Department Chairs

CHAIR OF INFORMATION SCIENCE

Dr. Jiangping Chen

Dr. Jiangping Chen was appointed the Chair of the Department of Information Science at the University of North Texas in 2018. Dr. Chen currently serves as a professor in the department, teaching graduate courses on data modeling and information science research. She also supervises the department’s Graduate Academic Certificate in Digital Content Management. Dr. Chen graduated from Syracuse University in 2003 with Ph.D. in Information Transfer. She earned her B.S. from Wuhan University and M.S. from the Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Research interests include Digital Libraries, Information Retrieval and Access, Data Analysis & Data Science, and Information Systems Evaluation. Dr. Chen’s research has been continuously funded, and she has secured more than a million dollars in grants in recent years. She published a monograph on multilingual access and services for digital collections by Libraries Unlimited in 2016 and more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Library, one of the top international Information Science journals.

CHAIR OF LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES

Dr. Yunjo An

Dr. Yunjo An was selected to serve as the new Chair of the Learning Technologies Department on September 1, 2020. Dr. An previously served as an Associate Professor in the department. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington, and she has taught a variety of courses in Learning Technologies/Instructional Technology over the last 12 years. Dr. An’s research interests include digital game-based learning, gamification of learning, complex problem solving and learning in technology-enhanced learning environments, learner-centered technology integration, and teacher professional development.

CHAIR OF LINGUISTICS

Dr. Sadaf Munshi

Dr. Sadaf Munshi has worked at the University of North Texas for over 12 years and served as interim chair before being appointed chair in September 2019. As a Professor in Linguistics, Dr. Munshi teaches courses on a wide range of topics in historical and comparative linguistics, language contact, language documentation, phonology, grammatical analysis, and linguistic theory. Her research focuses on Indo-Aryan languages (e.g. Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Mankiyali, and Romani or “Gypsy” language) and Burushaski. She strives to facilitate an academic environment that fosters international engagement and cross-cultural collaborations and helps reinforce student abilities and talents. As department chair, she used her wisdom to advocate for students by finding collaborators for internships and future job opportunities. Dr. Munshi demonstrated the leadership experience needed for faculty and staff to thrive and students to succeed. Dr. Munshi finished her term as chair at the end of 2021, and a new chair, Dr. William Salmon, will take over the role.