Colorado State College of Business Names New Chairs in Finance, Computer Information Systems

The College of Business at Colorado State University has named two new department chairs: Vickie Bajtelsmit in the Department of Finance and Real Estate and Jon Clark in the Department of Computer Information Systems.

Bajtelsmit is a nationally known expert on retirement planning and gender differences in investments and has written three personal finance books. She first joined the College of Business at Colorado State in 1991.

She has served as a First Community Bank Faculty Fellow and has received numerous awards from the College including the Pinnacle Award in 2003 for excellence in teaching, research and service. She received her doctorate degree in 1994 at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her law degree from Rutgers University. She serves as vice president of the American Risk and Insurance Association.

Students in the Finance and Real Estate department can choose to study business finance, investments, financial planning and/or the development, financing, management and marketing of real estate. The department is also home to the Everitt Real Estate Center, which provides service, academic research, educational and employment opportunities for the campus and surrounding community.

This marks Clark’s second stint as chairman of the Computer Information Systems department. Clark first joined the university in 1989, serving as professor and chairman until 1992. He has written three books on database design and computer system selection along with 19 journal articles and 20 conference papers. In addition, he has been instrumental in raising $1.8 million in cash and in-kind gifts while at Colorado State. Between 1992 and 2001, he served as associate dean for Academic Programs and Information Technology and as associate dean for Research and Administration.

Clark is a senior member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has served as vice president of the Mid-West Deans Association of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. He obtained his doctoral degree from Case Western Reserve University and his master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University.

Graduates in Computer Information Systems have careers as applications programmers, internet specialists, IT project managers, system consultants and designers. The program, with its award-winning faculty, has historically experienced almost 100 percent placement rates.

The CIS department recently hosted the 2007 Americas Conference on Information Systems at Keystone Resort. The conference is the annual gathering of nearly 1,000 members of the North, Latin, and South America chapters of the Association for Information Systems, including academicians and researchers.

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