By ALAN HOSKINS
Baz Abouelenein has been the Dean of Information Services and Chief Technology Officer for Kansas City Kansas Community College since 2007.
For Baz, however, 2012 is a year like no other!
It started in early September when he officially became Dr. Baz Abouelenein and continued in October with the publication of his first academic paper in The International Journal of Management, Information Technology (IT), and Engineering.
The journal is peer-reviewed and publishes original works with practical significance and academic value to both practitioners and researchers.
“It has been a prosperous year for me,” Said Dr. Abouelenein.
Earning a PhD in Organizational Leadership with focus in Information Systems and Technology from the University of Phoenix was a six-year endeavor and speaks volumes to Dr. Abouelenein’s passion, philosophy, and dedication to lifelong learning.
“I had to put it off for two years to free up time to work on the implementation of Datatel on our campus,” he said.
His first published paper, “CIOs’ Transformational Leadership Behaviors in Community Colleges in Relation to Information Technology Workers,” is based on the research he conducted for his doctoral dissertation.
“After the oral defense of my dissertation, I was encouraged to write the paper by Dr. Diala who is a member of the dissertation committee. She said that my study should be published in a peer-reviewed journal to maximize the benefits of the research findings,” said Dr. Abouelenein.
The research study was conducted in Kansas-based community colleges and focused on exploring the relationship between CIOs’ transformational leadership behaviors and IT workers’ job satisfaction.
Born and raised in Egypt, Dr. Abouelenein attended undergraduate classes in various topics of Computer Science both at the American University in Cairo and at Seattle-based City University.
He worked for several technology firms where he was known for his love of innovation, excellence and technology leadership before coming to the U.S. to work for Community Action Partnership of Greater Saint Joseph, Mo. in 2002. In 2005, he joined KCKCC as Director of Information Systems.
“A friend of mine who was taking classes at KCKCC forwarded me the job description,” said Dr. Abouelenein.
As Dean, Dr. Abouelenein oversees the technology operations of Kansas City Kansas Community College where he leads 25 technologists to build and maintain a first-class technology environment.
Married, he and his wife, Cindy, have twin daughters, Ameerah and Maya, who will turn five in December.
