This spring, The iSchool at Drexel welcomes its newest full-time faculty members, Dr. Andrea Forte and Dr. Deborah Turner, both of whom are joining the College as Assistant Professors. 

Andrea Forte, Ph.D.

Andrea Forte holds a PhD in Human-Centered Computing from Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Interactive Computing, and an MLIS from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Forte's professional experience includes human-computer interaction design and managing special library collections.

Dr. Forte's main research interests involve new processes of information production that are enabled by participatory media and the people and organizations who participate. Her work addresses questions that span human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, online communities, and learning sciences. 

"I got interested in these questions because, like more and more people, I have had significant life experiences in computer-mediated forums." Dr. Forte says. "People work, play, think, love, hope, terrorize, bully, learn, and create using computers. To me, that's fascinating."

She teaches in the areas of social computing and HCI. 

Deborah Turner, Ph.D.

Deborah Turner holds a PhD from the Information School at the University of Washington and a master's from the University of Michigan. Before coming to Drexel, she facilitated academic library management workshops to international and national audiences as a part of the Association of Research Libraries. Dr. Turner also worked in special libraries, manuscript collections, reference departments at various institutions including several years as a librarian and manager at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"I became interested in information science when I realized the tremendous impact that getting the right information at the right time can have on one's quality of life," she says.

Dr. Turner's major teaching and research interests are management of information institutions and information interaction, especially those that involve talking. Her research on oral documents has received support from the Fulbright Association-for conducting research while onsite at the University of Tampere, Finland-and a 2009 Highly Commended Award from the Emerald/EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards in the Information Science category.


Founded in 1892, The iSchool at Drexel educates students in information science and technology at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels and features Drexel University's Cooperative Education program. The College's mission is empowering society by uniting people, technology, and knowledge through innovative education and research. The iSchool at Drexel is a founding member of the iSchool Caucus of 21 prominent colleges dedicated to immersing students in the iField - connecting people, information and technology. For more information visit www.ischool.drexel.edu