UMSI awards & honors: April 2026

Faculty, staff and students of the University of Michigan School of Information regularly earn local and national recognition for their research, service and thought leadership. UMSI awards & honors is a monthly roundup celebrating achievements submitted by members of the UMSI community. Share your own good news or recognize a colleague at umsi.info/awards. 

Awards & honors

Megan Threats, assistant professor of information, has been named a 2026 Honored Instructor by Michigan Housing. The recognition goes to instructors who are nominated by undergraduate students for having a positive impact on their college journeys. 

Rebecca Frank, assistant professor of information, has been appointed 2026 vice chair of the Association for Information Science and Technology’s Publications Committee, which ensures the quality of ASIS&T publications. Frank was also elected to the National Digital Stewardship Alliance Coordinating Committee for a three-year term (2026-2028). The NDSA is a national body that provides leadership and guidance to libraries, archives, universities and nonprofit institutions working to ensure the long-term accessibility and authenticity of digital information. 

Nine UMSI students — Agnes Mar, Jessica Moon, Joey Jiayi Lu, Zhiyi Ji, Mustafa Ashfaq, Nkwachukwu Onwudiwe, Samantha Hastie, Sruthi Chatrathi and Tajrene Begum — were selected to attend the 2026 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, a leading forum on the increasing role of analytics in the global sports industry. The conference took place March 6-7 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Thought leadership

Devon Archer, assistant dean for organizational culture and community, presented on a panel at the 2026 iConference in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 31. The panel, titled “Reimagining hopeful futures: Embracing lessons and opportunities from equity, inclusion and belonging” explored the essential role of EIB initiatives in shaping research, teaching, administration and industry.

Rebecca Frank, assistant professor of information, and Jesse Johnston, clinical assistant professor of information, presented on a panel at the 2026 iConference on April 1. The panel, titled "Digital preservation: A critical vocabulary,” featured contributors from an upcoming MIT Press volume that Frank co-edited.  

Instructor Dan Klyn delivered a talk at Bowling Green State University on April 1 titled “What even is a question?” The presentation explored research findings around question-asking in information architecture. Klyn will also lead a walking workshop on architecture as a way of seeing at the Information Architecture Conference in Philadelphia on April 17.