The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pleased to announce that Masooda Bashir will join the GSLIS faculty as an assistant professor on August 16, 2013. 

Bashir holds degrees in mathematics, computer science, and psychology and received her PhD in psychology from Purdue University. She worked for several years as a systems analyst, technical trainer, manager, and global manager for a number of corporations in Silicon Valley, including Lotus and IBM. Most recently, she was the assistant director for social trust initiatives in the Information Trust Institute (ITI) at the University of Illinois.

“We are very pleased to have Masooda joining us. Her research areas, which include privacy, trust, and security, focus on some of the most critical issues facing society in general, and information professionals in particular, today. And I am especially pleased that she will bring over a decade of workplace experience to the classroom,” said Allen Renear, interim dean and professor.

Bashir’s areas of expertise include the interface of psychological and social sciences with engineering systems and information technology. She guides and conducts ITI research from a social science and social trust perspective. In addition, Bashir has led multiple ITI educational initiatives, including the summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates internship program and the Illinois Cyber Security Scholarship Program.

“I am delighted to join the Graduate School of Library and Information Science and look forward to working with its distinguished faculty and staff and its world-class students to advance understanding of the social and psychological aspects of information technology and systems. As information technology continues to advance, the central importance of human and social aspects is becoming increasingly apparent, and GSLIS is the ideal place to study the complex issues at the nexus of the social sciences, information sciences and technology, and psychological sciences,” said Bashir.