Biography
Samuel Conn, Ph.D. has over 35 years of combined military, professional, and industry experience in the field of technology and information systems. Initially working in programming and electronic engineering, Dr. Conn continued work with the development and administration of database management systems, principally Oracle and IBM DB2, and the integration of business requirements in database application development. In the mid 90s, as the importance of the Internet began to take hold, he worked with business organizations to migrate from client-server technologies to Web enabled technologies, utilizing portal concepts to create and advance opportunities for electronic commerce and electronic business relationships. Dr. Conn worked as the principal architect for designing and implementing the information systems architecture for Fortune 500 corporations and three Internet startup companies. He worked with senior management teams in the positions of Director of Technical Support, Director of Information Systems, Vice President of Information Technology, and Vice President of Technology and Business Development for companies such as Baxter Healthcare Corporation, a $9B public corporation; InfoBeat, Inc., now a division of the Sony Corporation; Parascript Corporation, a Russian-American software development company; Vertical Alliance (now Veritix) and most recently with clients such as American Express, Macromedia, and International Speedway Corporation, the largest NASCAR franchise in the US. Building on his corporate Information Technology career, Dr. Conn began work in higher education in 2001 with a focus on information technology management, administrative and educational technologies, e-Learning networks, and online program construction and management. His full-time academe service at Regis University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virgina Tech), and Georgia Military College included roles as Computer Information Systems Chair and Professor, Chief Technology Officer for the Oracle Virtual Laboratory, Director of Distance and Distributed Learning, and Vice President for Information Technology and Online Learning. Consulting roles with Kentucky State University and ECPI College of Technology Online Campus included Director positions with the Center for Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Assessment and Director of Online Learning. He holds an undergraduate (BSci) degree in Business Administration, a graduate (MSci) degree in Computer Information Systems, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems. His resume also includes consulting in e-education, e-government, and healthcare information systems. Dr. Conn is a member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, a distinguished member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society in the Computing Sciences, member of the Association of Information Technology Professionals, and member of the United States Distance Learning Association. He is widely published in the field of Information Systems, Educational Technology, e-Learning networks, system development methodologies, and epistemic belief research. Visit Dr. Samuel Conn on the World Wide Web at www.samconn.net