The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Rusch as a teaching assistant professor. He was most recently employed as an eLearning specialist in the College of Education, where he helped the college shift to emergency remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic and become one of the first units on the Urbana campus to completely transition to the Canvas Learning Management System.
As an adjunct lecturer for the iSchool, Rusch has taught courses on network information systems, sociotechnical information systems, and social aspects of information technology, which he will continue in his new position.
Through his additional appointment as a Disruption and Innovation Scholar in the Gies College of Business, he is exploring how blockchain technologies and Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) might be usable for blockchain-related research and translational work as well as helping to grow a cross-campus blockchain teaching network. According to Rusch, it was his experience studying online communities as an MS/LIS student at the iSchool that influenced his interest in blockchain technologies.
"While blockchains rely upon algorithms and technology to write the ledger, it is the user community who decides on how that technology is developed and used," he said.
Rusch holds a PhD in education policy, organization, and leadership from the University of Illinois. His dissertation examined the structure and efficacy of learning management systems.
"I'm excited to be coming back to the iSchool because of the strong community connections," said Rusch. "The School has grown a lot since I was a member of the master's program, and it's exciting to see the interdisciplinary collaboration that continues to grow along with it."