The School of Information (iSchool) at Kent State University is pleased to announce the promotion of three faculty to associate professor with tenure: Assistant Professor Marianne Martens (MLIS program), Assistant Professor Rebecca Meehan (M.S. Health Informatics program), and Assistant Professor Catherine L. Smith (MLIS program). Their new appointments will be effective August 18, 2018.
Marianne Martens, Ph.D., an iSchool faculty member since 2012, teaches courses in the area of youth services librarianship. Her research connects children’s librarianship and publishing, and stretches from historical perspectives on the interconnected-fields, to contemporary studies of how books paired with technology are changing the reading experience for young people. Before coming to iSchool, Martens taught at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, while pursuing her Ph.D. in library and information science. Previously, she served as the Carole Barham Scholar at The Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) at Rutgers, and worked as a children's librarian in New Jersey. Prior to her academic career, Martens was vice president of a small, international publishing company called North-South Books in New York. Martens is fluent in English, Danish, German, Spanish and French, and has translated more than 100 children’s books into English. She is currently working on a book for Palgrave Macmillan called Publishers, Readers and Digital Engagement: Participatory Forums and Young Adult Publishing. You can read more about her work at mariannemartens.org.
Rebecca Meehan, Ph.D., came to the iSchool in 2012, bringing an extensive background in research related to health care and health informatics, particularly focused on aging services technology and clinical analytics. Her interests center on optimizing health outcomes and the doctor-patient relationship by improving the user experience of health technology. Since 2004 she has operated Meehan Group, LLC, providing consultation services in health informatics research, user experience and educational material with a focus on health care, long-term care and technology. Her previous experience also includes senior research roles with Intuit, Inc., in Highland Hills, Ohio, as well as Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Department of Sociology. She also has served as senior research scientist at Myers Research Institute of Menorah Park Center for Senior Living in Beachwood, Ohio, and senior research associate at Innovative Designs in Environments for an Aging Society (I.D.E.A.S., Inc.), in Kirtland, Ohio. Meehan holds a B.S. in biology from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind.; a master’s in sociology from CWRU; and a Ph.D. in sociology, also from CWRU, with concentrations in medical sociology and gerontology.
Catherine L. Smith, Ph.D., joined the SLIS faculty in 2010. Previously she had been a post-doctoral researcher associate at Rutgers University, working as co-PI with Dr. Nina Wacholder on a study funded by a Google Research Award. She completed her Ph.D. in Information Science at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information; she also received a Certificate in Cognitive Science from the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, an MBA from Simmons College, Boston, and a B.A. from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Her research bridges information retrieval and human-computer interaction, centering on the psychology of interactive search and the design of adaptive search systems. She received a Google Research Award for the study of search expertise, and she continues this work, focusing on the design of systems that help users gain information literacy. Smith designed, developed and launched the International Documentary Library Service, a database-driven digital library for documentary film, television and radio. Her experience also includes management in various capacities in banking and investment services, including systems, operations, marketing, and business strategy, for BankBoston. You can read more about Cathy’s work at catherinelsmith.com.