Arthur P. Thomas

Art Thomas is the Director of the Masters Degree programs in Information Management (IM), Executive Information Management (ExIM), and Telecommunications and Network Management (TNM).  Art first began his association with the iSchool in the Spring semester of 2001, primarily teaching “Managing Information Systems Projects” (now IST645), which he has taught almost every semester since, including some sections at the undergraduate level (IST445). Since 2009, he has also had the opportunity to teach the ExIM capstone course "Strategic Management of Information Resources” (IST755) during MayMester, "Global Financial Systems Architecture" (GET302-GET600), "Complex Issues in IT Project Management" (IST400-IST700), "Information and Information Environments" (IST601), and "Introduction to Information Management" (IST621).  

He is also the Director of the Upstate Health Research Network (UHRN), a consortium of universities and expert researchers coordinated through Syracuse University. The mission of the UHRN is to analyze nationwide health care claims charges and recommend methods for setting reference benchmarks for out-of-network health care claims reimbursements. The research is sponsored by Fair Health, Inc., a not-for-profit organization created to bring transparency to the establishment of these benchmarks and to educate consumers in the understanding of health care claims reimbursements.

Having served on the J.P. Morgan Chase Partnership Curriculum Project Team, Art has contributed to the development and enhancement of several GET courses with an emphasis on large-scale, multi-tiered information systems.

His career has included IT positions ranging from Programmer to CIO, and he has held positions in Corporate Training ranging from Training Specialist to Chief Learning Officer. He has served organizations in Manufacturing, Banking, Insurance, Education and Government, and his work has taken him from North America to Europe and the Middle East, where he led two projects for the Ministry of Education in the Sultanate of Oman.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York College at Brockport with emphases in both Social Science and Computer Science. His Master of Education (Ed.M.) degree in Curriculum Development and Instructional Media is from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he also earned his Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation/Instructional Systems Design and Management.  His doctoral research focused on factors that can help to predict the success of new technology projects in organizations.  He has developed and taught numerous seminars, workshops and presentations, including semester courses at the American Institute of Banking, Niagara University and SUNY Buffalo.

He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and is certified by 3M Corporation in fiber-optic network systems design and installation. He is also Co-founder and Chairman of the National Board of Directors of Gliding Stars, a charity operating in 9 cities across four states that provides disabled people of all ages recreational opportunities through lessons in adaptive ice skating.

Art and his wife Helen maintain a residence in Camillus as well as one on Helen’s family farm in Wyoming County, where they produce maple syrup products.

Research Interests

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Professional Interests

Personal Interests