Professor Kenneth Michael Goul, a passionate educator to thousands, a visionary researcher, mentor to many and friend to all, passed away unexpectedly on March 19, 2020, at the age of 64. This article was put together in his honor, with the contributions of friends, and colleagues including; Madeline Weiss, Deborah DeCorrevont, John Hurley, and Daniel Mozzola. With great sadness, SIM's Advanced Practices Council (APC) announces the passing of Professor Michael Goul, a visionary researcher who made exceptional contributions to APC members as both researcher and member of the Advanced Practices Council Research Advisory Board. Mike served as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research as well as Professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University (ASU). He was an affiliated faculty member for ASU's Institute for Social Science Research and the Global Security Initiative. He also served on the Biodesign Institute's Internal Advisory Board.
As a researcher, Mike recognized very early the implications of emerging big data for predictive analytics. His research sponsored by the APC focused on how organizations could enhance both productivity and competitive advantage through predictive analytics if they created effective governing mechanisms. Mike's most recent report for the APC is entitled, "Poised Between the Wild West of Predictive Analytics and the Analytics of Things Westworld Frontier."
As recently as the January 2020 APC meeting, Mike shared his experience and insights from working with financial services firms launching pilots for IoT-enabled applications. "He was way ahead of the curve in exploring implications of new technologies and always engaged APC members in thinking through questions that they hadn't yet addressed," said Madeline Weiss, APC's Director.
Mike’s passion was research, and he excelled in this discipline. He was full of ideas on curriculum which he successfully implemented for the university. His 35-year career at ASU began in 1985. His legacy is a passionate mentor and educator to thousands; he cared greatly about his students at ASU.
Mike served on the board of the SIM AZ for several years. He was a pillar in the chapter; one of the most engaged members, he also served as a speaker at meetings. As an academic leader at ASU, he served to strengthen the positive relationship between ASU and SIM AZ, by connecting the chapter with students in support of the STEM Outreach program.
Members provided mentoring on the Information Systems profession, attended career fairs, and encouraged female students to consider the IT field. Mike solicited members’ feedback on degree programs and often presented, or designed panels, around relevant topics at monthly chapter meetings.
Mike will be remembered by colleagues as a visionary for how he saw the explosion of big data, the shift to cloud computing, and the emergence of the mobile/social web platforms and the impacts they would have on the global economy. He was the recipient of several awards including the Outstanding Leadership Award by the IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Services Computing in 2016, and just this January, Mike was the recipient of the Hugh J. Watson Award for his achievements and service to the Teradata Corporation and the data and analytics academic community. This award was presented to him at the HICSS conference held in Hawaii, a place that was near and dear to his heart.
Mike is survived by his wife Sandy; daughter Alexandrea; mother Marilyn; brother Brad (Jackie); father-in-law Duane Horn; sisters-in-law Susan Faltys (Lyn) and Shari Horn (Jason Pfenning) and brother-in-law Steve Horn. The K. Michael Goul Memorial Scholarship has been established at ASU in his memory. Donations can be made through the ASU Foundation at
https://wpcarey.asu.edu/department-information-systems/about-department/remembering-michael-goul.Cards can be sent to Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park and Funeral Care, 400 S Power Rd, Mesa, AZ 85206. Electronic messages for the family can be left through Dignity Memorial. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.