William R. “Bill” King, a professor in the School of Business for 37 years who played an instrumental role in creating the academic field of information systems, died July 23, 2026, at 87.
King founded the Information Systems Research Journal, serving as its editor-in-chief and as associate editor for six other business-related journals. He published profusely; having contributed to more than 300 papers in the leading journals in IS and related fields, and authored, co-authored or co-edited 15 books.
His research primarily addressed strategic planning for information systems, in which he was a pioneering researcher. He also published in the areas of knowledge management, organizational learning and business planning, among others.
King received a Leo Award for Lifetime Exceptional Achievement in Information Systems (IS) in 2025.
In a previous issue of the University Times, Richard T. Watson, president of the Association for Information Systems, noted: “The three cornerstones of the information systems field are the MIS Quarterly, the International Conference of Information Systems and the Association for Information Systems. Bill King has played a leadership role in every one of these scholarly domains as editor-in-chief, co-founder and conference chair and founding president, respectively.”
King was also recognized as a Fellow of INFORMS and Decision Sciences International. He was president of The Institute of Management Science (TIMS) and his work led to the establishment of INFORMS in 1995.
“He was just extremely fast at doing anything, especially evaluating applicants to our PhD program or faculty positions,” remembers Dennis Galleta, a professor of information systems at Pitt Business. “That was long ago when I was very green and would take an enormous time reading applications.”
He was born on Dec. 24, 1938, and retired in 2008.
King is survived by his wife, Fay Eileen King, daughter Cambria King of Fox Chapel, and four grandchildren.
— Carole Reinert, senior marketing and communications analyst, School of Business