Andrea Forte 
Dean, School of Information

Andrea Forte, PhD, is Professor of Information and Dean of the University of Michigan School of Information. Her scholarship focuses on understanding the wide-ranging features of online life. 

Forte joined UMSI in 2024 after leading the Department of Information Science in Drexel’s College of Computing and Informatics since 2021. Her main areas of research include human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, and social computing, privacy and education.

“A big part of what attracted me to University of Michigan School of Information is that it not only has outstanding faculty, students and staff, but also is an incredible community,” Forte said.

“The power of an engaged scholarly community like UMSI is unique. It’s inspiring. I’m excited to join such an amazing group, to build and strengthen UMSI’s relationships internally and with partner organizations, and to enhance our ability to have real and positive impact in the world.”

Forte began her academic career in 2010 as an assistant professor at Drexel. She was promoted over the years to associate professor, associate department head for graduate affairs, department head for information science, and professor.

She studies how people collaborate and share information online, and the possible threats and risks associated with doing so. Her research group develops new tools and theoretical understandings that can help build better, safer and more beneficial online experiences.

Forte has received more than $4.5 million in research funding, including a National Science Foundation Career award. Her most recent publications are co-authored works on privacy and social media, including “Accounting for Privacy Pluralism: Lessons and Strategies from Community-Based Privacy Groups” and “Disability Activism on Social Media: Sociotechnical Challenges in the Pursuit of Visibility.”

Forte was elected chair of the steering committee for the Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction Computer-Supported Cooperative Work community in 2020. In addition, she serves on the steering committee of the Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems.

She has received many accolades throughout her career, including being named the 2021 Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Member for outstanding scientific contributions to the field of computing.

She also received an Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems best paper honorable mention in 2020; Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work best paper honorable mentions in 2022, 2019 and 2017; and the OSS/OpenSym 2022 Distinguished Paper Award. Forte earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign language and literature, philosophy from Western Michigan University in 1996.

She earned her Master of Library and Information Science degree in 1998 from the School of Information at the University of Texas, followed by a PhD in human-centered computing in 2009 from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Qiaozhu Mei
Associate Dean for Research and Innovation

Qiaozhu Mei is professor of information and associate dean for research and innovation at the University of Michigan School of Information. He also holds a courtesy appointment as professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the U-M College of Engineering. At UMSI, Mei was the founding director of the school’s  Master of Applied Data Science program, one of the first fully-online degree programs at U-M. 

Mei’s research focuses on information retrieval and text mining, with applications in web, social media, scientific literature, bioinformatics and health informatics. He has a strong interest in machine learning, data mining, natural language processing and social network analysis. 

He has been honored with a University of Michigan Faculty Recognition Award, the UMSI Michael D. Cohen Outstanding Service Award and an NSF CAREER award. He was named an ACM distinguished member and has earned multiple best paper awards for his research. He received my PhD degree from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Bachelor's degree from Peking University.

Cliff Lampe
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Cliff Lampe is professor and associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Information. His research examines how the design of social media platforms is associated with both positive and negative social interactions. His work on social media has been heavily cited, and he’s advised corporations, non-profits, and government agencies on social media issues for many years. Lampe is also active in service in the area of human-computer interaction. He’s a distinguished member of the Association for Computing Machinery, and has served in many leadership roles for the Special Interest Group in Human-Computer Interaction, including as the general chair for their flagship conference. At the University of Michigan, Lampe has served in many service roles, including as director of the undergraduate program for the School of Information for the past several years. Lampe is committed to helping people use technology to create social good, and to have the university play a central role in civic, economic and social life.

Erin Krupka
Associate Dean for Faculty

Erin Krupka is the associate dean for faculty and associate professor of information at the School of Information. Krupka, who joined the faculty at UMSI in 2009, served as director of the doctoral program from 2019 to 2023, and was appointed adjunct administrator in the dean’s office in 2023. 

An experimental behavioral economist, Krupka’s research focuses on motivating individuals to engage in behaviors that benefit organizations and communities, as well as bringing about shifts in values and culture within these contexts. Her most significant impact has been to transform how social norms are studied, to create techniques for identifying when a norm is shared in a population, whether it is strong or weak, how and at what moment norm change has taken place, and charting the role that norms play in shaping behavior in contexts from political, to health, to work environments. During her time at UMSI, Krupka has secured funding from prestigious institutions such as the National Science Foundation, the Donaghue Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Krupka teaches in the areas of behavioral economics, organizational management and choice architecture. She has been honored with the UMSI's Teaching Award and the Honored Instructor Award from the University of Michigan Housing. She has also been nominated twice for the University of Michigan's Golden Apple Teaching Award. As associate dean for faculty, she is excited to work collaboratively to support, mentor, and advance faculty success and professional development.  

Devon Keen
Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Devon Keen serves as the assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Michigan School of Information. Keen provides leadership for the UMSI DEI Strategic Plan and the UMSI DEI Office, serves as a DEI Lead  and liaison to the University of Michigan Office of DEI, and founded the UMSI Community College Summer Institute in 2017. 

She holds a B.A. in Sociology and a graduate degree from the Center for the Study of Higher and Post-secondary Education at the University of Michigan. Keen specializes in higher education management and organizations with a diversity and social justice lens and brings over 20 years of experience at the university, where she has been committed to creating access and driving equity initiatives in education.

Prior to joining UMSI, she served as Assistant Director at the U-M African Studies Center where she co-developed the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars Program, fostering international collaboration. She is an honored recipient of the Washtenaw Community College Equity in Action award and a former CEW+ Jean W. Campbell scholar.

Scott Staelgraeve
Administrative Director

Scott Staelgraeve joined UMSI in 2013 as the school’s chief administrative officer and chief of staff. He directs overall strategic planning and implementation, policy and organizational development, and resource allocation for the school. Prior to coming to UMSI, he worked for nine years for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, where among other responsibilities, he was the general manager of the Upper Peninsula State Fair. Previous employers include Cabela’s and Ducks Unlimited. He holds a BS from Michigan State University and an MBA in finance from Baker College Center for Graduate Studies.

Michael Hess
Interim CIO and Director of IT Systems and Services

Michael Hess is interim CIO and director of IT systems and services and adjunct lecturer at UMSI. Hess has supported U-M faculty for more than 20 years. In this role and as app programmer/analyst lead for the Medical School, Hess leads teams that provide technical expertise to over 30 research projects in Michigan Medicine and the School of Information. He has participated in large scale roll outs of campus-wide technologies. Hess also serves as lead of the Drupal Security Team and in a consulting and development role for many other University of Michigan departments. He received his master’s degree in information from UMSI.