Farewell to Prof. Richard Lackes
In 1994, Richard Lackes took up the professorship for Business Informatics at our university after completing his habilitation in Business Administration and Information Systems at the University of Hagen. His training as a computer scientist and business graduate and his doctorate in the field of IT-supported cost information systems predestined him for business informatics. He had already held a chair at the University of Jena since 1992. At the same time as Dortmund, he had turned down appointments at the University of Jena and the University of Kaiserslautern in favor of Dortmund. Shortly after taking up the professorship in Dortmund, he was offered the Chair of Information Management at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, which he also turned down.
His research focused on information technology and quantitative business informatics. In addition to knowledge management and business data science, he worked intensively on the use of artificial intelligence for heuristic optimization, machine learning methods for intelligent data analysis and the design of integrated, operational information systems (ERP systems). The development of innovative e-learning concepts and their implementation for data management and programming complemented his focus.
A particular concern of his was always the networking of research and business, which he was instrumental in promoting. This was reflected, among other things, in the founding of the KRIS Competence Center for Risk Management & Risk Information Systems, which works closely with companies. A large number of theses were thus initiated in conjunction with companies and practically relevant topics were dealt with in a methodically sophisticated and at the same time practice-oriented manner. He also provided long-term support to regional business locations, for example through the City Lab Südwestfalen, which aims to maintain vibrant city centers.
Under his leadership, the professorship enriched the department's teaching offerings. In addition to traditional training in the field of business informatics, he also established innovative formats such as the Data Mining Bootcamp and the E-Venture event, which conceived and prototyped innovative business ideas in the field of the digital economy. In 2022, the professorship received the Teaching Innovation Award for the interactive e-learning system "VBA Garden", which teaches students programming in a fun way.
The department would like to thank Richard Lackes for his many years of commitment and wishes him all the best and every success for his well-deserved retirement and his future activities at the Turkish-German University in Istanbul!