Annie Searle joins iSchool faculty

As an internationally known expert in operational risk management and ethics of information, Annie Searle has a lot to offer students in the University of Washington Information School. Searle joins the iSchool as Lecturer in August.

Searle is very familiar with the iSchool. She has served as affiliate instructor since 2006 and developed two courses on information and operational risk that are now regular electives for the masters of science in information management (MSIM) program. She teaches those courses, as well as a course on policy, law and ethics in information management. 

“I love working with MSIM students, and, because of my own background feel a special connection with the mid-career students,” says Searle. “I place an emphasis on critical thinking, writing, speaking and executive-level presentation. These abilities, especially the ability to communicate clearly, are required for leadership in an increasingly complex and ambiguous workplace. All of my classes have a component called “real world,” providing both case studies and current events to discuss in the context of information and risk management frameworks.”

Searle is principal of Annie Searle & Associates LLC , where she writes and speaks on risk, and leads international research and the creation of risk roadmaps for a diverse range of companies, including those in the banking and finance, energy, public health, emergency management and telecommunications sectors. She writes a quarterly column for The Risk Universe, a British magazine.

She is the author of Advice From a Risk Detective (Tautegory Press, 2011) and editor of Reflections on Risk (Tautegory Press, 2012), a compilation of 22 research notes first published by the ASA Institute for Risk and Innovation. Searle published a second edition of Advice From a Risk Detective, with updated and expanded content, in 2013. Reflections on Risk II (Tautegory Press, 2014), a second volume of 26 research notes, was edited by MSIM graduate Emily Oxenford and a third volume from the institute is expected later this year. 

Since 2007, Searle has been a board member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation with special interests in advocacy, technology and access.