Professor Frank Land
Emeritus Professor of Information Systems Frank Land has been awarded an OBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Professor Land, who is based in the Department of Management at LSE, has been recognised for his services to the information systems industry.
Born in Berlin in 1928, Land’s family came to the UK from Germany in 1939. After graduating in Economics from LSE in 1950, Land went to work for catering chain - J.Lyons - where he, along with a small team, developed the world’s first ever business computer, LEO (Lyons Electronic Office).
Land joined LSE in 1967, where he established the UK’s first university programme in computer based data processing systems, developing the subject and its curriculum.
He later set up the ADMIS (Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems) Masters course and developed a successful PhD programme at the School, attracting students from all over the world. In 1982, Land was appointed as the UK’s first professor of Information Systems.
Land has enjoyed an extremely successful career combining his practical experience of LEO with academic research and teaching.
In 1992, he received the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) outstanding service award and, in 2003, he received the LEO Award for outstanding life-time service to the understanding of information systems from the Association for Information Systems, of which he is also a fellow. He was also recently awarded a life-time fellowship of the British Computer Society.
Although formally retired, Land has remained active as an Emeritus Professor at LSE, providing guidance and support to research students undertaking careers in computer systems. He is married to Emeritus Professor Ailsa Land from LSE, who he first met as a fellow research assistant in the Economics Research Division in 1950 and married in 1953.
Commenting on the announcement, Professor Frank Land said: “LSE and faculty members like Karl Popper and Harold Laski have been my inspiration throughout my career as have my colleagues and students at the LSE and at LEO. I would like to thank them for the role they played in my own development and that of systems thinking.”
LSE would like to congratulate all our staff, former staff and former students who were recognised in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Alumni honoured include:
Jane Loui Edmondson OBE, MSc (Econ) Demography 1998, Order of the British Empire for services to International Development
Katherine Iona Fisher OBE, BSc Econ History& Population Studies 1997 and MSc Social Policy & Planning 2002, Order of the British Empire for public service
Ian Ginsberg OBE, Executive Master of Public Policy 2017, Order of the British Empire for public service
Gillian Val Haworth OBE, MPhil/PhD Social Administration1976, Order of the British Empire for services to Vulnerable Children and Families
Catherine Helen Hughes OBE, LLM 1994, Order of the British Empire for services to Education
Timothy James Mcdonnell OBE, LLB 2003, Order of the British Empire for services to Defence
Nicola Sian Pittam OBE, LLM 1992, Order of the British Empire for public service
Elizabeth A Sclater OBE, Diploma in Social Policy and Administration 1968, Order of the British Empire for Services to Older Women
Ann Marion Thomson OBE, MSc Health Planning & Financing 1990, Order of the British Empire for services to Physiotherapy Education & Disabled People through Swimming Exercise
Rachel Louis Turner CBE, MSc Econ (Economics) 1986, Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to International Development
Former employees honoured include:
David Christopher Hayward MBE, Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to International Trade and the North East Chemical Sector
Anna F Vignoles CBE, Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Social Sciences