Melissa Mazmanian, PhD
I am a Chancellors Fellow at UCI, Professor and Chair of the Department of Informatics in the School of Information and Computer Sciences, and Professor of Organization and Management in the Paul Merage School of Management (joint) at University of California, Irvine.
AREAS OF FOCUS
My interests revolve around the experience of communication technologies as used in-practice within organizational and personal contexts, specifically in relation to identity projection and the nature of time in the digital age. I have conducted a variety of ethnographic and qualitative research projects on the individual experience and social dynamics that emerge when people adapt to using wireless modes of communication and have a series of publications on these topics. My work has also been of interest to the popular press.
Click here for my CV and bio >
I teach a variety of interdisciplinary courses for the Department of Informatics and the Merage Business School and I have the pleasure of working with several excellent doctoral students.
My Academic Background
I earned my PhD in Organization Studies from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2009 where I worked with Wanda Orlikowski and JoAnne Yates. I received my MSI in Information Economics, Management and Policy from the University of Michigan School of Information in 2002. I also completed a BA in 1997 in English Literature and Creative Writing at Colorado College.
POsitions I hold - ON SABBATICAL 2024-25
In the Department of Informatics I serve as the Department Chair. At UCI I also serve as the Co-Director for the Center for Organizational Research (COR).
CONTACTS IN INFORMATICS
Department Affairs
If you have any questions for the Department Chair free to email the current Interim Chair, Yunan Chen at ichair@ics.uci.edu or contact our Department Manger, Marty Beach.
Graduate Affairs
Current and prospective ICS graduate students, if you need information on our graduate curriculum, please check out this website.
The Vice Chair of Graduate Affairs, Katie Salen Tekinbaş is available to answer questions related to the academic content of our graduate programs.
DECADE mentor Aaron Trammel is available for questions about graduate student culture and climate.
And ICS Graduate Counselors Leslie Escalante and Majde Al Salibi are available for queries related to UCI policy and procedures.
Undergraduate Affairs
The Vice Chair of Undergraduate Affairs, Yunan Chen is available to answer questions related to the academic content of our undergraduate programs.
Professional masters of human computer interaction and design (MHCID)
MHCID students and prospective students, if you need information about the program click here.
If you have any specific questions reach out to the Faculty Director, Ann Marie Piper, Program Manager Kaelyn Costa, or Program Administrator, Adriana Avina.
Professional masters of software engineering (MSWE)
MSWE students and prospective students, if you are looking information about the program click here.
If you have any specific questions reach out to the Faculty Director, Mohammad Moshirpour.
Apply to be a student
If you are interested in applying to study as a graduate student in the Informatics department click here.
Contact
TEL 949.824.9284
FAX 949.824.4056
ADDRESS
Click here for detailed directions
5092 Donald Bren Hall (permanent office)
5038 Donald Bren Hall (Chair’s office)
Irvine, CA 92697
OFFICE HOURS
By appointment - email me
RECENT NEWS
June 2024 - September 2025
I am SO excited to be on sabbatical. After a few years as Department Chair I am thrilled to take a break and focus on research. I will be spending the year exploring the future of Hollywood through the experiences of screenwriters.
Thank you Dr. Yunan Chen for taking on the role of Interim Department Chair. You are amazing! The Department of Informatics is in good hands.
April 2024
Thank you Microsoft Research and danah boyd for choosing Beth Bechky & myself as one of the AI & Society Fellows. So excited to be among this excellent group of scholars and thinkers.
July, 2021
I have two announcements today. I am thrilled to be awarded the position of Full Professor at UCI.
I am also excited to take on the role of Department Chair for the Department of Informatics for a term of three years.
June, 2021
Thank you to UCI for naming me a 2021-2024 Chancellor’s Fellow, “Chancellor’s Fellows are faculty with tenure whose recent achievements in scholarship evidence extraordinary promise for world-class contributions to knowledge, and whose pattern of contributions evidences strong trajectory to distinction” (according to the website). What an honor.
April, 2021
Congratulations Samantha McDonald for your successful Doctoral Defense.
Thesis: Constituent Communication in Representative Democracy: Testing Platforms for Deliberation in the U.S. Congress
Committee: Melissa Mazmanian (Chair), Paul Dourish, Bill Tomlinson and Erhardt Graeff
Sam will be is joining Facebook as a researcher in the Summer!
September, 2020
Check out some recent press for Dreams of the Overworked. While it was written pre-pandemic, the themes of the book feel even more relevant today:
NYT, In Her Words: Ideal, Perfect, Ultimate: What Drives Parents to Seek the Unattainable?
WBUR Here and Now: Even Before Pandemic, Working Parents Struggled To Achieve The 'Dreams Of The Overworked'
The Atlantic: What America Asks of Working Parents is Impossible
May, 2020
Check out the new article Elana Feldman and I wrote for the Sloan Management Review: Why Time Signals Still Matter When Working Remotely. Trying to provide some useful advice for leaders in this crazy time.
Elana made a cool (and informative) video to promote our recent annals piece: Feldman, Elana, Erin M. Reid, and Melissa Mazmanian. "Signs of Our Time: Time-use as Dedication, Performance, Identity, and Power in Contemporary Workplaces." Academy of Management Annals 14.2 (2020): 598-626.