Börje Langefors 1915-2009

[Mats Lundeberg]

It is with deep regret that I inform you of the passing of  Börje 
Langefors, aged 94, on Sunday morning, 13 December 2009. No one has 
had a greater impact on information systems research and practice in 
Scandinavia than Börje Langefors. He was the grand old man in the 
Scandinavian information systems field.

Much of Börje's work was devoted to developing a general information 
systems theory defining the discipline independent of a changing 
technology. His seminal book, Theoretical Analysis of Information 
Systems, provided the theoretical foundation of the discipline. His 
influence has not been limited to Scandinavia. He was active 
internationally, including being an organizer and the first chair of 
Technical Committee 8 (Information Systems) of the International 
Federation for Information Processing. He was also amongst the first 
to receive the Association for Information Systems LEO award.

Börje was appointed in 1965 as professor to the first chair in Sweden 
in a new subject called Information Processing, with special emphasis 
on Administrative Data Processing. This field was introduced into the 
academic curriculum the same year. Börje's position was a joint chair 
at the Royal Institute of Technology and the University of Stockholm, 
combining work with a technical faculty and a faculty of social 
sciences. He held this position until he retired in 1981.

Many of the existing information system theories have their roots in 
research that Börje initiated in the sixties. He understood the 
important role that theories and methods play in building information 
systems to meet the needs of business activities and users. He 
believed that information technology systems involve organizational, 
human, and technical phenomena. He had the vision that information 
systems must be built on a deep understanding of the special 
character of each of these areas and their interactions.

Mats Lundeberg
Stockholm School of Economics