Jed R. Brubaker

Associate Professor
Information Science
College of Media, Communication and Information
University of Colorado Boulder

hello : //

I study how identity is designed, represented, and experienced through technology. My mission is to make technology worthy of the complexity of our human lives. Over the past decade I have studied our “digital afterlives” to improve the management of accounts and data after we die and to better support those we leave behind.

traceroute : //

A friend once generously summed me up by saying, “In a single conversation you might be talking about the latest software library but turn around and explain it with some philosopher like Foucault.” That is what you get when you blend academic and industry experience across technology, design, the social sciences, and critical theory.

I am an Associate Professor and Founding Faculty of Information Science in the College of Media, Communication and Information at the University of Colorado Boulder. My research focuses on digital identity, social media, and human centered computing. This work draws from CSCW, HCI, psychology, science and technology studies, and critical theory.

I received my PhD in Information and Computer Sciences from the department of Informatics at UC Irvine where I was part of the Laboratory for Ubiquitous Computing and Interaction (LUCI) and was advised by Gillian R. Hayes in the STAR research group. I previously earned my M.A. at Georgetown University from the Communication, Culture and Technology program, and my B.S. at the University of Utah in Psychology.

Professionally,  I spent time in the start-up scene and four years at the Association of American Medical Colleges. I was a lead systems developer working on medical student systems (most notably the MCAT) and enterprise solutions including the development of the AAMC’s JavaScript framework, the launch of their User Experience Competency Center, adoption of web analytics tools and best-practices, and cross-system standardization of digital identity information.