Ron Eglash, whose vast and groundbreaking research has focused on fundamental questions about human nature and technology, will be joining the University of Michigan as professor of information at the School of Information and professor of art and design at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design. 

The appointment is effective September 1, 2018.

Eglash is a founding figure in the science and technology subfields of ethnocomputing and ethnomathematics. A primary career contribution has been the study of how culturally specific design themes are embedded in thought processes, particularly around computational thinking. 

In 2016 project, Eglash received a $2.5 million NSF grant to study the “Integration of Computational Thinking and Science Using Culturally Based Topics.”

Eglash received his PhD in the history of consciousness from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1992. He earned his bachelor of science degree in cybernetics in 1981 and a master of science in systems engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1983.

Since then, Eglash has held appointments at universities in California, Oregon, Ohio and in Africa, where he was a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the University of Dakar in Senegal. 

To join U-M, he is leaving his position as professor of science and technology studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. 

Eglash is one of six new faculty at UMSI this fall. He will be a strong addition to the UMSI team, says UMSI Dean Thomas A. Finholt. “The quality of UMSI is marked by the strength of the candidates we recruit to join our faculty. This year we are fortunate to welcome an outstanding cohort of new colleagues who will enhance our research and instructional missions.”

Eglash looks forward to this next chapter in his distinguished career. “I am thrilled to be joining UMSI,” he says, “with its fantastic combination of sophisticated information sciences and deep social inquiry.” 

- Sheryl James, UMSI PR Specialist