Kenny Cheng named AIS Fellow Award Recipient

John B. Higdon Eminent Scholar Chair and Chair of the University of Florida Warrington College of Business’s Information Systems and Operations Management department, H. Kenny Cheng, received the Association for Information Systems Fellow award this year.

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) is the largest professional organization representing the field of information systems with over 5,000 members worldwide. The AIS Fellow Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the information systems discipline in terms of research, teaching and service.

“I feel incredibly honored to receive the AIS Fellow Award of Association for Information Systems,” he said. “Receiving the INFORMS Information Systems Society Distinguished Fellow in 2024 and the AIS Fellow in 2025, prestigious awards considered the highest honors in the field of Information Systems (IS), is exhilarating, rare and humbling.”

Cheng’s information systems research is interdisciplinary in nature, involving information technology, economics, finance, management, marketing and operations management. His work focuses on big data and business analytics, economic and policy issues of artificial intelligence, blockchain and the internet commerce.

He is one of the most well-known scholars on software piracy, software free trials, net neutrality and internet commerce policy issues.

“I strive to work on pioneering research that is impactful to other researchers as well as industry practices,” he said.

38 policy documents on Scopus cite Cheng’s net neutrality research in prominent global government institutions including the federal government of Germany, the Ifo Institute of Germany, the German Institute for Economic Research, the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) in the United States, the Research Institute of Industrial Economics of Sweden (Institutet för Näringslivsforskning), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL).

Cheng’s research has been prominently featured in doctoral research seminars, news media and journals that influence politicians in Washington, D.C. and the White House, including Politico, The Hill, the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, Decision Sciences and Information Systems Research.

His most recent paper, “Impact of Own Brand Product Introduction on Optimal Pricing Models for Platform and Incumbent Sellers,” focused on the expansion of E-Commerce platform’s traditional role, won the 2024 Antitrust Writing Award.

“This AIS Fellow Award recognizes my impactful scholarship, contributions to editorial and disciplinary leadership, contributions to mentoring younger academics and contributions to the advancement of AIS’ Mission,” he said. “This award epitomizes my hard work and commitment to both academia and the field of Information Systems.”