Mary R. Sumner is Professor of Computer Management and Information Systems and Assistant Dean for Development at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's School of Business, since 1982.
Prior to joining the SIUE faculty, Dr. Sumner was a faculty member at New York University. She also served as a Senior Associate at the Center for the Study of Data Processing at Washington University. She received an EPDA Fellowship in Educational Administration from Rutgers University in 1974.
Professor Sumner has extensive business experience. She has served as a market research analyst at Market Facts, Inc. and at Helene Curtis Industries in Chicago. Dr. Sumner has also conducted information systems design projects for various organizations, including St. Louis Children's Hospital, Carboline, and others. She has taught seminars in office information systems and software engineering for the St. Louis business community.
Professor Sumner has published research papers on the topics of management and control issues in end-user computing, the organizational impacts of electronic communications systems, and risk facts in user-developed applications. Her research has appeared in Database, the Journal of Systems Management, Information and Management, the Office Systems Research Journal, and numerous other publications. She has authored three textbooks, including Management Information Systems: The Manager's View, Computers: Concepts and Uses and Automated Office Systems Management. Her current research interests include the impact of computer-assisted software engineering tools on systems development productivity, the impact of computer-meditated communications technologies on managerial communications, and design issues in managerial decision support systems.
She earned her Doctorate from Rutgers University (1977), an M.A. from Columbia University (1971), and another M.A. from University of Chicago (1969) and her B.A. from Syracuse University (1968).