Karen Loch

Karen Loch is a leader with vision, recognized for building programs and making connections. She has held such leadership roles at GSU as the 1st Director of the Institute of International Business, Founder and Director for the full-time, four continent Global Partners MBA program, and Founder and Faculty supervisor for the International Business Alliance, matching over 300 students with mentors and internship placement. Loch is active in outreach activities, regularly makes presentations to international organizations, is skilled at turning around challenging organizational situations, and bridging academe and practice. She served as president for the World Trade Center Atlanta from 2016-2018 and a board member for the Japan American Society of Georgia.

Karen is a newly retired Professor of the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University after 33 years. Prior to joining GSU, Karen worked in the corporate world in the insurance and publishing industries, and her own consulting firm as a technology consultant. Loch holds a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, USA, and a M.A. in French language and literature. Karen’s expertise lies in the international business context, and information and communications technologies to bring insights to real world business problems. Her research spans such areas such as international IT transfer, decision-making and social and ethical concerns of Information Systems, and disruptive technologies such as autonomous vehicles and blockchain. A recipient of two National Science Foundation grants sponsoring field research in the Middle East, a research program spanning 12 years, Loch has published in leading IS journals, such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Journal, Communications of the ACM, Journal of Global Information Management, Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Business Ethics, DATA BASE, and co-authored a book on IT education. She served as Global Editor for the Journal of Global Information Management and guest editors in senior and associate editor roles for leading journals and conferences.

Education

• M.A. University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1977 — 1979)
• B.A. University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1973 — 1977)
• Universite de Bordeaux, France (1975 — 1976)

Companies

• Professor Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business (2006)
• President World Trade Center Atlanta (2016 — 2018)
• Executive Vice President World Trade Center Atlanta (2007 — 2016)
• Director, Global Partners MBA Georgia State University - Institute of Intl Business (2003 — 2014)
• Associate Professor Georgia State University, Department of Decison Sciences (1993 — 2006)
• Director Institute of International Business, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University (1999 — 2006)
• Assistant Professor Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business (1988 — 1993)

Skills

• Event Planning
• Curriculum Design
• Program Development

Other

Qualitative Research, Grants, Curriculum Development, Instructional Design, Social Media, International Relations, Staff Development, Data Analysis, Networking, Organizational Development, Marketing, Mentoring, Nonprofits, Team Building, Marketing Strategy, University Teaching, Statistics, Policy, Leadership Development, Business Strategy, Public Speaking, Strategic Planning, Teaching, Strategy, Higher Education, International Business, Research, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Program Management