Julie Ancis Appointed Interim Chair of Dept. of Informatics in Ying Wu College of Computing

The Ying Wu College of Computing is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Julie Ancis, as interim chair of the department of Informatics, commencing December 1, 2021. Ancis joined the department this Fall from NJIT’s College of Science and Liberal Arts where she launched the new Cyberpsychology degree program. Her expertise at the intersection of psychology, diversity, computing, and technology will serve her well in her new role leading a department which deals with, among other topics, the interaction between technology and its uses and users. Ancis succeeds Dr. Frank Biocca, who served as chair since Fall 2018, and will be taking leave to pursue research opportunities abroad.

Prior to NJIT, Ancis served as associate vice president for Institute Diversity at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was affiliated with the School of Psychology. At Georgia Tech, she was PI and Co-PI of six million dollars in grant funding from the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Previously, she served as a tenured professor of psychology at Georgia State University.

Ancis was recently elected Fellow of the Society for Media Psychology and Technology within the American Psychological Association (APA). This is her third professional society fellowship in addition to awards within the Society for Counseling Psychology (APA) and the Society for the Psychology of Women (APA). She has held leadership roles in APA and other organizations, including serving as chair of APA’s Society of Counseling Psychology’s Section for the Advancement of Women, and has received a number of awards and honors, including Woman of the Year from that section and Georgia State University’s Outstanding Research Award.

Ancis works with other psychologists and computer scientists to evaluate the spread of misinformation and its impact on health behaviors. The ultimate goal is to develop culturally-informed data visualization approaches to encourage critical engagement with factual information as a way to enable adaptive behavior and disrupt the spread of misinformation. The methods are being applied to COVID vaccine hesitancy and beliefs.

Ancis has worked with Informatics faculty in the past on research and grant proposals. “We have an excellent faculty and a broad array of degree programs and specializations. I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, and students in the department to continue to foster excellence in research, scholarship, and teaching,” she said.

“My first order of business is to get to know the department better and hear our faculty’s thoughts and ideas on both short and long-term department needs and priorities. From there, we’ll work on leading an already impressive department to an even brighter future.”

Craig Gotsman, dean of Ying Wu College of Computing, added: “The department of Informatics, comprising our Information Systems and Information Technology tracks, has made significant progress over the past few years under the leadership of outgoing chair Dr. Frank Biocca. I’m confident we will get no less from Dr. Ancis. As we grow the college by adding new departments, programs and many more students and faculty in an era where computing and technology is more important than ever before, Julie will play a critical role in assuring that the Informatics department continues to be a key player in this enterprise.”