11 UMSI faculty promotions receive Board of Regents approval

11 University of Michigan School of Information faculty promotions were approved at the May 15, 2025 meeting of the University of Michigan Board of Regents and will go into effect on August 25. 

Read about their research and service accomplishments below: 

Eytan Adar joined the UMSI faculty in 2009 as an assistant professor. During his time at UMSI, Adar has taught courses in information visualization and human-computer interaction. His research is interdisciplinary in nature and bridges fields including physics, psychology, economics and learning sciences. Adar was promoted to professor, with tenure, at UMSI and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, without tenure, at the College of Engineering. 

Nazanin Andalibi joined the UMSI faculty in 2018 as a presidential research fellow. Her research interests are in social computing and human-computer interaction. Her National Science Foundation Career grant examines the ethical, privacy and justice implications of emotion AI technologies in high stakes contexts. She is also affiliated with the Center for Social Media Responsibility, the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing and the Digital Studies Institute. Andalibi teaches courses in algorithms and online communities. She was promoted to associate professor, with tenure, at UMSI. 

Robin Brewer joined the UMSI faculty in 2017 as a presidential research fellow. Since joining UMSI, Brewer has done extensive research on building and studying digital systems to better support older adults , disabled people and caregivers. Brewer is a highly decorated researcher, having received the Anita Borg Early Career Award, Brilliant 10 from Popular Science, and the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School’s Henry Russel Award in the last two years. She was promoted to associate professor, with tenure. 

Paramveer Dhillon joined the UMSI faculty in 2019 as an assistant professor. His research interests include machine learning, artificial intelligence and information systems.  He specializes in the development and application of machine learning techniques to address challenges in the field. At UMSI, Dhillon teaches in the Master of Applied Data Science program, as well as the Master of Science in Information program. Dhillon was promoted to associate professor, with tenure. 

Tawanna Dillahunt joined the UMSI faculty in 2013 as a presidential research fellow. Her research is focused on employment and entrepreneurship and how digital tools and platforms can support job searching and entrepreneurship for workers, especially low-income workers. At UMSI, Dillahunt teaches courses in user experience and design, interactive design and research methods for historically excluded populations. Dillahunt was promoted to professor, with tenure. 

Oliver Haimson joined the UMSI faculty in 2018 as a presidential postdoctoral fellow and was promoted to assistant professor in 2019. Haimson’s research advances the fields of transgender technology studies and social computing, with notable contributions to information science, communication and media studies, and health informatics. The core of his scholarly work revolves around conceptualizing and designing technologies that respect the needs of transgender individuals, offering ways to better support them with sociotechnical systems, and developing equitable content moderation systems on social media platforms to support marginalized communities. At UMSI, Haimson teaches courses in social media, online communities and gender, sexuality and technology. Haimson was promoted to associate professor, with tenure at UMSI, and associate professor of digital studies, without tenure, at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. 

Predrag Klasnja joined the UMSI faculty in 2012 as an assistant professor. His research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction and health informatics. He studies how technology can help people to better manage their health and effectively communicate with their healthcare providers. At UMSI, he primarily teaches a course on designing consumer health technologies. Kasnja was promoted to professor, with tenure. 

Silvia Lindtner joined the UMSI faculty in 2014 as an assistant professor. Lindtner has conducted almost two decades of fieldwork in China, advancing the social and cultural study of technology. At UMSI, Lindtner teaches courses in qualitative research methods, and emphasizes interdisciplinary learning from fields like feminist studies, anthropology, design and science and technology studies. Lindtner was promoted to professor, with tenure, at UMSI; professor of digital studies, without tenure, at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts;and professor of art and design, without tenure at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design.

Gabriela Marcu joined the UMSI faculty in 2018 as an assistant professor. Her research focuses on the development and evaluation of technologies to support behavioral and mental health, with the special emphasis on tools that can support marginalized communities, as well as individuals and communities who have experienced trauma. At UMSI, she teaches courses in applied clinical informatics and usability evaluation. Marcu was promoted to associate professor, with tenure. 

Mustafa Naseem joined the UMSI faculty in 2018 as a clinical assistant professor. Naseem’s research is focused on designing technologies that enable behavior change among men in patriarchal countries with a goal to improve the health of women and children in low-income communities. His projects have impacted tens of thousands of lives in Punjab, Pakistan, and his work has been been supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), among others. Naseem was promoted to clinical associate professor, without tenure. 

Joyojeet Pal joined the UMSI faculty in 2011 as an assistant professor. His research focuses on the understanding of Indian politics and celebrity through social media discourse. He has emerged as a leading scholar in this area, recognized for his innovative approach to the measurement of difficult-to-quantify political behavior and for interpreting political trends through mixed methods. His work has made unique contributions to understanding the interplay between politics and social media in general, especially as it occurs in India. Pal was promoted to professor, with tenure. 

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