Provost Andreas C. Cangellaris has announced the appointment of Dr. Eunice E. Santos as dean of the School of Information Sciences, effective August 16, 2019, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Santos currently serves as the Ron Hochsprung Endowed Chair and Professor, and department chair of computer science, at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

The iSchool at Illinois seeks nominations for the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award. The deadline for nominations is October 5, 2019. Given annually, the award acknowledges individuals or groups who have furthered the cause of intellectual freedom, particularly as it impacts libraries and information centers and the dissemination of ideas. 

Five master's students have been named 2019-2020 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program promotes diversity among graduate-level students pursuing degrees in library and information studies through ALA-accredited programs.

After more than forty years of dedicated service, Professor and Executive Associate Dean Linda C. Smith will retire from the School of Information Sciences at the end of June. A renowned leader in the LIS field, Smith is the recipient of numerous honors, including ALISE awards for her teaching, service, and contributions to LIS education; the ASIS&T Award of Merit as well as Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award; recognition as a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to LIS education; and most recently, recognition as an Illinois Library Luminary.

Dean Allen Renear presented Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden with her honorary degree at the University of Illinois Commencement on May 11, 2019. Below are his remarks and the video from commencement.

Dustin Janes, office administrator at the iSchool, worked at a bagel factory before joining the University of Illinois in 2012. He joined the School in 2019.

Starting this weekend, the University of Illinois will host the 2019 ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL), a major international forum focusing on digital libraries and associated technical, practical, and social issues. The conference will be held from June 2-6 at the iHotel and Conference Center in Champaign. In addition to the University, cosponsors of JCDL include the iSchool and University Library.

The iSchool is pleased to announce the establishment of its first endowed professorship, the Mildred M. Luther and Kathryn Luther Henderson Professorship in Preservation and Technical Services. The professorship was established through the generosity of Mildred Luther (1926-2017), a loyal Illinois employee and alumna with a special family connection to the School.

In August 2019, the iSchool will welcome Sharon L. Comstock (PhD '12) as a senior lecturer and Inkyung Choi as a lecturer.

The iSchool is pleased to announce the appointment of new directors for its master's degree programs. Associate Professor Maria Bonn will serve as program director for the MS in library and information science (MS/LIS), and Associate Professor Catherine Blake will serve as program director for the MS in information management (MS/IM). They will begin their three-year terms on May 16.