We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. William T. Scherer has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954).

Name: Prof. Dr. William T. Scherer
Email: [email protected]
Affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Homepage: https://facultydirectory.virginia.edu/faculty/wts
Research Keywords: systems thinking; decision and systems analysis; intelligent systems; data science; Markov decision processes; intelligent transportation systems; financial analytics

Prof. Dr. William T. Scherer is an expert in systems engineering, stochastic control, and business analytics. Prof. Dr. Scherer has served on the University of Virginia Department of Systems and Information Engineering faculty since 1986. He also consults with numerous organizations on the topics of systems thinking and business analytics applied to disparate organizations. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications (journal and conference papers, business cases, and book chapters) on intelligent decision support systems, transportation systems, stochastic control, and systems thinking. His current research focuses on systems engineering methodology, financial engineering, and intelligent transportation systems. His co-authored book, How to Do Systems Analysis, was published by Wiley in 2007, and a follow-on book, How to Do Systems Analysis: Primer and Casebook, was also published by Wiley in 2016. He has a strong interest in engineering education and has published papers on curriculum and pedagogy, and was awarded an Outstanding University of Virginia Faculty Award in 2007. He was also a Visiting Professor at the Darden Graduate School of Business in 2001–2002 and President of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Society in 2007–2008.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Scherer, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as the Editor-in-Chief?

There are very few journals dedicated to systems, where one can explore the truly interdisciplinary nature of systems. Many top journals are still centered on a discipline and/or a specific society, where it can be difficult to publish a paper that spans numerous domains and is looking at the problem systemically.

2. What is your vision for the journal?

My goal is to keep increasing the impact of the journal—not just as measured by impact factor, but by the journal being the center of the dialogue on systems and the place where systems researchers and thinkers go to see the latest insights and developments regarding the discipline.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

Real-world systems always continue to grow more complex, and the systems research and theory needs to address these new complexities, including concepts from Artificial Intelligence, machine learning/data science, digital engineering and digital twins, systems theory models, and systems of systems (especially systems of digital systems). New thinking is needed for this rich and continually developing environment.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?

Open access is critical for the global research community, where resources are often limited but creative ideas and thinking are not. Open access allows this highly creative global community to fully participate in the future of the discipline.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. William T. Scherer in his new role as Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Systems to many more milestones.