Professor Alan R. Hevner has been named a Fellow of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS), an honor given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the European Information Systems community. Founded in 2004, ERCIS is Europe`s largest and oldest interdisciplinary research organization in Information Systems, bringing together partners from over 50 universities and companies to drive digital transformation across Europe.

On occasion of its 20th anniversary in 2024, ERCIS initiated the Fellowship Award, to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the European Information Systems community. ERCIS Fellows have inspired generations of scholars across Europe both through their work and through serving as a role model for courageous, responsible, and impactful work of significant value to society. ERCIS fellows are recognized for their fundamental contributions to the Information Systems field across Europe, having inspired early career academics, promoted innovative thinking, and supported diversity and inclusion through their actions.

Alan R. Hevner is a Distinguished University Professor and Eminent Scholar in the School of Information Systems and Management in the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. He holds the Citigroup/Hidden River Chair of Distributed Technology. Alan Hevner is recognized for his lifetime achievement to inspire and guide design-oriented research in Europe. His co-authored seminal paper introducing Design Science Research (DSR), published in the journal “Management Information Systems Quarterly”, and cited over 20,000 times, gave inspiration and guidance to generations of Information Systems students and scholars.

Professor Hevner is the first scientist to receive this recognition. In his laudation, Professor Jan vom Brocke, Director of ERCIS, recognizes that Alan Hevner serves as a role model for courageous, responsible, and impactful research. “Al has inspired generations of Information Systems scholars during the past decades specifically to conduct meaningful design-oriented research of value to society. Al`s work gave confidence, motivation and methodology to thousands of young academics across many disciples to leave the beaten tracks and to develop truly valuable design contributions to both research and practice.” The award was presented to Alan Hevner at the University of Münster in Germany, the headquarters of ERCIS on June 6, 2024. As part of the ceremony, Professor Hevner gave a lecture on “Designing Human-Artificial Intelligence Systems”, at Münster Castle, which was attended by over 100 participants, and which was also streamed online.

Alan Hevner expressed his gratitude to be named the inaugural ERCIS Fellow. He states that “I am profoundly honored and humbled to accept the prestigious Fellow award from ERCIS. This recognition serves as a testament to a lifelong journey alongside remarkable colleagues, mentors, students, and family. I am genuinely excited for the future of design science research as it empowers the next generation of researchers to create positive global impacts. Thank You.” Professor Jörg Becker, founding director of ERCIS, emphasizes that he could not imagine a better inaugural ERCIS Fellow. He points out: “Al Hevner is THE protagonist for Design Science Research. Being part of the innovation process of digital transformation and not only observing digital transformation is a most important societal task, as is the credo of Al Hevner.”