Dr. Henry Newkirk
East Carolina University
Ph.D. in Information Systems-University of Kentucky, 2001

After working at Sprint for 18 years, Dr. Henry Newkirk decided it was time for a change. He had reached the "ceiling" in his current position and although Sprint had paid for him through his masters program, he knew there was no where to go but out. Or back to school. In 1998, after beginning his doctoral studies, he attended the Doctoral Students Association (DSA) meeting in Baltimore on "Strategic Information Planning" and he knew he had found a gold mine. "I met so many great people and found out I was not alone in my struggles," he recalls. With the support network offered through the DSA, Dr. Newkirk defended his dissertation in 2001 and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Newkirk brings his real-world business knowledge into the classroom and often uses it as a teaching tool. "With so many years in the workforce, it would be foolish of me to not pull from my experiences and bring them into my teaching. Students always become immediately engaged in the lesson when I pull from a real situation rather than a text-book one," he says.

It is because of this innovative teaching approach that Dr. Newkirk finds himself writing letters of recommendation for many of his students. He also gives career guidance and mentors plenty of students both academically and professionally.

Dr. Newkirk's next milestone is to publish his research on Strategic IS Planning.

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