EDSIG - Educator of the Year (EOY)
Each year, EDSIG recognizes one of our 'best'. The individual who is selected as educator of the year, is recognized for their outstanding efforts to lead the field of IS education in terms of teaching, research and service. Particularly important is their effort to improve the quality of our graduates. Nominations for the EOY may be sent to the Vice President of EDSIG. The individual is recognized at our annual conferences.
2011 - Educator of the Year
Dr. Kathy Schwalbe, Ph.D., PMP
Kathy Schwalbe, Ph.D., PMP is a Professor in the Department of Business Administration at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
She is the department coordinator for their Management Information Systems (MIS) major and has taught every MIS course in the major.
She is also the first woman to earn the rank of Professor in her department. Kathy joined Augsburg College in 1991
after working in industry for ten years. Her first job out of college was as an Air Force officer working as a project
manager and systems analyst for the U.S. Air Force at Electronic Systems Division near Boston, MA.
She also worked as an engineer, senior technical specialist, and management consultant for McDonnell
Aircraft Company (now Boeing) in St. Louis, MO and as an independent consultant before entering academia.
In addition to teaching Kathy enjoys writing textbooks and speaking at conferences. Her first book,
Information Technology Project Management, now in its sixth edition and published by Cengage Learning, sold over 250,000 copies
and was translated into five languages. Cengage also published the first two editions of Kathy’s more general text, An Introduction to
Project Management. After deciding to focus on her other book, Cengage gave Kathy the rights and she self-published the third edition.
Kathy’s students often work on real projects as part of classes, including several that benefit the local community. Kathy has given numbers
presentations at conferences on various aspects of project management.
Kathy earned her B.S. in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame on an Air Force ROTC scholarship.
She helped start women’s soccer at Notre Dame and was selected for the All Star women’s soccer and flag football teams
in college. She was the first girl to play on the boys’ soccer team at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, OH. While working in the Air Force,
she earned her MBA at Northeastern University in their high technology MBA program. Kathy earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration
from the University of Minnesota while working at Augsburg.
Kathy finds time to enjoy life with her husband, an IT architect, and their three children.
She enjoys quilting, biking, golfing, fishing, traveling, and other outdoor and creative activities.
Her daughter is now a teacher in St. Paul, Minnesota after working for Teach for America.
Her older son is a software developer in Venice Beach, California, and her youngest son will start college in the fall of 2011. For more information,
see www.kathyschwalbe.com