Lara Khansa appointed associate dean for Pamplin undergraduate programs
Lara Khansa, associate professor of business information technology, has been appointed associate dean for undergraduate programs in the Pamplin College of Business.
Khansa had been serving in the interim position since August. “In only a few months, Lara has demonstrated passion and new ideas needed for this role,” said Pamplin Dean Robert Sumichrast. “I am confident that she will continue to bring continued advancement to our undergraduate programs.”
Khansa joined Virginia Tech as an assistant professor in August 2008. She was promoted to associate professor in June 2013.
Her research is in the areas of human-computer interaction, information privacy and security, healthcare analytics, and healthcare policy and societal disparities in access to healthcare.
She has published more than 50 refereed journal articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters. Her articles have appeared in such leading information systems and operations management journals as Journal of Management Information Systems, Decision Sciences, Decision Support Systems, and European Journal of Operational Research, and in premier medical journals, such as Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Aesthetic Surgery.
She serves as associate editor for Decision Support Systems and served for two years as vice president of finance for the Southeast Decision Sciences Institute.
Khansa has taught numerous undergraduate courses in business statistics, global operations and information technology, and enterprise resource planning.
She has also developed and taught courses in health care information technology and health care data management in the online master of information technology program. In these courses, Khansa teaches her students about the importance of data quality to patient care and safety and provides them with hands-on skills to evaluate and improve the quality of health care processes.
In 2015, Khansa was appointed by President Tim Sands to serve on the steering committee for the Envisioning Virginia Tech-Beyond Boundaries initiative and to co-chair a study group on discovering new funding models, one of four thematic areas identified as central to the university’s advancement as a global land-grant leader.
Additionally, Khansa has been collaborating with Virginia Tech leaders and faculty from across campus on the development of the framework for the new core Honors College curriculum.
As Pamplin’s associate dean for undergraduate programs, Khansa will provide leadership and direction to the academics of undergraduate education, including through enhancing Pamplin’s core undergraduate curriculum and enrollment management process.
She will lead a team of advisors, educators, and mentors in developing and implementing initiatives related to student academic and career success and engagement in the college’s three focus areas of business analytics, innovation and entrepreneurship, and sustainable global prosperity.
Khansa received a Ph.D. in operations and information management, an MBA in finance and investment banking, and an M.S. in electrical engineering, all from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Prior to pursuing her doctoral degree, Khansa worked as a software design engineer at GE Medical Systems designing and implementing medical applications and connectivity tools at the company’s global software platform facility in Wisconsin.
