Sixteen iSchool instructors were named in the University's List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Fall 2019. The rankings are released every semester, and results are based on the Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms maintained by Measurement and Evaluation in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. Only those instructors who gave out ICES forms during the semester and who released their data for publication are included in the list.

Our School is grateful for talented and dedicated staff, who contribute greatly to our teaching and research excellence. This "Get to Know" series highlights our staff, sharing their friendly faces and stories of professional success. 

Tony Torres joined the School on March 5 as academic advisor and coordinator of undergraduate affairs. His duties include advising and supporting BS/IS students as well as managing student engagement, support, and outreach for the undergraduate program. He comes to the School from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, where he served for four years as an admissions counselor.

Moises Orozco Villicaña, director of enrollment management at the iSchool, has been selected to receive the 2020 Future Leader Award from the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management (NAGAP). The award is presented annually to individuals who have "clearly exhibited leadership qualities and an enthusiasm for the graduate enrollment management (GEM) profession that distinguishes them as a rising leader in NAGAP and the field."

Professor Emerita Linda C. Smith has returned to the iSchool on a part-time basis as interim executive associate dean for faculty affairs. In this role, she will provide leadership for iSchool faculty affairs and administrative oversight for the work of the School's associate deans.

Glen Worthey is the new associate director for research support services in the HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC), a collaboration between the University of Illinois, Indiana University, and the HathiTrust to enable advanced computational access to text found in the HathiTrust Digital Library. He will be based at the iSchool at Illinois.

Associate Professor Emily Knox has been named interim associate dean for academic affairs for the iSchool. In this role, she will provide leadership and oversight for academic programs, including program development, curriculum coordination, and continuous improvement of educational experiences. Knox most recently served as the School's first program director for the new BS/IS degree. Associate Professor Kate McDowell, who previously held the position of interim associate dean for academic affairs, stepped down to return to her teaching and research.

Whitney McComas joined the iSchool on January 8 as an instructional technology support specialist. She comes to the School from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where she worked as the Moodle service manager and an educational technology specialist for Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts and Sciences (ATLAS). 

The University Library's Diversity Committee and the iSchool's Diversity Committee are recipients of a Strategic Programs Initiative Funds grant to support programs on "Becoming a Trans Inclusive Library."

For more than a century, the iSchool has been, and continues to be, a top-tier school for preparing leaders for the library and information professions. Now the iSchool is pleased to announce the establishment of a new endowed professorship, the Professorship in the History of Libraries and the Information Professions. The professorship was spearheaded by Laurel A. Grotzinger (MS '58, PhD '64), who passed away in 2017; Don (PhD '72) and Avis Davis; and Mark (PhD '83) and Barbara Tucker.