This year, the UD Alfred Lerner College welcomed several new faculty members into its community. Ahmad A. Rabaa’i is an associate professor of management information systems; he spoke with Lerner about his research focus and why he chose to join the University of Delaware.
Lerner: What is your professional and academic background?
Rabaa’i: I have obtained a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Information Systems from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan, a M.Sc. in Management with Honors and a M.Sc. in Information Systems from Griffith University, Australia and a Ph.D. from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. I have 19 years of experience in teaching at the college level. Along my knowledge in AACSB Accreditation, I am a certified ABET Accreditation Program Evaluator. I held a number of positions at four different universities before joining UD. I was an instructor at Griffith University in Australia, post-doc researcher and instructor at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, assistant professor then promoted to associate professor at the American University of Kuwait, where I was also the Chair of the Computing Department for more than five years, and associate professor at New Jersey City University.
Lerner: What is your research focus?
Rabaa’i: My research work is multidisciplinary in nature and combines areas of information systems (IS) and social as well as behavioral informatics. My general research interests are primarily in the areas of technology adoption, emerging technologies, information systems implementations and evaluation, and quality assurance in computing education.
Lerner: What inspired you to work in your field/research/subject area?
Rabaa’i: My research was mainly stemmed from my academic background. I believe in rigorous, relevant, and high impact research conducted on Information Systems, to advance organizational as well as individual development to a better future.
Lerner: What is it about UD that made you want to work/teach/research here?
Rabaa’i: I am happy to be a part of the University of Delaware which is one of the top institutions in the U.S. Lerner College and the accounting and MIS department were very welcoming since the first day I stepped in the campus – that made me want to join UD. The students at UD are outstanding, and I want to provide them with real educational experience where they can truly learn business analytics and information systems and apply what they learnt in their workplaces once they graduate. I am also excited to be a colleague of the outstanding faculty at UD and look forward to working with them.
Lerner: What course are you most excited to teach at Lerner?
Rabaa’i: I am excited to teach MISY262: Foundations of Business Analytics. I am also excited to develop and teach a new course in Data Visualization using Tableau. I am very excited to teach these courses as I could share real life experience with my students.
Lerner: What is something unique about you that may surprise your peers/students? (hobby, talent, experience etc.)
Rabaa’i: I am a proud father of an Australian Taekwondo Champion for two years in a row! Go Abed!