News

The School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin is pleased to announce that five new faculty members have joined the iSchool in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Dr. James Howison has been named interim Associate Dean for Research at the iSchool, starting August 15th. He will lead research initiatives and support faculty efforts, building on his extensive experience and commitment to enhancing the school's research impact.

Dean Eric T. Meyer will conclude his tenure as the dean of the School of Information at UT Austin on July 14th, 2024, and will become the new dean at UC Berkeley's School of Information. During his six-year tenure, he led the school through significant transformations, including launching the undergraduate program and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Soo Young Rieh will serve as Interim Dean during the search for a permanent replacement, bringing her expertise in human information behavior and academic leadership to the role.

On Friday, May 10th, the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin celebrated the graduating Class of 2024. Excited graduates, their families, faculty, staff, and friends of the iSchool gathered at Bass Concert Hall for the event, which was also live streamed on the iSchool’s website for guests who were unable to attend or preferred to watch virtually. This event was particularly special for undergraduate seniors and their families who were experiencing an in-person graduation for the first time as many of their high school graduations were interrupted by COVID in 2020.

The School of Information’s annual spring poster sessions showcase graduating student’s research and professional experience projects. This was the largest poster session in our school's history and the first time that undergraduates and graduates proudly presented their capstone projects together.

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Professor Ciaran B. Trace has passed away. Dr. Trace joined The University of Texas at Austin School of Information (iSchool) in 2010 and was a passionate advocate for the archives and records management fields.

Black youth are at a higher risk for behavioral health crises than their non-Black peers. Suicide, the severe consequence of behavioral health crises, is a public health concern and is ranked as the second leading cause of death in 10 to 24-year-olds. There is a critical need to deeply understand social risk factors unique to Black youth and their differentiation from risk factors for other racial groups.

The School of Information is well-represented in a new national initiative to improve outcomes for millions of disabled students on U.S. campuses. The mission of the National Disability Center for Student Success at The University of Texas at Austin is to provide the first comprehensive and actionable research to support disabled student experiences and achievement after high school. Andrew Dillon, V.M.

Several faculty members and doctoral students represented The University of Texas at Austin School of Information at the 2023 Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) Annual Meeting, which was held in London, UK from October 27-31. The theme of the conference was “Making a Difference: Translating Information Research into Practice, Policy, and Action.”

Founded in 1948 as the Graduate School of Library Science, the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin hosted a 75th anniversary celebration where alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends were invited to reflect on the school’s rich tradition of leadership in the Information Age and explore the ways we’re pioneering new tools and technologies to harness the power of information and make the world a better and fairer place in the next 75 years (and beyond)!