Eight iSchool master's students have been named 2025-2026 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. Since 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program has assisted over 1,600 graduate-level students pursuing degrees in library and information studies through ALA-accredited programs. This year's scholars were selected based on their commitment to community building, leadership potential, and planned contributions to making social justice as part of everyday work in LIS. The highly competitive scholarship program received four times as many applications as there were available scholarships.

MSIM student Shravani Bhupal was honored for her internship performance at the 19th Annual Research Park Intern Awards ceremony on July 24. The University of Illinois' Research Park is home to over 120 companies and more than 800 interns. Bhupal, who served as an intern at COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab, received the Best Business Innovation Award for her work. 

PhD student Muhammad Hassan has been selected as an IAPP Westin Scholar Award honoree. The annual awards were created by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) to support students who are identified as future leaders in the field of privacy and data protection. 

iSchool faculty, staff, and students will present their research at DH2025, the annual conference of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO), which will take place on July 14–18 in Lisbon, Portugal. The digital humanities (DH) conference is the largest event of the international DH community and unites scholars from across the globe. 

PhD candidate Andrew Zalot successfully defended his dissertation, "'Tweet of the Town:' Synthesizing Local and Social Media Discourse on Book Bans," on July 3.

The Library of Congress announced the appointment of 37 undergraduate, graduate students, and recent graduates to its Junior Fellows Program, including seven students from the iSchool. 

The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the selection of MSLIS student Sarah Shuai Martin of Chicago, Illinois, as the 2025 recipient of the Mary V. Gaver Scholarship.

MSLIS student Fi Keane found their way to the iSchool after working in the children’s section of a bookstore. For the past academic year, they have served as the graduate assistant for Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, a peer-reviewed, open access, academic journal hosted by the iSchool’s Center for Children’s Books.

Doctoral candidate Smirity Kaushik successfully defended her dissertation, "Digital Trust, Safety, and Privacy in the Age of Emerging Technologies," on June 16. 

The School of Information Sciences recognized student award recipients at the iSchool Convocation on May 18. Awards are based on academic achievements as well as attributes that contribute to professional success. For more information about each award, including past recipients, visit the Student Awards page. Congratulations to this year's honorees!