Biography of Donald A. Carpenter (return to home page)

Don Carpenter is a Nebraska native, born in Lexington, raised in Lincoln and schooled in Kearney, graduating in 1971 from Kearney State College (now, University of Nebraska at Kearney) with a bachelor of science in business administration. His career path took him through Lincoln and Kansas City, before settling for thirteen years in Colorado Springs.

Don accumulated ten years of industry experience, mostly while marketing mainframe computers, before committing to a career change to become a college professor. He taught first at Pikes Peak Community College, while earning an MBA from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. At PPCC, he was an instructor of computer information technology. He also served as an adjunct instructor of marketing at UCCS.

When the opportunity to teach at Kearney State College presented itself in 1985, it was an easy decision. At that time, KSC allowed him to earn tenure and move through the ranks of assistant, associate and full professor, while working on a doctorate degree. His plan was to stay in Kearney for three or four years before relocating to teach college on Colorado’s Western Slope. He earned the Ph.D. in management information systems from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 1992.

Unforeseen circumstances kept Dr. Carpenter in Kearney longer than expected. He served as chair of the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems for fifteen years. In his last three years at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, he was director of the Global Sources Programs and a professor of management information systems.

After completing the eighteenth year of his original three-year plan, he finally lived into his long-term goal by taking a position as associate professor of computer information systems at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado, in August of 2003. He also has transferred to Mesa State his connection with University of Rostock, Germany, where he has taught during each of the past few summers, usually taking students on the trip. He was once again granted tenure and promoted to professor effective Fall 2008.

Dr. Carpenter’s most recent research and publication interests deal with program assessment, as well as meaningfulness to individuals of technology and the motivation that results. He also continues several other research strands that have resulted in numerous publications and presentations. He consults to government and industry in the areas of strategic planning for information systems and in enterprise information requirements determination. He has developed a Model Universal Enterprise Information Structure (MUEIS) that has been the basis for both scholarship and service opportunities. He also has developed and published several decision support systems, including a Teleprocessing Line Speed DSS and a Personal Weight Management DSS.

Don is widowed and has four grown children, three children-in-law and a beautiful granddaughter. He has a wide range of leisure interests, including outdoor activities such as hiking the many beautiful mountain and canyon trails in the Grand Junction area. His many other interests include travel, writing poetry, studying spirituality, and researching his genealogy (that link will take you to his genealogy website).