James Thomas

Dr. James B. Thomas is dean of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and professor of information sciences and management. From July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2006, he was IST’s founding dean and oversaw the college’s growth and development across the Commonwealth, as well as the construction of the landmark IST Building at University Park. Prior to that, while serving as Smeal’s senior associate dean, Thomas was chair of the committee which implemented IST’s design and development, and earlier, was a member of the strategic planning group that recommended that creation of the college. His publications have appeared in Administration Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, among other top journals. In the past 10 years, Thomas also has received several research grants, many from IBM, including support to study "Industry Structure and the Role of Information Technology," and "Validating Strategic Alignment." Dean Thomas joined Penn State in 1987 after having been at the University of Texas at Austin and Florida State University. Previously he served as the director responsible for information technology strategic planning for the Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Prior to that he was the director responsible for information management systems for the Florida Department of State designing and managing systems that enabled access to information users in and outside the agency. He was also responsible for legislation through the Florida Senate that set the direction for the management of information technologies for all state agencies in Florida. A 1974 graduate from Penn State in pre-law, Thomas received a master’s degree in government from Florida State University and his doctorate in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988.

Research and Teaching

A specialist in strategic management, organizational analysis and information technology, Thomas is the author or coauthor of more than 100 articles, book chapters, reviews and presentations. His work represents two major themes: cognition associated with top management team decision making, mostly in government and not-for-profit organizations, and the relationships between performance and the alignment of business and information technology strategies. Thomas conducts seminars and presentations on management and information sciences education before scholarly, industry, and government groups around the world. He has testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce and he regularly appears before the Pennsylvania Legislature to discuss communications and technology-related educational issues. He was named "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" on three occasions while at The Smeal College of Business Administration. Thomas led or served as a member of over 20 doctoral committees during the last six years. He also has been involved extensively in executive education around the world through the Penn State Executive Programs and with individual Fortune 100 firms.