Jen Golbeck is one of the recipients of the University of Maryland’s inaugural Research Communicator Impact Award.

The award was given for Golbeck’s op-ed in Slate entitled “Smart People Prefer Curly Fries: And other insights gleaned from analyzing your social media accounts“. Awarded by the UMD Office of Research, this honor recognizes the work of faculty who have successfully shared their research and scholarly perspectives with an audience outside academia.

For Golbeck, this commitment to engaging the public in intellectual debate has meant writing for Slate and TIME magazine, among other publications, conducting a TED talk, and serving as a frequent contributor to the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5.

Dr. Golbeck is an Associate Professor in the iSchool, and an Affiliate Associate Professor in Computer Science. She is also the director of the Social Intelligence Lab.