News Release: John Bertot Returns to INFO to Lead with Purpose as New Dean
A professor, researcher, and university leader, Bertot brings a record of public impact—and a people-first vision—to the college he first joined in 2008
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – John Bertot has begun his tenure as dean of the University of Maryland College of Information, effective July 1, 2026. A professor, researcher, and university leader with nearly two decades of service to UMD, Bertot returns to the college he first joined in 2008 with a vision rooted in people, impact, and service. It’s a role he describes as a homecoming, though the path that led him here wasn’t direct.
Bertot didn’t set out to become an academic. Fresh out of graduate school, he took a job as a policy analyst in the New York State Assembly, helping shape legislation in an era when policymaking still ran on phone calls and conversations. Then desktop computers and automation entered the workplace, and everything changed.
Pulled onto a team charged with bringing technology into the legislative process, Bertot found himself preoccupied by the gap it exposed. “There was this disconnect,” he recalls, “between how people worked, how they processed information, and the technology being introduced.” Once he discovered that navigating that disconnect was actually a field of study, he says, he was “off to the races.” He earned his doctorate at Syracuse University and joined INFO in 2008, drawn by its focus on using information and technology in service of others.
Bertot describes himself as an action researcher: someone whose goal is not simply to study problems, but to help solve them. His research on public libraries and internet access helped inform the E-rate program, which expanded discounted internet access for schools and libraries, and contributed data used in the Federal Communication Commission’s first national broadband map. His work has been cited in a Supreme Court decision and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Library Association, the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the National Science Foundation.
Bertot translated his people-oriented research philosophy into his nearly 11 years as UMD’s Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, where he oversaw faculty appointments, promotion and tenure, leadership development, and policy. Across that work, the principle was consistent: people do their best work when institutions give them the support to thrive.
Now he’s back, and the college he returns to has grown significantly during his time away—expanding its academic programs, research profile, and societal reach. His vision for the next decade is ambitious and practical: a well-funded college with deep community partnerships across industry, nonprofits, libraries, cultural institutions, and government, and students who leave prepared not just with technical skills, but with the ability to create meaningful change.
That mission feels especially timely. As technology reshapes the workforce, Bertot sees INFO’s long-standing focus on people as a source of enduring strength. Technical skills matter, but INFO students also learn to understand data, systems, and the human contexts in which they operate—an approach he sees as increasingly valuable, not less.
“The driving force around almost everything we do,” he says, “is asking, ‘How is what I’m doing going to help someone?’”
Media Contact: Communications Team, UMD INFO College, infocomm@umd.edu
About the University of Maryland College of Information
Founded in 1965, the University of Maryland College of Information (INFO) is a leading research and teaching college in the field of information science, ranked #3 in the USA by the U.S. News & World Report. INFO faculty, staff, and students are expanding the frontiers of how people access and use information and technology in an evolving world—in government, education, business, social media, and more. The college offers top-ranked academic degree programs and leads cutting-edge academic and industry research, specializing in library and information science, digital curation, data systems and management, human-computer interaction, AI and machine learning, accessible and inclusive technology design, sociotechnical systems, and cybersecurity and privacy. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., INFO faculty, staff, and students have unmatched research, internship, and career opportunities. https://info.umd.edu/