where Daniels graduates don’t just keep up but lead.
Yu Jeffrey Hu is the Accenture Professor of Information Technology and Department head of Management Information Systems at the Daniels School of Business. A renowned expert in AI, analytics and the digital economy, he has pioneered research on topics such as the “Long Tail” phenomenon and social media’s impact on markets. Professor Hu’s work appears in leading journals, has earned major research and teaching awards and is widely cited by top media. He has advised governments and global corporations and shaped analytics programs at premier institutions, mentoring future generations of scholars worldwide.
