Missouri S&T has appointed Dr. Cassandra C. Elrod chair of its business and information technology (BIT) department, effective immediately. Elrod, who joined the S&T faculty in 2008, is associate professor of business and information technology. She was appointed acting chair of the department in January 2022; she has served as interim chair since May 2022.
Along with economics and engineering management and systems engineering (EMSE), BIT is one of three founding departments in the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development, which was established July 1, 2022 and made possible by the transformative $300 million gift from June and the late Fred Kummer, a Missouri S&T graduate. Across two programs – business and management systems and information science and technology – the department offers graduate certificates and undergraduate and graduate degrees, including an M.B.A.
In addition to teaching an array of courses in the department, Elrod has conducted research on numerous topics, including technology applications in business, supply chain management, product and brand management, leadership, and management information systems.
“The significance of BIT increases daily as we evolve our approach to prepare students to be the leaders of the future,” says Dr. Colin Potts, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Dr. Elrod’s commitment to meeting challenges with innovation, combined with her passion for instilling the spirit of entrepreneurship in her colleagues and our students, is exactly what we need as our new college comes into its own. We are grateful to her for bringing her skills, abilities and insights to this important role.”
Before BIT joined the Kummer College last year, Elrod served the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business (CASB), renamed the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education (CASE) in July 2022, in many capacities.
She has served as the director of graduate programs, associate department chair, interim associate department chair for accreditation, and associate department chair for accreditation. In those roles she prepared applications, reports and documents and managed site visits as the department successfully sought accreditation of its degree programs from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the world’s longest-serving global accrediting body for business schools and programs. The department was initially accredited in 2012; the accreditation was extended in 2018.
“As we move into a new era of opportunity in BIT and across S&T as a whole, I’m honored to work with a truly phenomenal group of faculty and staff who are relentlessly committed to the success of our students,” Elrod says. “I look forward to finding new and even more powerful and innovative ways to collaborate across our programs in support of preparing our students to be the business and technology leaders of the future.”
Elrod earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in engineering management, all from Missouri S&T, in 2003, 2004 and 2007 respectively.
About Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.
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