Dr. Arlan DeKock, dean of the School of Management and Information Systems at the University of Missouri-Rolla, has announced his retirement. DeKock, who will be leaving in August, has been dean of the school since its inception in 2001.         

DeKock fostered a spirit of entrepreneurship and initiated a variety of classroom teaching models at UMR, including a senior-level “capstone” course that gives students opportunities to create and operate their own businesses in order to gain real-world experience prior to graduation.         

Dr. Arlan DeKock has served as chair of the computer science department and as dean of the School of Management and Information Systems at UMR.

“In my brief eight months at UMR, I quickly came to the realization that Arlan was a person of very sound judgment who I could rely on for sage advice on almost any UMR topic,” says UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III. “I may lock Arlan in my office when he attempts to leave the university.”         

DeKock says he’s particularly proud of UMR’s new master of business administration degree program, which begins in January of 2007. The University of Missouri Board of Curators voted last January to approve the creation of the MBA program at UMR.                          

“The program will be unique in that classes will be focused on technological aspects of business,” DeKock says. “There are distinct advantages to starting up a new MBA program at a technological university. We were able to design it especially to address technological needs of business in the 21st century.”         

The creation of the MBA program has put UMR on the map in terms of offering business courses, according to Dr. Caroline Fisher, chair of the UMR department of business administration and associate dean of the School of Management and Information Systems.         

The UMR School of Management and Information Systems, which DeKock helped create, offers undergraduate degrees in business administration, economics and finance, and information science and technology. In addition to the new MBA, the school also offers a master’s degree in information science and technology.         

DeKock came to UMR in 1968 to join the newly created computer science department. He subsequently earned the rank of full professor and served as chair of computer science for 12 years, successfully leading the department through its first two accreditation processes.                  

DeKock earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Central College in Iowa. He also holds a master’s degree in psychology from the University of South Dakota and a Ph.D. in human factors engineering from the University of South Dakota.         

In addition to UMR, DeKock has worked for McDonnell Douglas Corp. (now Boeing), the U.S. Dept. of Labor and the Missouri Division of Family Services. He also taught UMR courses at the Missouri State Penitentiary and was a faculty fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.         

DeKock has won many teaching awards at UMR and he’s published numerous academic articles. He enjoys digital photography, traveling and riding his motorcycle.