Elizabeth Unger is a professor of computing and information science, the Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology (CIO), and Dean of Continuing Education at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. She earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering and MS in Mathematics from Michigan State University. Her doctorate is from the University of Kansas in Computer Science. Her work experience with IBM as an applied science representative and later at Michigan State University provided a background in scientific computing applications. Positions directing university computing centers were followed by a 32-year career as a professor. She supervised 19 doctoral dissertations and over 160 master's theses and reports in the areas of data and information organization, data security, and the use of technology in university teaching. She has had over 100 research papers and four books published. She was involved in the creation of the computer science department, its initial curriculum, and subsequent revisions over the years, including the development of a curriculum for management information systems in the College of Business at Kansas State University.

Under her leadership as vice provost/dean, Kansas State has been awarded seven national awards for quality distance learning, and has been named one of the most wired and unwired universities. Over 90 percent of the current teaching faculty members use some form of information technology as a part of their residential and distance course delivery. The campus has 46 high-technology classrooms, including seven in a studio paradigm. A learning and research management system to leverage the efforts of the faculty members was designed and implemented in 1997; it is currently a product of one of the two tightly held corporations started under her direction to provide income to the on-campus information technology units. The first synchronous team-taught Internet 2 class was led by Kansas State University with faculty members from Oregon State University and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The Great Plains IDEA consortium was an idea that was developed to allow ten university faculties to join to be nimble in meeting student degree program needs that could not be met by any one university alone. There are now five distance programs offered through this consortium, including master's degrees in financial planning, youth development, and gerontology.

Unger is on the Great Plains Network Board; the Board of the Computer Science Accreditation Commission, a sponsoring organization for ABET computer science and information systems accreditation; several national computing boards; and a few local civic boards.

Her current efforts include internationalization of the distance learning programs at Kansas State University to provide American students with opportunities to study with international students; to share cultural and global business experiences and opportunities with students; and to offer opportunities for residential classes that are team-taught with international faculty. As co-PI on an NSF Advance grant, she continues her career-long efforts to assist women in succeeding in science and engineering professions.