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Dietmar Wolfram, associate dean and head of school for the School of Information Studies (SOIS), is retiring this summer after 34 years at 51����. 

Wolfram has fond memories of both his time in research and teaching and his years as an administrator, he said.  “I’ve checked the boxes of what I wanted to do in my career. I’ve enjoyed all aspects of the work.” 

He has been recognized nationally and internationally for his teaching and service. In October of 2023, the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) honored him with its . In 2012, he received the from the Association for Information Science & Technology. He has also been recognized as a leading contributor to research in library and information science, having been ranked in the top 2% globally for his research contributions to the .��������

The focus of his research work has been on applied informetrics, scholarly communication, information retrieval and information science education.  

Wolfram grew up in northeastern Ontario, more rugged and colder than southeastern Wisconsin. The area was a cultural mosaic, with many immigrants, including his German parents, moving to the region given the many job opportunities in the mining industry at the time. His first language was German though he hasn’t had much opportunity to use it for awhile.  

His interest in data modeling and scholarly communication led Wolfram to the field of information science. He earned his bachelor’s degree in the history of science and computer science, his masters of library and information science and doctorate in library and information science at the University of Western Ontario. He came to 51���� in 1990. 

In recent years, Wolfram’s research has focused on the area of open science, which strives to make all aspects of scholarship more transparent and accountable. In particular, he has been examining research data citation and open peer review. Making products of research more transparent has its merits, but there is also room for improvement.  

In a 2020 , written with colleagues, Wolfram discussed the pros and cons, and current state, of open peer review as opposed to the older method of “blind” reviews where researchers don’t know who was reviewing their manuscripts.  

The trend seems to be toward more openness, Wolfram and co-authors concluded. They found 617 examples of journals at the time using open peer review. Debate continues on whether open reviews, where reviews and reviewer identities are published alongside papers, encourage more accountability by reviewers and authors. Some journals even allow for authors to respond to reviews encouraging dialog.  

“It’s a very interesting time for scholars,” Wolfram said.   

While his research time has become more limited as his administrative duties increased, Wolfram still enjoys teaching and engaging with students and colleagues from around the world, he said.   

‘I’ve enjoyed serving as a host for visiting scholars and sharing cultural experiences with international students.” Last summer, he spent two weeks teaching a graduate seminar in Brazil on open science and research data management. “The students were very friendly and engaging.”  

He is proud of the growth and expansion of SOIS during his time at 51����, having co-led the efforts to develop the Bachelor of Science in Information Science and Technology (BSIST) program and PhD program in Information Studies. The BSIST major, which has around 500 students, combines core IT skills like front-end web design, programming and project management with electives to prepare students for careers in the IT industry. He was also an early adopter of online teaching. The addition of online programs has helped more students from around the country earn degrees and certifications, and the school has moved into new areas like data analytics. In 2012, while serving as Interim Dean for SOIS, he secured membership for SOIS in the iSchools group, an international collaborative of leading information schools (www.ischools.org).

“The school is much larger than when I started,” said Wolfram, “and the university has really changed.”  

More recently, Wolfram has been involved in efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion within the College of Community Engagement and Professions, where a working group of representatives from across the college has identified priorities to improve student and employee recruitment and retention.  

“When minority students don’t see themselves represented in the faculty and staff, that sends a message,” said Wolfram, in a March article about university efforts.   

After retirement, Wolfram plans to spend more time with family, traveling, engaging in hobbies and research, and he would like to improve his French and German.  

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On May 8th, 2024 the School of Information Studies held a celebration honoring Dr. Dietmar Wolfram’s 34 years of leadership and service! Below are a few photos from this event.

Luis Vega always loved working with computers when he was growing up, so he gravitated to computer science when he came to 51����.  

However, he found the courses he was taking were more focused on theory while he was more interested in practical applications of the technology. 

That’s why he transferred to the School of Information Studies’ BSIST (Bachelor of Science in Information Science Technology) program in the spring of 2022.  

When he graduates this May, he will join 2,315 other students who’ve earned their degrees through the program over the past 25 years. The program currently has 525 students.  

“Numerous co-workers that I currently have also went through the IST program,” she said. ‘It has built my network at my internal company, but also across other companies. A lot of the skills I learned came from the program.” 

Katie Hartman, a 2021 alumna who now works at Kohler Corporation as an associate business analyst, credits the program with preparing her for the workforce.  

“Numerous co-workers that I currently have also went through the IST program,” she said. ‘It has built my network at my internal company, but also across other companies. A lot of the skills I learned came from the program.” 

The BSIST major combines core IT skills like front-end web design, programming and project management with electives to prepare students for careers in the IT industry, according to retiring Senior Associate Dean and Professor Dietmar Wolfram, who helped co-found the program 25 years ago.  

Over the years, the program has attracted a diverse group of students, said Chad Zahrt, Assistant Dean for student affairs in the School of Information Studies. While the IT field has often been seen as a largely white male area, the BSIST program has attracted students from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds in addition to more women than traditional computer science, he added. 

Vega appreciated the fact that it was easy to transfer his credits into the program, he said. 

“I actually jumped around a lot in majors, but was able to transfer the credits into BSIST,” he said.  

Being able to take many of his classes online was also a benefit, he added. “Right now, I’m taking six classes so if I didn’t have the online portion, it would definitely be a little bit difficult.” Like others in the program, he took part in IT conferences and events like CypherCon and Summerfest Tech. It would be great if the program could offer even more of those networking opportunities, he added.  

Many of the students and alumni interviewed mentioned the value of the hands-on experience in the BSIST program.  

Lauren Rodriguez, a senior who will graduate in May 2025, said she liked that the program was a combination of client communications, as well as IT network, website building and social media management. 

She especially enjoyed her experiences in the nonprof-IT program, which pairs students with nonprofit organizations to provide IT solution  

 The organizations save money, and the students gain real-world experience. “It’s a combination of client communication as well as back-end work,” Rodriguez said. “It’s great to have experience before you graduate and have to find a job.” 

Vega was team lead on a web project for Amani United during the spring 2024 semester. The organization had a web presence, but it was just a page on a parent organization’s website so the team worked to expand that.  

“Having that experience a semester away from graduating is awesome,” he said. Right now, he’s focused on finishing up and crossing the stage on commencement day, but he would like to eventually work in the healthcare industry. 

Justin Mendez, who graduated from the school in December 2018, has returned as a mentor for students in the nonprof-IT program. He and a colleague introduced the groups presenting at the Tuesday, May 8, showcase. This will be his second year participating and working with the school. He gains fulfillment, he said, each semester through inspiring young professionals, all while solving technology challenges for deserving local nonprofit organizations.  

Mendez is a product manager on the Technology Innovation Team at Molson Coors Beverage Company. His team’s mission is to accelerate organizational capabilities through the adoption of emerging technologies. He also emphasized the importance of being active in the local community, such as giving back to UW-Milwaukee and sharing the company culture and values to attract new talent to Molson Coors. In some situations, these community interactions have led to new ideas which turned into funded projects, he said 

“This is an up-and-coming generation with a different view of the world and technologies,” he said.