[Asis-l] Dr. Pnina Fichman named as new chair of IU ILS

[Martin, Colleen A]

Dr. Pnina Fichman Named as New Chair of Indiana University Department of Information and Library Science

The School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University has announced the appointment of Dr. Pnina Fichman as the new chair of the Department of Information and Library Science (formerly the School of Library and Information Science).  She takes over the position from Dr. Debora Shaw, who retired at the end of May.

Dr. Fichman brings substantial academic and administrative experience to her new position.  She serves as the Director of the MLS Program, and is also co-director of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics and the Doctoral minor in Social Informatics.  Dr. Fichman has been at IU since 2004.

She earned her PhD from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and her research focus has been in social informatics. Just within this past year, Dr. Fichman has published three books with colleagues: Social informatics: Past, present and future published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing; Global Wikipedia: International and cross cultural issues in online collaboration published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; and Multiculturalism and information and communication technology published by Morgan & Claypool Publishers.

Dean Bobby Schnabel noted Fichman's compelling vision for progress and growth in a time of exciting opportunities for the department of information and library science (ILS) and the School as a whole. "The leadership of the chair, working effectively with the faculty, will have a major impact," he said, "and Pnina is an excellent person to assure that ILS sustains and builds upon its well-deserved national excellence, and evolves with the changing times in the world of information and library science."

In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Bloomington ILS program eighth nationally<http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-library-information-science-programs/library-information-science-ranking>.  ILS has a long history of success, graduating over 8,000 students since it opened its doors in 1946. Now merged with the School of Informatics and Computing, the department is able to take advantage of new opportunities for collaboration between disciplines in education and research.  The school is a top tier institution that offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Ph.D. degrees in a wide breadth of areas, such as Computer Science, Informatics, Information Science, and Library Science.  Indiana University has one of the biggest iSchools, with 152 faculty (100 on the Bloomington campus and 50 on the Indianapolis campus), 1,875 undergraduates and 1,185 graduate students.  The school is ranked #17 in funding from the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate from the National Science Foundation.  Faculty research areas include artificial intelligence, data science, health informatics, information organization and retrieval, digital libraries, social informatics, human computer interaction, and more.

Dr. Fichman looks forward to contributing to the future of the department and the school, with its commitment to innovation in the education of librarians and other information professionals, the creation of knowledge, and service in a diverse and changing global information environment. Dean Schnabel and Dr. Fichman have emphasized continuing this tradition of excellence in the MLS, MIS, and PhD programs, as well as focusing on the growth and development of the department and the school.




Colleen Martin
Administrative Assistant to the Chair
School of Informatics and Computing
Department of Information and Library Science
Wells Library, Room 011c
Bloomington, IN 47405
collmart at indiana.edu
toll free: 888.335.7547
telephone: 812.855.2018

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