The University of Michigan School of Information welcomes six new faculty members this academic year. Read about their course offerings, backgrounds and expertise. 

Ben Green is joining UMSI as an assistant professor. He is also an assistant professor in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Previously, he was a postdoctoral scholar in the Michigan Society of Fellows and holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. In addition to his academic training, he spent a year working for the City of Boston as a data scientist, where he combined data and performance analysis to improve public services and civic engagement. 

Green will be teaching project-based classes in the Bachelor of Science in Information program, including SI 305 (Introduction to Information Analysis) in the fall and SI 485 (Information Analytics Project) in the winter. 

Stephanie Brenton is joining UMSI as a full-time lecturer III. She has been a UX leader, designer, researcher and developer for 20 years and has been teaching at UMSI as an intermittent lecturer since 2017. She will be teaching SI 612 (Pervasive Interaction Design) and SI 582 (Introduction to Interaction Design). 

Hanna Hoover is joining UMSI as a full-time lecturer III. She obtained her Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University in 2020 and has been a postdoctoral researcher at UMSI and Northeastern University. She will be teaching courses on the Theories of Social Influence, Math Methods II, Experimental Design and Analysis and Choice Architecture. 

Jim Rampton is joining UMSI as a full-time lecturer III. Previously he worked as a lead product designer at General Motors and taught automotive UX classes at UMSI as an intermittent lecturer. He will be teaching SI 311 (Introduction to Auto UX), SI 307 (Introduction to UX) with Eric Gilbert, SI 582 (Interaction Design) and SI 588 (Fundamentals of Human Behavior) with Laurie Buis. 

Ramiro Serrano is joining UMSI as a full-time lecturer III. Previously, he was a research associate at SEAS and was a professor in Colombia. He holds a PhD in Integrated Computing and Information Science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. For five years, Vergel worked for the Colombian government in the department of education, improving the quality of education using data analytics. Vergel will be teaching SI 405 (IA Capstone I), SI 559 (Introduction to AR/VR), SIADS 522 (Information Visualization I) and SIADS 622 (Information Visualization II). 

Jackie Wolf is joining UMSI as a full time lecturer III. She has been a UX designer and leader for more than a decade, and is a 2015 graduate of UMSI’s Master of Science in Information program. She will be teaching SI 539/339 (Web Development and Accessibility), SI 388 (Putting the H in HCI) and SI 582 Introduction to Interaction Design.