Leadership and innovation within the iSchool are expressed in diverse ways, reflecting the variety of styles and cultures that are represented by our faculty and staff. The iSchool has a culture of distributed leadership, setting an expectation of innovation for all faculty and staff. Leaders motivate and inspire others, articulate and help establish vision, and accept responsibility for achieving iSchool goals and objectives.

As innovators, iSchool faculty and staff demonstrate their commitment to the vision and mission of the School by leveraging existing resources in new ways and acting on creative ideas. They substantially influence the discourse of their discipline or professional field, and are the agents of useful and beneficial change.

Designated Leaders

Certain individuals in the iSchool have specific areas of responsibility for which they are accountable in guiding the School (and in some cases, groups of other faculty/staff) toward achieving our shared goals and objectives. 

Dean, Anind Dey, establishes, articulates and leads the iSchool’s vision and mission; planning for the School's future development; accountable to the UW Provost for all matters relating to educational, budgetary, personnel and administrative matters of the iSchool.

Assistant Dean for Planning and Administration, Shelly Wolf, oversees financial, human resources and facilities management operations; guides the overall administration of the School and the development and implementation of strategic and resource allocation plans.

Assistant Dean for Advancement, Michele Norris, leads the iSchool in fundraising efforts, alumni relations, and external relations.

Associate Dean for Research, Carole Palmer, is responsible for the administration, program development, and quality assurance of iSchool research programs, and reports to the Dean regarding the state of the School’s research enterprise in terms of needs, strengths, and achievements. Represents the School's research programs in communication both internally and externally.

Associate Dean for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access & Sovereignty, Wanda Pratt, is responsible for developing, implementing and reporting on a holistic diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy for the iSchool and reports to the Dean regarding the state of the School’s DEI efforts in terms of needs, strengths, and achievements. Represents the School's DEI initiatives in communication both internally and externally.

Associate Dean for Academics, Matthew Saxton, is responsible for the administration, program development, and quality assurance of academic programs, and reports to the Dean regarding the state of the School's academic enterprise in terms of needs, strengths, and achievements. Represents the School's academic programs in communication both internally and externally.

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Joseph T. Tennis, leads all aspects of planning and administration related to faculty, including faculty human resources, faculty advancement, and supports the implementation of faculty-driven change. The associate dean coordinates faculty mentorship, works closely with the Elected Faculty Council, and other deans on collaborative initiatives. The associate dean reports to the dean.

Interim Chair of the Informatics Program, Joel Ross, guides the School's undergraduate program, including development of curriculum, recruitment and marketing, and employer engagement.

Chair of the Master of Library and Information Science Program, Michelle H. Martin, guides the development of the MLIS program (both online and residential), including curriculum, recruitment and marketing, directed field work, and employer engagement.

Interim Chair of the Master of Science in Information Management Program, Andrew Reifers oversees the MSIM program, including program administration, curriculum, planning, and course delivery in the residential learning mode.

Interim Deputy Chair of the Master of Science in Information Management Program, Heather Whiteman is responsible for operations of the online learning mode and serves as liaison to our external online learning partner.

Chair of the Doctoral Program, Alexis Hiniker, guides the School's doctoral program, including developing curriculum, providing direction for recruitment and admissions, and managing faculty and student issues and concerns.

Chair of the Elected Faculty Council, Chirag Shah, is elected by the Council from its membership and provides leadership in carrying out the priorities of the faculty established at the beginning of each academic year; brings recommendations to the EFC and to the Faculty on pertinent policy and procedure statements and revisions; oversees recommendations on merit reviews; recommends membership for iSchool committees; contributes to iSchool and UW leadership decisions; works with UW and iSchool administration, faculty and staff committees, and individuals as appropriate; plans agendas for and chairs faculty meetings and fall faculty retreat.

Director of Communications, Maggie Foote, creates the marketing and public relations strategy for the iSchool and promotes the work of faculty and students to the broader community and media.

Director for Academic Services, Cris Fowler, provides oversight and coordination of the iSchool's four academic programs and manages the curricular planning and teaching assignment processes, serves on the Academic Council, supervises time schedule coordination; oversees effective use of the Graduate Assistant Crew, and maintains the academic policies and procedures of the School.

Director for Research Administration, Cheryl Kalent, promotes and supports iSchool research, providing leadership for grants management.

Interim Director for Faculty Human Resources, Jane Tang, oversees payroll and human capital management functions of faculty and serves as a senior advisor to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and other iSchool leaders on matters of faculty code.

Director of Student Services, Wendie Phillips, provides leadership in the area of student services, including recruitment and admissions, academic advising, student retention and programming, and career services.

Director of the iAffiliates Program, Richard Sturman, works with strategic partners to create and execute meaningful engagement plans to guide their participation in the iSchool's intellectual community, recruitment of iSchool students, and investment that furthers iSchool academic program and research activities.

Director of Information Technology, Nicky West, leads the development, administration, and maintenance of the Information School’s internal information systems infrastructure through work with the Services and Collaboration team and the Development and Infrastructure teams.

Boards and Committees

Academics Council 

This council deliberates and implements actions to nurture, improve, plan, and maintain the intellectual rigor and professional relevancy of the curriculum and learning experiences across all academic programs. This group informs and engages the faculty in discussion relating to course content, pedagogy, and program planning. The Academics Council is composed of the program chairs and the director for academic services, and is convened by the associate dean for academics.

Elected Faculty Council (EFC)

This council advises the dean on matters of policy regarding faculty promotion and tenure, and on academic policy in general, including priorities, resource and salary allocation, and budgets (Sec. 23-45B). The EFC provides governance for the faculty of the Information School and is concerned with all domains of authority and duties of the iSchool faculty and the professional and personnel issues affecting the faculty. The EFC may act on behalf of iSchool faculty and is directly accountable to the faculty as a whole, from which it is elected. The EFC provides for: (1) oversight, coordination, and support of the activities of all Information School standing committees, and (2) election of the chair and members of the Elected Faculty Council and the chairs of the standing committees.

Founding Board 

This board fosters closer ties between the University of Washington Information School and industry. Founding board members are a select group of business and community leaders with high capacity who are committed to promoting the academic and research enterprise of the iSchool. The board offers strategic advice to the dean with a focus on building awareness and attracting resources to the School. The Founding Board leads fundraising initiatives on behalf of the School.

MLIS Advisory Board

This board fosters closer ties among the University of Washington Information School, its MLIS alumni, the community and industry. Advisory board members are a select group of individuals representing public librarianship, school librarianship, academic librarianship, governmental librarianship, corporate librarianship and law librarianship. Given their areas of expertise, they advise the MLIS program chair on matters vital to the relevance and growth of the MLIS program.

MSIM Advisory Board

This board fosters closer ties among the University of Washington Information School, its MSIM alumni and industry. Advisory board members are a select group of individuals, representing the business, government and non-profit sectors. Given their areas of expertise, they advise the MSIM program chair on matters vital to the relevance and growth of the MSIM program.

Informatics Advisory Board

This board fosters closer ties among the University of Washington Information School, its Informatics alumni and industry. Advisory board members are a select group of individuals representing some of the Puget Sound’s leading companies. Given their areas of expertise, they advise the Informatics program chair on matters vital to the strategic growth of the Informatics program.

Student Leadership Council (SLC)

This board serves as an advisory council to the dean and other iSchool administration. It is comprised of two representatives from each of the Information School’s degree program student organizations (AIMS, ALIS, DSA and IUGA). In addition to providing input to the dean, the council oversees the process of assigning student representatives to iSchool committees as well as a small budget to allocate to clubs planning all iSchool activities. As needed, the council may ask other iSchool students to participate in meetings and discussions in order to get additional input.

Leadership Cabinet

The Leadership Cabinet (LC) is composed of the leaders of the various operational units of the School, our program chairs, EFC chair and Deans. This group has two primary functions related to the implementation of the strategic plan and advancing the mission of the School: advising, problem-solving and decision making; and leadership support, development, and mentoring. The LC engages in discussions related to the challenges and rewards of leadership and the effective coordination of the various functions of the iSchool.