MAGID IGBARIA DIED ON AUGUST 3, 2002, of complications from cancer at the age of 44. At his death, he held two professorships. His primary appointment was as Fletcher Jones Chair of Technology Management in the School of Information Science, Claremont Graduate University, and he was a Professor of Management Information Systems at Tel Aviv University. In his short life, Magid had more scholarly successes than all but the most distinguished and senior researchers in the field of information systems (IS). He was consistently rated as the most prolific scholar in IS, based on studies of publications in top-rated IS journals. His curriculum vitae testifies to those independent assessments. He published (or had seen accepted) 98 refereed articles from the time his first article appeared in 1988 [1]. Magid was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1996. Yet 41 of his article publications are dated 1997 and later. Additional papers were either in process or submitted at the end of his life. This speaks volumes to his dedication to the pursuit of scholarly activities.
Magid’s scholarly publications can be categorized into four general subject areas: computer system performance, correlates of computer usage, MIS personnel, and virtual societies and workplaces.1 He published 22 articles (almost 25 percent of his publications) in top-tier IS journals,2 which is a principal reason his name was at the very top of the “prolific authors” lists. Magid has 59 articles referenced in the ISI Web of Science, which lists publications from 1989 to the present.3 As of the end of August 2002, these works had been cited by 107 other articles a total of 806 times.
Clearly, Magid’s most prolific area of research in terms of numbers of articles (39 in total) was that of correlates of computer usage. This set of articles also constitutes his most-cited works. The research area that probably gained Magid the most scholarly accolades was that of MIS personnel. Of the 26 articles published in this area, 10 were in top-tier IS journals. Magid began his research career focusing on the area of computer system performance and published nine articles in this general area. Most recently, Magid had moved to study virtual societies and workplaces. He published 17 articles and chapters and coedited a book on the subject.
A majority of the articles that Magid published used structural equation models to test the results of survey data. In general, Magid’s articles were classically formulated in this research tradition. He felt very comfortable using this methodology and honed the approach in applying it to a variety of problem areas. His recent work on virtual workplaces and societies shows a very different direction, aiming to outline the key problems and issues in this emerging research domain.
The progression of Magid Igbaria’s research themes and methodological skill shows his continuing growth as a researcher who was important—and whose research legacy continues to be important—to our discipline. As an example of the impact of Magid’s research studies, I have chosen to briefly summarize work that he and key coauthors Jack Baroudi, Jeff Greenhaus, Tor Guimaraes, and Wayne Wormley did in terms of making significant contributions in the area of IS personnel. Igbaria and Wormley studied race differences [5] and Baroudi and Igbaria [2] studied gender differences among IS employees. They found significant differences in treatment and attitudes between various groups of IS personnel and recommended that managers be aware of these differences. Igbaria and Greenhaus [4] studied career advancement prospects for IS managers and found that these were not different from other organizational employees. Guimaraes and Igbaria [3] examined the differences between information center employees and other IS employees, finding that job satisfaction was an important direct factor in retaining information center employees, but did not have a direct effect on the other IS employees. In all cases, these studies led to specific recommendations for researchers and practitioners.
I feel that the overused phrase “he was a scholar and a gentleman” is a fitting though simple description of this complex man. In fact, Magid was a scholar with a brilliant mind, a keen motivation to succeed, a skill for organization, and maybe most of all, an ability to enjoy helping other people be successful. Magid was a voracious reader of both academic literature and current events, and this was certainly one of the reasons he was able to maintain a high level of academic production. He combined his great knowledge with keen skills as a mathematician, statistician, logician, and writer. He knew how to manage information and provide it to those who either needed it or might find it useful. In addition to his work in writing research papers, he was a member of a number of journal editorial boards, edited journal special issues, directed conferences, and advised students. He loved his profession and the work it entailed. Magid was regularly in his office and always ready to work with or advise his colleagues and students. He was a humble man with a tendency to downplay his accomplishments. There is no question that Magid could not have achieved success without the contributions of others and without his ability to collaborate. These others included 58 coauthors (I am proud to have been one) of refereed articles. Wherever he went, Magid would find a scholarly connection and turn it into a productive relationship. He worked with scholars from Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States.
I am certain that each member of our academic community gained something from the life and work of Magid Igbaria. Our community had the pleasure of working with him for a relatively short period of time. Yet his scholarly and personal legacy will continue to live for a very long time. Those of us who had the chance to work with him on a daily basis will never be the same without him.
LORNE OLFMAN
Dean, School of Information Science
Claremont Graduate University
NOTES