The University of Minnesota's Management Information Systems program and the Management Information Systems Research Center began 38 years ago. It is always difficult to say who was "first." What we can say with certainty is that we began at the time when MIS was first emerging as an academic field. We may have been the first formal graduate degree program in MIS (Master's and Doctorate) associated with a viable research center.

IN THE BEGINNING
The Fall of 1967 was the start of planning. U of M professors Gordon Davis, Gary Dickson, and Tom Hoffmann felt that the time and place were right to establish a formal program in the organizational use of computers in information systems. To start a program with solid support from IS professionals working in industry, the local business community needed to play a strong part in curriculum development and applied research, a link which would be facilitated through the formation of a "research center".

Selected companies in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, notable for being internationally known and investing heavily in information systems, were invited to pledge support as "Associate Companies" of the MISRC. As sponsors, companies would have a direct influence on the directions taken by the university program, as well as having direct access to graduates from the program, research outputs, and training programs. The response from the business organizations was excellent, and by the summer of 1968, the Management Information Systems Research Center had been established with 21 founding companies in the MISRC Associates Program.

THE FIRST FEW YEARS
The MISRC was originally granted windowless office space in the basement of Blegen Hall on the university's West Bank campus, next door to a computer center with a CDC 3200 (purchased in 1968 partly with MISRC funds). Gordon Davis became the first director of the Research Center. As director, he reported directly to the dean of the School of Management (then the College of Business Administration). Two part-time secretaries provided support; graduate assistants helped wherever needed.

From the outset, the Associate Companies were involved in the selection and direction of research and program topics. Since that first year, annual planning meetings with Associate Company representatives have assisted the research and program directions of the MISRC to continue to shift with changing industry conditions as reported by the Associate Company representatives. The first year featured lectures by nationally known speakers, including Alain Enthoven of Stanford University and James Emery of the University of Pennsylvania. This speaker series evolved to become one of the core activities of the MISRC Associates Program.

After the first two years of operation, it became clear that a senior faculty member alone could not adequately perform all of the needed MISRC functions while still being involved with teaching, research, and doctoral students. In response, the position of assistant director was created. Through the years, this invaluable position has been filled both by University appointees and by Associate Company personnel.

MOVES AND CHANGES
March 1977 saw the first issue of the MIS Quarterly, an internationally-respected research journal established through a joint venture of the MISRC and the Society for Information Management, and based out of the MISRC offices. The MISQ is a journal which caters to both the academic and practitioner IS communities.

James Wetherbe, formerly associate dean of administration and associate professor of MIS at the University of Houston, came to the U of M MIS faculty in July 1980 and became the new director of the MISRC, bringing with him valuable management experience in industry and administrative experience at several universities. This enabled Gordon Davis to devote more time to leadership of the MIS academic area, and in 1981 Davis became Honeywell Professor of Management Information Systems, the first holder of the first academic endowed chair specifically designated for MIS, fittingly bestowed upon a pioneer of MIS in academia.

1985 brought the MISRC and MISQ a home on the third floor of the new Hubert H. Humphrey Center. Besides having windows for the first time, the move brought the MISRC onto the same floor as the MIS faculty. In January 1998, we will move into the new Curtis L. Carlson building. This new building will provide a home for the entire Carlson School of Management in one building (CSOM currently inhabits portions of three different buildings on the University of Minnesota's west bank).

THE MISRC TODAY
The MISRC has grown through the years to encompass a nine-person staff and two publications with international distribution. The original lecture series has evolved into a vitally active, nine-month season of bi-weekly seminars and workshops with internationally-known speakers presenting leading-edge topics, active discussion groups on issues of ongoing interest, panel discussions by Associate Company members, and student research projects/internships with Associate Companies.

The Carlson School of Management's MIS academic program has likewise flourished, rated as the #1 MIS area in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in September 1996, and being singled out as a featured curriculum in Computerworld's "Special Report: IS Education" in June 1997. This national recognition is continuing testimony to the value of the responsive partnership between academia and the corporate world, a link that the MIS Research Center has been proud to provide for 29 years.

We continue to update our topics and offerings to address current issues and concerns of our Associate Companies as representatives of the corporate IS world, and to support the research endeavors of faculty and students in Management Information Systems.