This year’s Information School Alumni Impact Awards honor two graduates whose work pursues different forms of equity, one through her research and one by changing the ways research is disseminated.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Eun Kyoung Choe, Ph.D. ’14, is an associate professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies. Working at the intersection of human-computer interaction and health informatics, she creates accessible health technologies for marginalized populations.

Choe’s research started with sleep tracking. Her dissertation at the iSchool focused on understanding why some people sleep well and finding ways to help those who sleep poorly. As her career has progressed, she has branched out into research areas such as exercise for older adults, digital well-being, and designing health tools that are more accessible to marginalized users such as stroke survivors and older adults.

For example, she said, wearable devices might work well for a typical “mainstream” user, often characterized as young and fit, but their data and insights might be compromised when used by individuals with reduced mobility, such as those who walk slowly or use a walker or a wheelchair.

“These health technologies are for the general public — individuals from all walks of life — so you have to think about how to make them accessible to all, but especially to those who need them the most,” she said. “We are questioning how these mainstream devices are currently designed and what we need to do to make them more accessible.”

Choe served as her college’s Ph.D. program director from 2020-2023. While at the iSchool, she was co-advised by Julie Kientz, who is now a professor and chair of the UW’s Human Centered Design & Engineering department, and Wanda Pratt, a professor in the iSchool. She credits them with shaping her as a researcher and mentor.

“They turned me from a naïve graduate student to an independent researcher,” she said. “I feel so fortunate to have been Julie’s first Ph.D. student, observing what it takes to be a successful researcher from such close proximity. And Wanda is the most kind and genuine person, who gave me really frank, direct feedback in the nicest way possible. I always think of her as my model when giving feedback to students.”

Given annually, the iSchool Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have made significant and exceptional contributions to the information field and their communities. Meanwhile, the Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award celebrates the accomplishments of recent graduates.

GOLD Award recipient Ashley Farley, MLIS ’17, has become a leading voice for open access to scholarly work. As the program officer of knowledge and research services at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Farley advocates for open access to published research and works to ensure that scholars adhere to the foundation’s policy of providing unrestricted access to all the research it funds.

Gates Foundation-funded research is only a tiny fraction of the 3 million scholarly articles published globally each year, but as a major funder, its open-access policies can have an outsized effect on publishing.

“We’re trying to shift toward a much more equitable system,” she said. “That’s a very small drop in the bucket and we’re not the only funder paying for things, but it’s amazing to see the global audience and influence.”

Farley has embraced the role of spokesperson for the foundation on open-access issues, discussing the policy recently in outlets such as Science magazine and Nature News.

“I’m constantly giving talks and presentations, both in an advocacy and educational role on what the policy changes are,” she said. “I’m passionate about the topic. I love talking about it.”

Farley was an online MLIS student while living in Seattle, which she said gave her the ability to make personal connections while juggling jobs and coursework. A particularly meaningful experience was Capstone, where she worked with Associate Professor Jevin West and the iSchool DataLab on a project aimed at connecting researchers with open-access publications’ pricing data. At the same time, she was working at the Gates Foundation in a role that started as an internship she found through her UW connections.

“It was good to have the attitude of taking every opportunity that the iSchool offered,” she said. “The networking of the iSchool has been absolutely critical.”