Rutgers LIS Department to Welcome Two Innovative Scholars to the Faculty in Fall 2026
The Department of Library and Information Science is pleased to welcome two new faculty members in Fall 2026: Jeanie Austin and Ece Gumusel.
Welcoming them, LIS Department Chair and Associate Professor of Library and Information Science Rebecca Reynolds said, “This year our department’s tenure-track hiring priorities centered on Librarianship, and Information Policy. We are so excited to welcome Jeanie Austin as our Librarianship hire, and Ece Gumusel as our Information Policy hire. Our department is so fortunate to have attracted such talented, innovative scholars whose research will augment expertise in key areas of development for the department. We can’t wait to warmly welcome our new colleagues to campus, and for our students, especially, to benefit very soon from their arrival. We are grateful to the SC&I Dean's office, and all LIS faculty for their active engagement and support in this important search.”
The Department of Library and Information Science has a distinguished record of research, education, and community outreach that spans many decades. A founding member of the iSchools organization, its highly ranked programs are recognized internationally.
Library and Information Science faculty members joining the department in fall 2026:
Assistant Professor Jeanie Austin
Austin (they/them/theirs) earned their Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their research interests and activities include the provision of library services to people in juvenile detentions, jails, and prisons. Austin primarily examines the complex political and social systems that surround this work.
A Jail and Reentry Services librarian with San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), Austin is also PI of SFPL’s “Expanding Information Access for Incarcerated People” project, which is generously funded by the Mellon Foundation.
Austin’s book, Library Services and Incarceration: Recognizing Barriers, Strengthening Access, covers the history of library services inside, philosophical approaches to library services for incarcerated people, and real-world examples of library and information programming in carceral facilities. It advocates for librarians to consider incarcerated people as part of the public served by libraries. It also critically interrogates the role of technologies within carceral facilities, with emphasis on the data gathering and algorithmic surveillance functions of these technologies.
Library Journal named Austin a 2022 Mover & Shaker for advocating for increased library and information services for people most negatively impacted by incarceration. They were also the project coordinator for Mix IT Up!, an IMLS-funded project that recruited traditionally underrepresented LIS students to work with youth of color and LGBTQIA youth in a variety of community settings.
A list of Austin's most recent publications and presentations is available here.
Assistant Professor Ece Gumusel
Ece Gumusel (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Gumusel’s research examines usable privacy and security within contextual, time-sensitive sociotechnical systems, focusing on human–organizational dynamics in the design, deployment, and regulatory compliance of emerging technologies. She employs mixed-method approaches to study this domain.
Gumusel received her Ph.D. in Information Science from Indiana University Bloomington. While earning her degree, she was a Senior Privacy Analyst (Program Coordinator) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and she also interned as a CSH Graduate Privacy Analyst & Engineer Research Intern at the MITRE Corporation & NIST NCCoE.
Gumusel also holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Technology Law from the University of Illinois College of Law, and an LL.B. (J.D. equivalent) from Baskent University Faculty of Law.
Learn more about the Department of Library and Information Science at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information on the website.
Images provided by Jeanie Austin and Ece Gumusel.
