Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science announced the appointment of David Mimno as chair of the Department of Information Science, effective January 1, 2024.
“I am delighted to welcome David as the next chair,” said Kavita Bala, dean of Cornell Bowers CIS. “His dedication to the department and expertise make him the ideal candidate to continue the exciting trajectory of our growing IS department. I look forward to working with him to advance the missions of the department and college.”
Mimno has been a valued member of Cornell’s faculty for nearly a decade and has made numerous positive contributions to the academic community. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and was previously the head programmer at the Perseus Project at Tufts University and a researcher at Princeton University. His machine learning research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation (NSF). In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and in 2017, the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.
“I got into machine learning research because I saw how transformational computation could be in giving people new ways to connect with the world,” said Mimno. “I joined Cornell’s Department of Information Science because I found a community of people who shared this vision of technology and society. As computation becomes ever more present in every aspect of our lives, with all the good and bad effects that it could have, I can't imagine a more exciting and important time to lead this department.”
Mimno succeeds David Williamson, professor in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, who has held the role since July 2021 and is extending his appointment until the end of the year.