A founding faculty member of the School of Information (SI), Jeffrey MacKie-Mason, has been chosen to be its next dean, effective July 1 and pending formal approval by the Board of Regents.
MacKie-Mason is the Arthur W. Burks Collegiate Professor of Information and Computer Science. He also is associate dean for academic affairs at SI, as well as a professor in the Department of Economics and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Photo courtesy School of Information.
A Ford School alumnus who has been a Michigan faculty member since 1986, MacKie-Mason was among the visionaries who worked to design SI in the mid-1990s. The school was chartered in 1996.
“I’ve spent my entire professional career at Michigan,” MacKie-Mason says. “I care deeply about this institution, and especially its people. It may sound corny, but this opportunity to serve is personally moving.
“At SI, we have an innovative, daring faculty, and bold students. I look forward to the challenges of enabling them to exceed their already high ambitions.”
Highly regarded for his pioneering research on the economics of the Internet, MacKie-Mason’s recent work includes projects on spam reduction, peer-to-peer resource sharing, and incentives to increase information security. He teaches courses on incentive-centered design for information systems, the economics of information, information policy, human choice and learning, and antitrust.
“We are confident that Dr. MacKie-Mason will provide impressive leadership for the School of Information, strengthening the school’s international reputation of excellence in providing innovative education for the next generation of information professionals,” says Teresa Sullivan, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, who announced the appointment April 29.
MacKie-Mason’s appointment follows an internal process that was guided largely by input from SI faculty who overwhelmingly supported him as the next dean, says Provost-Designate Phil Hanlon, who will become provost on July 1 when Sullivan leaves to become president of the University of Virginia.
“Dr. MacKie-Mason is a respected scholar, educator and administrator and has the qualities needed to be a successful dean. I look forward to working with him in the years ahead,” Hanlon says.
MacKie-Mason replaces Martha Pollack, a professor in SI as well as in computer science and engineering, who served as dean since 2007. Pollack will become vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs. She replaces Hanlon.
