Madjid Tavana, Ph.D., professor and department chair of business systems and analytics, has been appointed editor in chief of two new academic journals from Elsevier, the largest scholarly journal publisher in the world.

Tavana will serve as editor in chief of Decision Analytics Journal and Healthcare Analytics. He now serves as the editor of eight peer-reviewed academic journals, including the International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences and the International Journal of Management and Decision Making.

“I am grateful to assume the position of editor at a time when fact, reason, and collaboration are more vital to our livelihood than ever,” Tavana said. “Through the publication of groundbreaking healthcare and decision analytics findings, the scientific research community has the collective power to exchange ideas that will vastly improve the well-being of our collective future.”

A longtime La Salle faculty member, Tavana has been at La Salle for 36 years. A Stanford University study in 2020 ranked Tavana as one of the world’s top scientists in the field of business systems and analytics, based upon research citation metrics and authorship.

Tavana’s research work has taken him to the research labs of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. It’s led to a relationship with NASA, for which he’s served as a distinguished research fellow for more than a quarter century.

Innovation isn’t exclusive to Tavana’s research work. His department just last winter unveiled La Salle’s Master of Science in Business Systems and Analytics, which this fall will welcome its inaugural cohort.

“Analytics promises to change the way we work and live,” Tavana said. “Decision Analytics and Healthcare Analytics are interdisciplinary journals promoting the application of data science in organizations within the private and public sectors. These journals provide state-of-the-art information for academic researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Analytics uncovers hidden and new knowledge. Policymakers and practicing managers are finding that it is more and more difficult to twist facts to suit theories.”

—Christopher A. Vito