10 Questions with Doug Vogel

Welcome to the first installment of our new InSider series about AIS members.  This section was the brainchild of an AIS membership subcommittee that is looking to improve the doctoral student experience at AIS. In the spirit of this charge, “10 Questions with…” was created to allow doctoral students (and others) find out more about the people behind the publications and presentations.  

We are very pleased that Doug Vogel, the 18^th President of the AIS, agreed to be our first interviewee for this series. Doug is currently an adjunct professor at the City University of Hong Kong, and is an AIS Fellow.  He has been involved in AIS since the very beginning.

Q: What is you most rewarding service activity? And why?

A: Helping Ph.D. students be the best they can be.  Ph.D. students are the life-blood and future of our discipline.  Helping them be the best they can be ensures a positive outcome.

Q: Currently, what is your favorite class to teach? And why?

A: Methodology.  With good methodological foundations, the probability of long lasting research contributions goes up significantly.  This includes sensitivity to both quantitative and qualitative methods. 

Q: What is your favorite saying or quote?

A: Albert Einstein: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

Q: What's one trend that you are excited about?

A: I’m particularly excited about the heightened attention to design science and mixed-methods research.

Q: Name one habit that makes you more productive at work?

A: Staying constantly engaged.

Q: If you were to do it all over again, what would you have done differently?

A: Exercised more when I was younger.

Q: Who has influenced your career?

A: Gordon Davis and Jay Nunamaker have been my two key mentors.  Jim Wetherbe was also influential during my MIS Research Center employment while a Ph.D. student at Minnesota.

Q: What is your most favorite memory at an AIS event (ICIS/AMCIS) or affiliated conference (ECIS/PAIS/etc.)?

A: The first ICIS I attended while still a Ph.D. student and saw many of the people whose papers I had been reading and discovered that they were not only human but also very approachable.

Q: Can you tell us something very few people know about you?

A: I started my “professional” career at age 14 as a trumpet player in the Ringling Brothers Circus band.

Q: Who would you like to see answer these questions next? And what would you like to see his/her thoughts on? 

A: Lynne Markus. I would ask Lynne what she sees as defining paths for women in AIS/our discipline and how the increase in female Ph.D.s from Asia (over 50% now) will affect the discipline in the future.

If you would like to learn more about Doug Vogel, please visit his page on the Paul Gray Presidential Gallery. 

For questions about this series or suggestions of who you would like to see interviewed, please contact Ryan Wright (rwright@isenberg.umass.edu).