2025 UMSI faculty awards recognize excellence
Thursday, 09/11/2025
By Noor HindiThree University of Michigan School of Information faculty members have received the school’s 2025 awards for excellence in community-engaged research, outstanding service and instruction.
Excellence in Instruction Award
UMSI associate professor Alain Cohn was honored with this year’s Excellence in Instruction Award. Cohn was recognized for his dedication to teaching, as evidenced by the high demand for his courses, and his meticulous preparation of materials for both the PhD in Information and Master of Applied Data Science programs, all of which underscore his significant contribution to student learning and development.
Michael D. Cohen Service Award
UMSI professor Tanya Rosenblat earned the Michael D. Cohen Service Award. This award honors the memory of Professor Emeritus Michael D. Cohen and recognizes commitment to the UMSI community and mission.
Rosenblat was recognized for her exemplary leadership as the Bachelor of Science in Information program director, where she successfully led curriculum redesign efforts to expand the program to three years, enhance user experience and information analysis paths and introduce a Human-Centered AI minor. She was also commended for her significant contributions to mentoring junior faculty at U-M and beyond.
Joan Durrance Community Engagement Award
UMSI professor Tiffany Veinot earned the Joan Durrance Community Engagement Award. The award recognizes excellence in building partnerships with communities to develop information-related projects that can lead to social change. It is named for Professor Emerita Joan Durrance, who was devoted to conducting research that helped underserved populations.
Veinot was honored for her pioneering research in health informatics and inequality. For many years, she has worked closely with communities — often, less privileged groups in North America — to identify the specific challenges they face, especially in contrast to those with access to excellent healthcare. In addition, through founding groups like the Health and Healthcare Equity Working Group at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), she has helped to institutionalize health equity informatics.
See the full list of previous honorees:
UMSI Excellence in Instruction Award