Associate Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Emily Knox has been elected president of Beta Phi Mu, the international honor society for library and information studies.
Knox was inducted into Beta Phi Mu in 2003 upon receiving her master's in library and information science from the University of Illinois, and she has served as the faculty liaison to the Alpha Chapter (Illinois) since 2014. She was elected director of the national organization in 2015 and appointed treasurer in 2018. Knox’s book, Book Banning in 21st Century America, was the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars' Series.
"I'm excited to work with members of the Beta Phi Mu board as the organization adapts to the landscape of higher education in the twenty-first century," Knox said. "The national board recently amended the bylaws to permit undergraduates in information sciences and related fields to become members. Hopefully, students in the iSchool's newly launched BS in information sciences program will soon be invited to join the honor society."
Knox joined the iSchool faculty in 2012. Her research interests include information access, intellectual freedom and censorship, the intersection of print culture and reading practices, and information ethics and policy. In addition to Beta Phi Mu, she serves on the boards of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) and National Coalition Against Censorship. Knox received her PhD from the doctoral program at the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information.