Professor Catherine Blake has been named associate dean for academic affairs. In this new role, she provides leadership and oversight for academic programs, including program development, curriculum coordination, and continuous improvement of educational experiences.

In honor of Professor Emerita Linda C. Smith's contributions to the field of library and information science (LIS), Anita S. Coleman and Martha Kyrillidou have coedited "Library and Information Science, Interdisciplinary Perspectives: A Festschrift in Honor of Linda C. Smith," which comprises Volume 71, Issue 1, of Library Trends. The journal is published quarterly by Johns Hopkins University Press and is available by subscription both in print and online in Project MUSE.

The American Library Association (ALA) will hold its 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago on June 22-27.

A project led by the Game Studies and Design program in Informatics is among the eleven proposals that were selected to receive funding through the University of Illinois Investment for Growth program. Since the program was created in 2018, the University has invested more than $78 million to provide seed funding for projects that generate revenue, advance the University's mission, and address areas of high and emerging student demand.

Sara Benson (MSLIS '17), affiliate associate professor at the iSchool, has been recognized with the Campus Excellence in Public Engagement Faculty & Staff - Emerging Award for her wide-ranging work in helping people understand the intricacies of copyright.

Assistant Professor JooYoung Seo has received a $5,000 grant from the nonprofit organization Teach Access to develop and implement a new accessibility module. Seo was one of 19 recipients nationwide who were awarded a faculty grant to infuse accessibility into curricula by creating "modules, presentations, exercises, or curriculum enhancements centered around the fundamental concepts and skills of accessible design and development." 

Library professionals have long held sacred the right of patrons to privacy while using library facilities, and the privilege is explicitly addressed in the American Library Association's Bill of Rights. The advent of the digital age, however, has complicated libraries' efforts to secure and protect privacy, Associate Professor Masooda Bashir has learned.

Associate Professor Jodi Schneider has been named a Senior Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the world's largest educational and scientific computing society. Senior Member status is bestowed on ACM members with at least ten years of professional experience and five years of professional membership who have demonstrated performance through technical leadership and technical or professional contributions. Schneider is one of 35 new Senior Members this quarter.

Associate Professor Jingrui He is developing computational tools to protect against leaks and/or unauthorized use of sensitive data held and distributed among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies and other parties. Her project, "Privacy-Preserving Analytics for Non-IID Data," has been awarded a three-year, $651,927 grant from the DHS Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE).

Associate Professor Dong Wang was recently named a Senior Member of IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The organization is the world's largest technical professional society and serves professionals involved in all aspects of the electrical, electronic, and computing fields and the related areas of science and technology.