Carolina’s School of Data and Information Sciences launches
In a campus message, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Magnus Egerstedt celebrated the “critical milestone” as the University builds on strengths in information, library and data sciences.
Dear Carolina Community,
I’m delighted to recognize today, July 1, as the official launch of the new School of Data and Information Sciences.
When Carolina announced plans to create a new school in October 2025, we envisioned a community of scholars that would build on our strengths in information, library and data sciences, while creating new opportunities for education, research and service. Today’s launch marks a critical milestone on that journey.
Over the past several months, faculty, staff and leaders from the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Data Science and Society have worked together to shape the foundation of the new school.
The School of Information and Library Science has long been a leader in preparing professionals, advancing scholarship and serving communities, while the School of Data Science and Society built a close-knit community and helped establish Carolina as a national leader in an emerging discipline in just a few years. Those legacies and experiences remain essential parts of the school’s future and will continue to inform its impact.
Today also marks the beginning of the school’s leadership structure:
- Stanley Ahalt, Dean
- Jay Aikat, Vice Dean for Academic Strategy
- Rob Capra, Vice Dean for Faculty
- Terry Magnuson, Vice Dean for Research Strategy
- Rei Sanchez-Arias, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
- Santiago Olivella, Associate Professor and Division Chair, Data Science and Society
- Christopher (Cal) Lee, Professor and Division Chair, Information and Library Science
The school will be guided by the following mission to use data and information to advance society to:
- Educate leaders who define the information, library and data professions — technically skilled, ethically grounded and equipped to serve diverse communities.
- Discover the principles, methods and evidence that explain how data and information systems work — across technical, organizational and societal contexts.
- Create computational and data-driven systems and policies that make data and information more effective and more trustworthy.
- Advance the responsible creation, access and stewardship of data and information to improve lives in communities local, national and global.
Thank you to everyone whose dedication, expertise and collaborative spirit helped bring this vision to life. Congratulations to Dean Ahalt and the entire SDIS community as they begin this new chapter together.
Sincerely,
Magnus Egerstedt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
