Hanson gift supports new Faculty Scholar at UIS

The University of Illinois Springfield is proud to announce the addition of the Hanson Professional Services Faculty Scholar in the College of Business and Management. The position is made possible by a generous gift from Hanson Professional Services Inc., headquartered in Springfield.

“We believe that our work with UIS’ College of Business and Management is an investment in our future capability in Geographic Information Systems, providing a continuum between academia and private practice,” said Sergio Pecori, President & CEO of Hanson.

Dr. James Hall, associate professor in the Department of Management Information Systems, has been selected as the new Hanson Faculty Scholar. Hall earned his MBA from UIS in 1983 and his doctoral degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined the MIS department at UIS in 2000.

Hall has extensive experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a focus for the new Hanson Professional Services. GIS makes information visual by organizing data, usually in a map or chart.

Approximately 80 percent of all databases can be displayed visually. Using GIS, practitioners can access, acquire, analyze, and display information in the forms of Maps, 3 Dimension Simulation, Tables, and Figures.

Dr. Rassule Hadidi, the first Hanson Faculty Scholar, was a pioneer in management information systems who helped take UIS’ MIS program online. With support now for a faculty scholar who teaches GIS, Hanson Professional Services Inc. is providing a valuable service to the many businesses, government and relief agencies, and other organizations that rely on this versatile and increasingly useful technique.

Specializing in engineering, architecture, planning, and range of allied services, Hanson has been a trusted partner to clients since 1954, with completed projects in more than 40 foreign countries, serving North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Antarctica. The company has provided numerous internships for UIS business students over the years, with many UIS graduates working at Hanson.

For more information, contact Sarah Jennings, UIS Director of Development for Corporations and Foundations at 217/206-6058 or email sjenn02s@uis.edu.