The SIGMIS Early Career Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of researchers and educators as they commence their journey pursuing excellence in the MIS discipline. An early career achiever serves as an inspiration to their peers. An Early Career Award nominee must have entered the IS field (i.e. doctoral degree conferral) no more than seven years prior to the date of nomination. They will demonstrate outstanding, influential, and potentially long-standing contributions to the MIS discipline and service to the MIS community. The award is announced annually at the ACM SIGMIS CPR Conference.
Call for Nominations for the SIGMIS Early Career Award
A nominator (which may include self-nomination) should submit their nomination to the selection committee chair every year between January 6th to March 31st. Each nomination should be accompanied by a summary statement about the nominee and a justification for the nomination.
Based on the criteria for the award, the selection committee will select the best candidate(s) among the nominees.
Selection committee members are not eligible for the award.
Previous Awardees of the SIGMIS Early Career Award
2025 – Tenace Setor
The 2025 SIGMIS Early Career Award was presented to Dr. Tenace Setor, an Assistant Professor of Analytics and Operations at the Robins School of Business, University of Richmond. His research examines how digital technologies shape IT workforce development, enterprise system adoption, and organizational transformation. With a particular interest in career sustainability, IT professional obsolescence, and agile work practices, his work advances understanding of how individuals and organizations adapt to technological change. Dr. Setor has been an active contributor to the SIGMIS community since the start of his academic career. His research has been recognized with three Magid Igbaria Outstanding Conference Paper Awards at SIGMIS CPR (2015, 2017, 2019), and his work continues to appear in leading journals such as Journal of Computer Information Systems, Journal of Information Systems Education, Human Relations, and Telematics and Informatics. He has received over $440,000 in external research funding and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Information Systems Education. Dr. Setor has also contributed to conference service through roles such as Registration Chair for SIGMIS CPR 2023 and co-chair positions for affiliated regional and national conferences. At Richmond, he teaches IT and data analytics in the undergraduate and MBA programs and leads executive education on topics such as generative AI, business case development, and project management. He is passionate about bridging academic research and real-world impact through community-engaged learning and interdisciplinary collaboration. Dr. Setor earned his Ph.D. in Information Systems from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
2024 – Sam Zaza
The 2024 SIGMIS Early Career Award was presented to Dr. Sam Zaza, an Associate Professor at Middle Tennessee State University. Sam obtained her Ph.D. in Management Information Systems at the College of Business of Florida State University, USA. Her main research interests lie in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, IT career and nature of work, and methodological approaches. Sam has published her work in various journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information & Organization, IT & People, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, The DATA Base for Advances in Information Systems, AIS Transactions on Replication Research, among other proceedings in regional and international conferences.
2023 – Dongwon Lee
The 2023 SIGMIS Early Career Award was presented to Dr. Dibgwon Lee, an Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Dongwon received his Ph.D. in Information Systems from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. His research interests include mobile commerce, customer analytics, digital nudging, digital transformation, and platform/protocol economy.
2021 – Manuel Wiesche
The 2022 SIGMIS Early Career Award was presented to Dr. Manuel Wiesche, Professor of Digital Transformation at TU Dortmund University, Germany. Manuel earned his degrees in Information Systems from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster and holds a doctorate and habilitation from the TUM School of Management, Technische Universität München. His research focuses on the IT workforce, project management, digital platform ecosystems, and IT service innovation, with publications in leading journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information & Management, and Communications of the ACM.
A long-time contributor to the SIGMIS CPR Conference, Manuel has co-authored over ten papers and served as Program Chair in 2019. He is also the co-founder of the non-profit “Tuer an Tuer Digital Factory,” which developed “Integreat,” an app supporting refugee integration. Reflecting on his first CPR experience in 2014 in Singapore, he recalls being warmly welcomed by the community—despite his mixed feelings about the durian dessert.
2020 – Christian Maier
The 2021 SIGMIS Early Career Award was presented to Dr. Christian Maier, Professor at the University of Bamberg, Germany. Christian completed his Ph.D. in Information Systems in 2014, supported by a three-year doctoral scholarship from the Bavarian Elite Foundation. His dissertation on technostress received multiple accolades, including the Schmalenbach Prize and the Magid Igbaria Outstanding Conference Paper Award.
Christian’s research focuses on individual interactions with technology, particularly technostress, IT acceptance and use, work stress, IT addiction, resistance to new technologies, and the IT workforce. He has published widely, including nine articles in the AIS Senior Scholar Journal Basket, and is ranked among the top 50 information systems scholars globally by the AIS.
In addition to his impactful research, Christian is recognized for his outstanding teaching and service. He received the Bavarian State Award for Excellence in Teaching and served as Program Chair for the 2020 ACM SIGMIS CPR Conference. His achievements exemplify the spirit of the Early Career Award, setting a strong example for young scholars in the field.