Information Systems News 

To foster interest in technology and teach safe computer usage to youth, the Department of Information Systems and other departments at Brigham Young University coordinated various week-long cybersecurity camps for teenagers and educators this July. Through specialized training and presentations from faculty and industry experts, the camps educated 20 teachers and 180 youth from the state of Utah.

Information systems student Mason Perry was unsure if he should interrupt his graduate studies to complete a study abroad in the Middle East. But he found that following inspiration to defer his plans led to unexpected opportunities.

BYU Marriott School of Business dean Brigitte C. Madrian announced Tom Meservy as the next chair of the Department of Information Systems. Meservy took over the role from the previous department chair, Steve Liddle, on July 1, 2023.

Jacob Steffen always knew he would jump at the chance to teach at the BYU Marriott School of Business because of the community and comradery he felt there. After graduating in 2017, Steffen is back--this time as a professor in the information systems program, and he uses the lessons he learned as a student to influence his teaching.

Justin Giboney, an information systems (IS) professor at the BYU Marriott School of Business, understands that providing opportunities for students to hone their skills outside the classroom is essential for career development. In an IS course he teaches called Red Team vs. Blue Team, Giboney requires students to compete in four cybersecurity competitions during the semester.

David Wilson loves getting to the heart of things, whether he's breaking down complicated ideas in the classroom or busting down walls to renovate his house. He is overjoyed to be a new professor at the BYU Marriott School of Business in the Department of Information Systems (IS).

As she looks forward to graduation in April 2023, Shayna Oh looks back on the last five years with gratitude for what she has felt and learned at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Beyond gaining an education, Oh has enjoyed meaningful relationships and forged connections between her passions and her coursework.

The BYU Marriott School of Business welcomed 12 new professors this fall.

Nearly every time you walk into a doctor’s office, you can count on filling out some form. One of those is usually related to HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a law that helps protect your private health information.

Ching Tong, a self-declared “people person” from Sandy, Utah, finds the most joy in life when she’s building relationships with others. During her time at the BYU Marriott School of Business, the 2020 MISM graduate found belonging and purpose through connections with faculty and students in the Department of Information Systems (IS). Now living in New York City, Tong continues to seek fulfilling connections with her coworkers, friends, and anyone else she meets.

For Clay Posey, a professor of information systems (IS) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, two things his students do give him pause. The first is tolerating massive amounts of stress as they try to fit multiple activities, school responsibilities, and other obligations within limited time frames. The second is consuming fry sauce.

The impact of growing up in Palestine sparked a desire in Zein Mosarsaa to work in healthcare. However, she did not decide which specific medical career to pursue until her recent student internship at the Ballard Center for Social Impact at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

On a beautiful, late-summer evening, information systems (IS) students, alumni, and faculty from the BYU Marriott School of Business gathered to kick off the start of the new academic year with the IS department’s first-ever southern-style tailgate. Providing everything from brisket and baby Cougar Tails to robots and Cosmo, the tailgate successfully connected students and alumni and served as a fantastic precursor to an epic home-game victory.

Justin Giboney, a professor of information systems (IS) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, routinely sends summer camp students to outer space. Each July for two weeks, high school students from the ages of 13 to 18 flock to BYU campus to attend the cybersecurity camp he leads. When the participants arrive, Giboney sets up a starship simulator in the basement of the Crabtree Technology Building and lets the students navigate through space using a series of cybersecurity challenges. 

Jen Almond was playing a trivia game along with other students during the BYU Marriott School of Business’s new-student orientation when a question popped up that she knew she could answer correctly: “How old is the oldest student in this class?” The answers provided were 20, 32, and 34. Almond, age 34 at the time, realized she was the oldest person in her information systems cohort. 

In January 2022, the BYU Marriott School of Business Information Systems (IS) study abroad trip to Asia was canceled for the third year in a row because of COVID-19 border closures. The professors who organized the trip, Greg Anderson of the Department of Information Systems and John Gardner of the Department of Marketing and Global Supply Chain Managements, were forced to abandon their plans yet again. 

If the electronic devices in Travis Cook’s childhood home were alive, they would have lived in perpetual fear of him. As a sharp-minded young boy, he was constantly pulling apart alarm clocks, radios, TVs, VCRs—even a BB gun—to examine their pieces.  

When Detroit native Eric Louis took his first cybersecurity class at BYU, he was reminded of doing jigsaw puzzles with his grandmother. For this second-year MISM student, the pieces may look different, but the goal of puzzles and cybersecurity is the same: try to fill in the blank spaces. As Louis prepares to graduate and leave the BYU Marriott School of Business for the world of cybersecurity, his future is a new kind of puzzle, an abundance of open spaces just waiting to be filled.

When recent BYU Marriott School of Business MISM graduate Allyson Irwin was trying to find a coding camp for young students that she could work for last summer, she was surprised at the lack of options. While plenty of technical camps were available to adults, Irwin couldn't find any introductory programs for young people who were curious about the field. The absence of a coding camp for beginners became the inspiration for Code Adventure, a coding camp for young girls to learn the basics of coding and t he countless ways coding is used in a variety of fields.

Nine students at the BYU Marriott School of Business were recently honored as 2022 Bateman Award recipients for their excellence both inside and outside the classroom. The annual award, named for Merrill J. Bateman, allows each undergraduate program at BYU Marriott to select a 2021–22 academic year senior for recognition.