Michael S. Lapke

Michael Lapke was born in Weston-Super-Mare on the west coast of the United Kingdom. Born of Irish parents, he held both British and Irish citizenry upon birth. He immigrated to the United States in 1980 with his mother and upon adoption by his stepfather, became a US citizen in 1982. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from the University of North Florida in 1999 and worked at Alltel Information Systems as a COBOL programmer for a period before returning school to earn a Master of Science in Computer and Information Systems.

During the course of his Master’s degree he was awarded a teaching assistantship which covered his tuition and paid a stipend. Upon graduation, he was offered a position as an instructor at UNF. During the two years of full time employment at UNF, Michael taught a wide variety of computer science and information systems courses. These included Introduction to Java, C, and COBOL, as well as File Structures, Computer Hardware, Systems Analysis and Design, Systems Implementation, and graduate courses in Database Design and Information Systems Security.

Michael was accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University’s PhD in Information Systems program in 2003 and graduated in May of 2008. Between the 2004 and 2007 years of residence at VCU, Michael was awarded a graduate assistantship that covered his tuition costs. He was also employed by the Information Systems Department as an Adjunct Instructor. As an Instructor with VCU, Michael taught Introduction to Java, Database, Network Applications, and Introduction to Information Systems.

During the three year span between 2004 and 2007, Michael also formed his own company, Lapke Consulting, LLC. As president of the company, Michael worked with regional companies such as First National Brokerage Corporation and Ameronix Corporation as a freelance database and web developer. Michael led these companies towards bringing several large networked systems online. Between 2006 and 2007, Michael also worked as a Security Analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank.

Before joining UMW in 2012, Michael worked at several academic institutions including East Carolina University and Rhode Island College. Here at UMW, he teaching in the College of Business and focuses in the MIS area. His teaching duties include Introduction to Computers, Security, Ethical Hacking, Security Policy, Systems Analysis, and Introduction to MIS. He is actively engaged in research and is in the process of publishing results from a major study involving power and security policy. He is also in the process of gathering data for a study on Privacy in Healthcare Information Technology.