SYRACUSE, N.Y. — He was educated in the Capital Region and previously worked at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Andrew Sears will soon begin his time as dean of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool). Sears’ appointment, which was approved by the executive committee of the Syracuse University board of trustees, begins […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — He was educated in the Capital Region and previously worked at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Andrew Sears will soon begin his time as dean of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool).
Sears’ appointment, which was approved by the executive committee of the Syracuse University board of trustees, begins Aug. 1, per the school’s June 28 announcement.
He comes to Syracuse from Penn State University, where he has served as dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology since 2015, Syracuse University said in a news release.
“Through his leadership and scholarship, Andrew has brought renown to Penn State and garnered the respect of faculty and staff in structuring the college to support academic programs, experiential learning, student engagement and faculty success,” Gretchen Ritter, vice chancellor, provost, and chief academic officer, said in the release. “He is joining a dynamic academic enterprise at the iSchool with the depth of experience necessary to continue to move it forward and adapt to an exciting and rapidly evolving information age.”
Ritter expressed gratitude to David Seaman, dean of Syracuse University Libraries and University librarian, for serving as iSchool interim dean after Rajiv (Raj) Dewan concluded his deanship last year.
At Penn State, Sears leads a college that was founded in 1999 and is composed of 150 faculty and staff, offers 24 degree and certificate programs, and has more than 2,100 resident students statewide and nearly 1,500 students taking courses online through Penn State World Campus.
“I believe higher education exists to transform the lives of our students and to make the world a better place for everyone. We transform the lives of our students and their families through the education and experiences we provide, and we make the world a better place through our research, scholarship and outreach,” Sears said in the release. “The iSchool at Syracuse has a long and proud history of innovation and impact, and its mission of expanding human capabilities by connecting people, information and technology has never been more important. I am excited to work with the faculty and staff of the iSchool to continue changing the world for the better.”
Sears’ own research projects have addressed issues associated with mobile computing, health-information technologies, speech recognition and assessing an individual’s cognitive status via normal daily interactions with information technologies.
His research has been supported by various tech companies, government agencies, and foundations, including IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Verizon Foundation, Syracuse said.
Sears earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy and a Ph.D. in computer science with an emphasis on human-computer interaction from the University of Maryland. Prior to Penn State, he was professor and dean of the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse said.