Ken Fleischmann

Ken Fleischmann

Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies


Biography

Kenneth R. Fleischmann is a Professor in the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the Founding Chair of the Executive Team for Good Systems, a UT Grand Challenge (http://goodsystems.utexas.edu/) and the Founding Director of Undergraduate Studies for the iSchool's B.A./B.S. in Informatics. His research and teaching focus on the ethics of AI and more broadly on the role of human values in the design and use of information technologies. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), Microsoft Research, Cisco Research Center, Micron Foundation, and the Public Interest Technology University Network. His research has been recognized by the iConference Best Paper Award, the ASIS&T SIG-USE Best Information Behavior Conference Paper Award, the ALA Library Instruction Round Table Top Twenty Articles, the ASIS&T SIG-SI Social Informatics Best Paper Award, the Civic Futures Award for Designing for the 100%, and the MetroLab Innovation of the Month Award.

Degrees


  • 2004 Ph.D., Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  • 2002 M.S., Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  • 1999 B.A., Computer Science and Anthropology (Summa Cum Laude, with Honors), Case Western Reserve University

Areas Of Specialization

Computational Social Science
Science and Technology Studies
Information Ethics
Value Sensitive Design
Information and Human Values

Recent Publications

Verma N., Fleischmann K.R., Koltai K.S. (2019) Understanding Online Trust and Information Behavior Using Demographics and Human Values. In: Taylor N., Christian-Lamb C., Martin M., Nardi B. (eds) Information in Contemporary Society. iConference 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11420. Springer, Cham

Xie, B., Berkley, A. S., Kwak, J., Fleischmann, K. R., Champion, J. D., & Koltai, K. S. (2018). End-of-life decision making by family caregivers of persons with advanced dementia: A literature review of decision aids. SAGE Open Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118777517

Golden, K. E. and Fleischmann, K. R. ( 2018). Digital Assistants and Human Values. In L. Freund (Ed.), Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology (pp. 813 814.) Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501128

Shovkun, M., Fleischmann, K. R. and Xie, B. ( 2018). Computational Social Science Using Topic Modeling: Analyzing Patients' Values Using a Large Hospital Survey. In L. Freund (Ed.), Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology (pp. 890 891.) Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501163

Fleischmann, K. R., Hui, C. and Wallace, W. A. (2017), The Societal Responsibilities of Computational Modelers: Human Values and Professional Codes of Ethics. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 68: 543-552. doi:10.1002/asi.23697

View more in Google Scholar

Recent Awards

  • Best Information Behavior Conference Paper, ASIS&T SIGUSE
  • Best Paper at the iConference
  • Social Informatics Best Paper, Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Special Interest Group for Social Informatics

Recent Courses

YearSemesterCourse NumberCourseSyllabusNotes
2025SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2025SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2025SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2025SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2024FallINF 385T.12Special Topics in Information Science: Ethics of AI
2024SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2024SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2024SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2024SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2023FallINF 385T.12Special Topics in Information Science: Ethics of AI
2023SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2023SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2023SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2023SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2022FallINF 385TSpecial Topics in Information Science: Ethics of AI: Theorizing Good Systems Ethics of AI: Theorizing Good Systems
2022SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2022SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2022SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2022SpringI 303Ethical Foundations for Informatics
2021FallISP 381Information and Privacy in Society
2021SpringINF 391D.12Disciplinary Foundations For Information Studies
2019FallIMS 381Identity in Society and Community
2019FallINF 350GInformation in Society Ethics of AI: Theorizing Good Systems
2019FallINF 385TSpecial Topics in Information Science Ethics of AI: Theorizing Good Systems
2019SpringINF 391D.12Disciplinary Foundations For Information Studies
2018FallINF 380CInformation in Social and Cultural Context
2018FallINF 380CInformation in Social and Cultural Context
2018SpringINF 350GInformation in Society Trust and Transparency In The Information Society
2018SpringINF 385TSpecial Topics in Information Science Trust and Transparency In The Information Society
2017FallINF 350GInformation in Society Trust and Transparency In The Information Society
2017FallINF 350GInformation in Society Information Ethics
2017FallINF 385TSpecial Topics in Information Science Trust and Transparency In The Information Society
2017FallINF 385TSpecial Topics in Information Science Information Ethics
2017FallIMS 381Identity in Society and Community
2017SpringINF 350GInformation in Society Trust and Transparency In The Information Society
2017SpringINF 385TSpecial Topics in Information Science Trust and Transparency In The Information Society
2017SpringINF 380CInformation in Social and Cultural Context