The seven Ph.D. graduates from the School of Information’s class of 2012 are a record for the school, representing the most doctoral degrees awarded in one year since the school opened its doors in 1997.
While job placements are challenging for Ph.D. graduates around the country, the 2012 I School Ph.D. graduates received job offers from top-tier programs and institutions, and several received multiple top-tier offers.
The seven are now starting their careers in distinguished university departments, companies, and research organizations across the country and around the world.
Josh Blumenstock
University of Washington
School of Information
Josh Blumenstock will be joining the University of Washington School of Information as an assistant professor. Blumenstock’s research combines methods from computer science and development economics to better understand the economic and social impacts of information and communication technologies in developing countries. In addition to his Ph.D. from the School of Information, Blumenstock recently completed a joint master’s degree in economics, with a focus on development economics and political economics.
Melissa Densmore
Microsoft Research India
Melissa Densmore will be a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research in Bangalore, India. Densmore’s research focuses on using information and communication technologies in international development (ICTD). Her dissertation research studied the use of mobile devices for information management in the Uganda Output Based Aid health project in Mbarara, Uganda.
Megan Finn
Microsoft Research New England
Megan Finn will be joining the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England as a postdoctoral researcher. The Social Media Collective is a team of social scientists and humanists, founded by I School alumna Dr. danah boyd, who use qualitative methods like ethnography and content analysis to study a broad range of online technologies, including social network sites, video games, blogs, online culture, mobile devices, news and activism, and more.
Dan Perkel
Design researcher, IDEO
Dan Perkel will be working as a design researcher at IDEO, an award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered, design-based approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow. As a design researcher Perkel will be using his skills in user experience research, ethnography, and design research to help organizations design new products, concepts, and strategies.
Daniela Rosner
University of Washington
Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering
Daniela Rosner will be an assistant professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington. Rosner’s research brings together her broad training in design, computing, and social science to inform design for creative and sustainable practices by studying how people make, maintain, and repair material in a digital age.
Christo Sims
UC San Diego
Department of Communication
Christo Sims will be joining the Communication Department at UC San Diego. Sims studies the relationships between digital media and the production of privilege among today’s children and youth. He was a graduate researcher for the Digital Youth Project and a co-author of the book Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media.
Janaki Srinivasan
Researcher
UC Berkeley School of Information
Janaki Srinivasan will be co-leading a research project on the work practices of fisherfolk in Kerala, India and how they integrate mobile phones in their work, along with I School assistant professor Jenna Burrell and Richa Kumar of IIT Delhi.