Carleen Maitland named interim associate dean for research in the College of IST

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Carleen Maitland, professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), will serve as the college’s interim associate dean for research starting Aug. 1. The appointment comes as Andrea Tapia, current associate dean for research, transitions to serve as interim dean of IST.

“The College of IST is fortunate to have Dr. Maitland at the helm of our research,” Tapia said. “Her background in technical and social scientific disciplines — and her successes as a faculty member, researcher and leader — will enhance her impact on the strategic goals of the college and the University.”

In her new role, Maitland will support IST’s four primary research areas: data sciences and artificial intelligence; human-computer interaction; privacy and security; and social and organizational informatics.

“IST research ranges from purely fundamental to more applied forms, generating impact in the near term as well as far into the future,” Maitland said. “I am eager to help our world-class faculty and talented graduate students generate impact for Pennsylvania, the nation and global society.”

Maitland joined Penn State as an assistant professor in 2002. She was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor in 2009 and became a full professor in 2021. Maitland served as the College of IST’s interim associate dean for graduate and undergraduate studies in 2014 and 2015 and has been an affiliate faculty member in Penn State’s School of International Affairs since 2009.

Maitland received Penn State’s Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship, Technology Transfer and Economic Development in 2022, a Fulbright Global Scholar award in 2020, and the Penn State Award for Faculty Outreach in 2019.

From 2010 to 2012, Maitland represented Penn State as a program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF), splitting her time between the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. In 2012, she was awarded the NSF Director’s Award for Collaborative Integration.

Maitland’s research is focused on the use of information technologies in refugee crisis response. She has worked with refugee communities and aid organizations and conducted fieldwork in Jordan, Panama, Uganda and Rwanda. She also has served as a consultant to the United Nations (U.N.) Refugee Agency and the U.N. World Food Programme.

Outcomes from Maitland’s work have appeared in the Journal of Information Technology, The Information Society, Telecommunications Policy, and Information Systems Frontiers. She has received research support from NSF, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.N. agencies, among others.

“I look forward to leading and working with IST’s faculty in our core research domains,” Maitland said. “I will champion IST research within and beyond the University to create opportunities for our faculty and graduate students.”