Kentaro Toyama named ACM fellow

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has named University of Michigan School of Information Professor Kentaro Toyama a 2023 fellow for his “contributions to the innovation and critique of digital technology for socio-economic development and social justice.” 

"It's a great honor to be named an ACM Fellow," Toyama says. "I'm grateful for the privilege offered to me at Microsoft Research and the University of Michigan School of Information, both of which offer a vibrant intellectual community and strong support for research that could have social impact. My students, interns, and mentees -- past and present -- deserve special mention, as they nudged me to learn new things and consider new perspectives."

The ACM Fellows program recognizes the top 1% of ACM Members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology. Fellows are nominated by their peers, with nominations reviewed by a distinguished selection committee.

“Computing’s most important advances are often the result of a collection of many individual contributions, which build upon and complement each other,” says ACM President Yannis Ioannidis. “But each individual contribution is an essential link in the chain. The ACM Fellows program is a way to recognize the women and men whose hard work and creativity happens inconspicuously but drives our field.” 

Toyama’s accomplishments in the field of computing are vast. He is best known for his pioneering role in the field of “information and communication technologies and development” (ICTD), a field which he helped found. ICTD explores how digital technologies can and cannot support global socio-economic development.

At UMSI, Toyama has dedicated his work to the field of social justice and digital technologies. Papers he has co-authored with his PhD students – on topics like support for micro-entrepreneurship in Detroit, undocumented U.S. immigrants’ relationships with technology, and critical race theory for human-computer interaction – have won multiple best paper awards and honorable mentions. 

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Learn more about W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community Information and Professor of Information Kentaro Toyama’s research areas, accomplishments and publications by visiting his UMSI faculty profile. 

— Noor Hindi, public relations representative