Computer Information Systems (CIS)

Mark Frydenberg, a Distinguished Lecturer and founding director of Bentley’s CIS Sandbox, received a 2023 Innovation in Teaching Award for developing and implementing the CIS Sandbox Industry Engagement Program, a project-based initiative that pairs student tutors with alumni working in the tech industry. Through semester- or year-long “micro-internships,” students work directly with alumni partners to complete innovative tech projects at each mentor’s respective company.  

The only six-time Innovation in Teaching Award recipient in Bentley history, Frydenberg was also selected as an inaugural Presidential Faculty Fellow. As such, he will receive funding and institutional support to expand the university’s immersive learning programs.  

“Technologies reflect our societies and who we are,” says Marco Marabelli, professor and associate director of Bentley’s Hoffman Center for Business Ethics. “Thus, AI-powered algorithmic systems unsurprisingly serve the powerful and leave behind people at the margins.”  

In his new book, “AI, Ethics, and Discrimination in Business: The DEI Implications of Algorithmic Decision-Making,” Marabelli demonstrates how algorithmic models reflect and perpetuate existing social inequalities. In a series of related journal articles, he also explores DEI-related opportunities and challenges specific to AI use in the workplace and emphasizes the importance of continued research to inform the responsible development and use of strategic automated systems.

In recent essays for the Wall Street Journal and MIS Quarterly Executive, Associate Professor Jeffrey Proudfoot highlights a growing corporate conundrum: Boards of directors are increasingly responsible for providing guidance and oversight regarding cybersecurity risks, yet are often unequipped to do so.  

“Virtually all cybersecurity assets and efforts are focused on protecting the organization itself — its employees, managers, executives, business processes, technologies and so on — but directors need to be included in the security plans, too,” Proudfoot notes. Otherwise, “The board members themselves, the people responsible for making sure a company is well-protected, could well become the weak link in an organization’s cyber defenses.”