John L. King
Dean of the School of Information 2000-06
John L. King was the first dean of the School of Information to have been recruited to this position from outside the University of Michigan, coming from the University of California, Irvine.
King joined the U-M faculty as a professor and dean of UMSI in 2000. In 2006, he was appointed vice provost for academic information in the Office of the Provost, working with the university’s IT infrastructure, libraries and other knowledge assets. In 2009, he became the vice provost for strategy, working on new directions for the university. He returned to the UMSI faculty in September 2011. In 2014, he was the first director of the school’s new Bachelor of Science in Information program.
King received his BA in philosophy (1972) and his MS (1974) and PhD (1977) in management from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to coming to Michigan, he was a professor of information and computer science and management at UC Irvine, as well as a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Nanyang Technological University.
During his tenure as dean, King was instrumental in the formation of the iSchools organization, which has grown to more than 130 member institutions worldwide and hosts the annual iConference. King also co-chaired the influential President’s Information Revolution Commission, which provided a roadmap for the creation of U-M’s current information infrastructure. The doctoral program received a boost with the decision to admit larger PhD cohorts. Acknowledging that the school was outgrowing its home in West Hall, King was also able to have the school included in the plans for the future North Quad, where it moved in 2010.
His research focused on the relationship between technical change and social change, in particular on information technologies and social institutions. He conducted research in government, education, healthcare, transport, finance, electric power utilities and common carrier communications. He published 12 books and more than 150 papers from his research.
In recognition of his leadership in research and field development, he was named a fellow of the Association for Information Systems in 2005 and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2007. He was elevated to a Collegiate Professorship by U-M in 2008. He chose his title to honor William Warner Bishop, the first chair of the U-M Department of Library Science.
King’s contributions have also been recognized internationally. In 2005, he was named a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies by the Deutsche Fulbright Kommission, the German arm of the international Fulbright Scholars program. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in economics by the Copenhagen Business School.
In addition to university activity, King has been involved in a variety of projects. He was a member of a National Research Council project titled “Future Science Opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean” that took him to Antarctica in 2011.
On May 31, 2021, John L. King retired from active faculty status at U-M with the title of professor emeritus.