On November 3, 2014, the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business lost a distinguished scholar and beloved colleague with the passing of Professor Sandra (Sandy) Slaughter. She was a beacon of inspiration who transformed the field of information technology through her research and passion for mentorship. Now, ten years later, she continues to exemplify how one person's dedication can elevate an entire field while nurturing the next generation of researchers.
Slaughter served as a faculty member from 2007 to 2014, holding the Alton M. Costley Chair and serving as Information Technology Management area coordinator from 2012 to 2014. She also served as an adjunct professor in the College of Computing and co-directed the formation of the Master of Science in Analytics program as well as the Business Analytics Center. Before coming to Georgia Tech, she was a tenured associate professor at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. She began her IT career in industry as a software project leader and systems analyst at companies including HP, Rockwell International, and Square D Corporation.
Celebrating Academic Excellence
Slaughter published over 100 articles, garnering nearly 5,000 citations, and her nine "Best Paper" awards were a testament to her ability to inspire and influence others through her work. As co-editor for Management Science's Information Systems division, along with a lengthy list of editorial roles, she didn't just maintain academic standards; she elevated them.
Where others saw challenges in software development, Slaughter saw opportunities for innovation. At a time when software projects meant delays and budget overruns, she pioneered groundbreaking approaches to help reshape the industry. Her rigorous methodology proved that better solutions were possible, leading to improvements that continue to benefit organizations today.
Her unique approach to combining theoretical solid foundations with practical applications set Slaughter's research apart. She pioneered collecting and analyzing real-world software performance data, developing methodologies that continue to influence the field today. Her 1998 paper "Evaluating the Cost of Software Quality" became particularly influential, with its methodology being adopted by British and Swedish quality-management certification programs and referenced in the IEEE Computer Society's Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK).
In 2006, Slaughter and co-authors Il-Horn Hann and Jeffrey Roberts published a groundbreaking paper in Management Science titled "Understanding the Motivations, Participation and Performance of Open Source Software Developers: A Longitudinal Study of the Apache Projects."
This research was the first comprehensive study examining how motivation influences participation and outcomes in open source software projects. The paper garnered significant academic recognition and was featured as the cover article in the July 2006 issue of Management Science while gaining an impressive citation count that exceeded 500 references.
At the time of her passing, she was working as a principal investigator with a federal grant from the U.S. Navy, where she innovatively applied and extended her methodology to evaluate the cost benefits of open standards in military avionics software, research that continues to influence military software development practices today. Her work wasn't just about identifying problems but finding pathways to success.
A Legacy of Mentorship and Inspiration
Perhaps Slaughter's most profound impact was in her commitment to mentorship. She understood that the future of Information Systems research lay not just in research papers but in the hearts and minds of emerging scholars. To that end, she mentored nine Ph.D. students as chair, was involved in 35 Ph.D. thesis committees, and served as a committee member for 25 students.
The success stories of her students, who went on to prestigious positions at institutions like the University of Michigan, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Nanyang Technological University, speak to her ability to bring out the best in others. These placements demonstrated her positive influence throughout academia. She took particular joy in helping others navigate their academic journeys through formal doctoral consortiums and in one-on-one mentoring sessions.
“Sandy was a wonderful mentor to me and so many others. She was generous with her time and always willing to help. I can only imagine the impact that she would have had over the past 10 years,” said Eric Overby, Catherine and Edward Wahlen Profesor of Information Technology Management.
Creating Lasting Impact
Slaughter's legacy continues through two notable recognitions: the Sandra Ann and Ronald Ray Slaughter Fellowship for Ph.D. students at Scheller, which is awarded annually, and the Information Systems Society (ISS) Sandra A. Slaughter Early Career Award.
The Early Career Award has honored several distinguished recipients, including Overby as its inaugural winner. Other winners include Scheller faculty members Mingfeng Lin, Florin Niculescu, and Lizhen Xu, as well as former Scheller Ph.D. students Sam Ransbotham, Peng Huang, and Dezhi Yin, highlighting the award's significance in recognizing emerging talent in the field.
Slaughter's work was supported by over $2 million in grants, but her real investment was in people, the countless students, colleagues, and professionals she inspired throughout her career. Her approach to research and mentoring emphasized that academic success wasn't just about individual achievement but about lifting up others along the way.
Slaughter lived life to the fullest, writing a book "Tandem Times: A Bicycle Journey Around the World, Odyssey to the Limits" about her adventures with her husband Ron as they traveled over 18,000 miles between December 1989 and July 1991 on a tandem bike, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest tandem bicycle tour.
Her legacy lives on in a tribute website. As a testament to how she touched lives, after almost 10 years, people are still adding their memories.
Slaughter's career is a shining example of how academic excellence and nurturing leadership can go hand in hand. She embodied the true measure of academic success, not just in the papers published or awards received but in her positive impact on others and the field of information systems.