Ivan Allen College Selects Cassidy Sugimoto to Lead the School of Public Policy

Posted March 19, 2021

Cassidy Sugimoto has been selected to serve as the chair of the School of Public Policy in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts effective June 1, 2021.

Marilyn Brown, Regents’ and Brooks Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems, will continue to serve as interim chair until May 31, 2021. Effective immediately, Sugimoto will work closely with Brown to ensure a smooth transition of school leadership.

“I am confident that Dr. Sugimoto will advance the mission and goals of the School and the College as we envision the purpose and potential for humanities and social sciences at a technologically focused institution in the 21st century,” said Dean Kaye Husbands Fealing. 

Sugimoto is currently a professor of informatics and director of graduate studies in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research expertise is in the domains of science policy, scholarly communication, and scientometrics. She investigates the ways in which knowledge is produced, disseminated, and evaluated, with a particular interest in issues of diversity and inclusion.

She has edited and authored several books, the most recent of which—Measuring Research: What Everyone Needs to Know—is a primer for those new to scientometrics. Her publication record is extensive and varied—including venues such as Nature, The Lancet, eLife, Social Studies of Science, Science and Public Policy, Public Administration Review, and Science and Engineering Ethics. She regularly presents across the globe, and her work is covered by major press outlets including Science, The Atlantic, The Economist, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, and the International Development Research Centre, among other agencies.

Sugimoto is actively involved in teaching and service and has been recognized in these areas with an Indiana University Trustees Teaching award and a National Service Award from the Association for Information Science and Technology. She is currently serving as the president of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics and recently completed a two-year rotation at the National Science Foundation as the program director for the Science of Science program.

Sugimoto has an undergraduate degree in music performance, an M.S. in library science, and a Ph.D. in information science, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.