Kristina Intinarelli joined the iSchool as academic advisor and coordinator of graduate affairs on December 19. In this position, she will provide academic advising and support to students in the MS in library and information science program as well as develop and facilitate programs, workshops, orientations, and other resources for graduate students.

Isaac Wink worked at an immigration legal clinic following his undergraduate studies in history and public policy at the University of Chicago. Through his work with individuals applying for asylum in the United States, he discovered he enjoyed using his research skills to help people. Because of this, librarianship felt like a suitable career path.

Assistant Professor Jessie Chin and her team have received a $30,000 Arnold O. Beckman Research Award from the U of I Campus Research Board for their project, "Augmenting Health Self-Regulation across the Cancer Survivorship Continuum by Digital Phenotyping." The researchers will develop a model of how breast cancer survivors manage their health by passively tracking survivors' interactions with their personal digital devices to identify when assistance is needed. 

The staff at The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB) have announced the 2022 Blue Ribbons, their choices for the best of children's and young adult literature for the year. Blue Ribbons are chosen annually by BCCB reviewers and represent what they believe to be outstanding examples of fiction, nonfiction, and picture books for youth.

Diane Foote (MSLIS '06), former executive director of the Illinois Library Association (ILA), has been inducted as an Illinois Library Luminary. The Illinois Library Luminary program, an initiative of the ILA, recognizes those who have made a significant contribution to Illinois libraries.

Thirteen iSchool master's students were named 2022-2023 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Sanobar Chagani earned her bachelor's degree in political science and communications and rhetorical studies from Syracuse University.

The work of an iSchool team led by Visiting Research Scientist Chris Havlin and Assistant Professor Matthew Turk is at the center of a National Science Foundation (NSF) project to better understand the microphysical activities of rocks that affect the upper mantle of the Earth.

Jacob Hagman joined the iSchool as academic advisor and coordinator of graduate affairs on December 12. In this position, he will provide academic advising and support to students in the MS in information management and MS in bioinformatics degree programs.

A new book edited by Associate Professor Sarah Park Dahlen and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, associate professor in the University of Michigan's School of Education, has received a starred review from School Library Journal. In Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Justice, and Difference in the Wizarding World (University Press of Mississippi, 2022), Dahlen and Thomas examine how the original Wizarding World in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series depicts diverse identities, social subjectivities, and communities.

Dean and Professor Eunice E. Santos has been named a 2023 Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 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 related areas of science and technology.
This recognition, the highest grade of membership, is bestowed on fewer than 0.1 percent of voting members each year. It is given to eminent scholars and scientists whose outstanding accomplishments in engineering, science, and technology have shown significant value to society. Santos was honored "for leadership in computational social networks."