Francine Berman Receives 2026 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Award
Berman was recognized for her thoughtful, individualized support of faculty colleagues.
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Francine Berman, Stuart Rice Honorary Chair and research professor in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) and author of the upcoming book Better Tech: Putting People First in Cyberspace, has received a 2026 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Award for her contributions to faculty mentorship.
Administered by UMass ADVANCE, the annual awards recognize faculty and librarians from across the University of Massachusetts Amherst who demonstrate a strong commitment to their colleagues’ professional development and success. Berman and nine other recipients were honored during the ADVANCE Annual Distinguished Lecture on April 17.
According to the award citation, Berman’s faculty mentees at CICS praise her thoughtful, individualized approach to mentorship that meets colleagues where they are and helps them build confidence and recognize their own value and potential.
“Colleagues across career stages note her accessibility, generosity with her time, and willingness to share insight and encouragement,” the citation states.
Berman knows firsthand how mentorship can shape someone’s professional path: “I’ve greatly benefited in my career from the generous and wise colleagues who have taken the time to help me work through problems and issues,” she said. “I’m actually here at UMass because one of my favorite peer mentors, Jim Kurose, talked with me when I was thinking about where and how I wanted to contribute next.”
“I treasure the opportunity to be that kind of resource for colleagues and am so appreciative of their belief in me and nominating me for this award,” Berman added.
As director of the Public Interest Technology Initiative (PIT) at UMass, Berman also promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and relationship-building beyond CICS.
“Professor Berman exemplifies the very best of peer mentorship that this award is meant to honor, fostering connection and trust in her academic home of CICS as well as across campus,” the award citation notes.
“Working with colleagues, listening, and contributing to their successful trajectories and the success of our broader community is really meaningful and important to me,” Berman said.
Berman joined the CICS faculty in 2021. A data scientist whose work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of information technology, she is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Public Administration.
