iNSIGHTS 2026 Cover
Information is everything.
A publication of
The School of Information
at The University of Texas at Austin
Volume Seven
iNSIGHTS 2026
The Future of
Accessibility is Here
Human-Centered
Forward-Looking
iSchool Ph.D. student Jaxsen Day is pushing the boundaries of accessible technology
PLUS
Scholarship making a positive impact, in Texas and beyond
Librarianship in the age of AI
Image Descriptions
- Cover photo of iSchool Ph.D. student Jaxsen Day seated in a wheelchair, wearing a black turtleneck and blue checked sport coat, smiling in a lab-like workspace.
From the Dean and Stay Connected
FROM THE DEAN
A PIVOTAL YEAR AT THE iSCHOOL
KEN FLEISCHMANN
Interim Dean | Chair Designate
As I look ahead to my first full academic year as leader of the iSchool, I am filled with gratitude and hope. For a discussion on why I am so excited for the iSchool’s future within the new School of Computing, see p.20 of this magazine, “A Bright Future Ahead.” First, though, I want to take a moment to celebrate another banner year of accomplishments and milestones for our faculty, students, and alumni. In 2026, we continue to excel and lead at what we do, and the world is taking notice!
In this issue, you’ll read about iSchool faculty members who are working with the public sector on transformative technologies, alumni who are winning awards for library leadership and making an impact at some of the world’s most consequential companies, and students who will be the research and industry leaders of tomorrow. You’ll also learn how the iSchool is incubating exciting new academic programs and turning into a national center for accessible tech.
This year, three iSchool faculty members – Angela D.R. Smith, Earl Huff, Jr. and Ying Ding – received seed grants from Good Systems: Ethical AI at UT-Austin to pursue projects at the convergence of AI design, human values and societal need. Also this year, Min Kyung Lee won a grant from the Ford Foundation and the Omidyar Network to identify the relationship between companies’ responsible AI practices and their financial outcomes, and Hanlin Li received a Wikimedia grant to help memory institutions share data online. Andrew Dillon’s work on the website of the Texas Retirement Systems won a Category Excellence recognition from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Min Kyung Lee was recommended for tenure and promotion to associate professor, and Sarah Norris was recommended for promotion to associate professor of practice. Congrats! We were also excited to hire Chan Young Park and Jiaxin Pei to join the iSchool Faculty in Fall 2026, growing our expertise in large language models and artificial intelligence, and joining new 2025 faculty Ryan Moore and David Widder.
In March 2026, we helped host the Texas Symposium on Machine Learning, Responsible AI & Robotics, where I was honored to speak alongside Ying Ding, Matt Lease and Bo Xie. iSchool faculty and Ph.D. students were a major presence at conferences throughout the year, including the iConference; the 2026 ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR), where Soo Young Rieh and Yujin Choi won awards; the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Conference, where Yan Zhang, Jiaxin An and Akhil Adavi won awards; and the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW), where Angie Zhang, Min Kyung Lee, Lee Kravchenko and Marshanah Taylor received special recognition.
At this spring’s Research Showcase, we were all impressed by the depth and breadth of work underway at the iSchool. Everywhere we look, there is exciting activity – grants and awards being won, new research making an impact, important new voices joining our faculty and guest forums, and alumni building careers and making important contributions. It is my honor to collaborate together on writing the iSchool’s next chapter.
ON THE COVER
School of Information
Ph.D. student Jaxsen Day.
Photo by Sasha Haagensen.
© The University of Texas at Austin 2024
Image Descriptions
- Headshot of Ken Fleischmann, a white man with a white beard and glasses, smiling in a black jacket against a neutral background.
- Ken Fleischmann's handwritten signature.
- Small cover photo of Jaxsen Day seated in a wheelchair, wearing a blue checked sport coat and smiling.
STAY CONNECTED
www.ischool.utexas.edu info@ischool.utexas.edu
P: 512-471-3821 F: 512-471-3971
iSchool – Guadalupe Location UT Administration Building (UTA) 1616 Guadalupe St, Suite #5.202 Austin, Texas 78701-1213
iSchool – West Mall Location Flawn Academic Center 2304 Whitis Ave, Suite #18, Austin, Texas 78712
Mail Code: D8600
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Stay informed:
scan the QR code to update your contact information
Image Descriptions
- QR code for updating contact information with the School of Information.
Contents
© The University of Texas at Austin 2024
CONTENTS
2026
EDITORIAL TEAM:
ALEX GUTERBOCK, DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST • MICHAEL AGRESTA, WRITER • SHANNON HICKSON, DIRECTOR OF
DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION:
SOUTHERN COMBUSTION CREATIVE/ ANNE-CHARLOTTE PATTERSON
PHOTOGRAPHY:
SASHA HAAGENSEN
Human-Centered
Forward-Looking
Using tech & expertise to
serve the public interest | p. 4
iSchool Alumni Garner
Librarian Awards
State and national honors bestowed on alumni | p. 10
2 Program Highlights
Texas Cybersecurity Clinic & iSchool Research Institute for StoryArc Exploration
12 The Future of Accessibility is Here!
iSchoolers pioneer inclusive technologies
17 Student Capstone Projects 18 iSchool Alumni
Finding success at IBM & Amazon
20 A Bright Future Ahead
What’s next for the iSchool
22 Humans in the Loop
A new book by Professor David Lankes explores librarianship in the age of AI
24 Collaborating for Impact
School of Information Research Partners
Image Descriptions
- Contents-page image of a woman in a royal blue shirt standing in a library display area with books and colorful displays behind her.
- Contents-page image of two people seated at a computer workstation in a bright office.