Distinguished professor and human-computer interaction expert retires

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) has announced the retirement of Distinguished Professor John M. “Jack” Carroll, effective June 30. He is the director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), director of the Laboratory for Collaboration and Innovation and a faculty affiliate at the Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence.  

“Jack joined the IST faculty in 2003, with many years of expertise as a founder and leading researcher in human-computer interaction,” said Andrea Tapia, dean of the College of IST. “He’s brought tremendous visibility and growth to our HCI program, and we are grateful that he chose to spend the last two decades with us.”  

Before coming to Penn State, Carroll spent 18 years as a scientist at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he founded and led the User Interface Institute. He then served as a computer science professor and department head at Virginia Tech, where he directed the Center for Human-Computer Interaction. 

“During the late 1990s, computer science departments were rapidly expanding in various areas of human-computer interaction,” Carroll said. “After 10 years at Virginia Tech, I was looking for a new opportunity to keep promoting the HCI vision of human engagement, empowerment and dignity. I found it at IST.” 

Carroll’s extensive research portfolio has explored a variety of problems — film theory, generative linguistics, sentence perception, design science and several generations of computer science — with a variety of collaborators. His Google Scholar profile lists more than 1,200 authored or coauthored papers.  

He’s been recognized with achievement awards from several industry associations, including the Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received IST’s Senior Faculty Excellence in Research Award in 2017 and Penn State’s Faculty Scholar Medal in Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2018.  

In 2020, Carroll was named a fellow of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), and in 2021, received a Pioneer in Human-Computer Interaction Award of the IFIP Technical Committee on Human-Computer Interaction for his contributions to the development and growth of the HCI field.  

Carroll has advised many doctoral students who have gone on to impactful careers in the information technology industry and as emerging scholars in academia. Through it all, he has kept a concern for people and community at the forefront of his research. 

“For a couple of decades, I got to experience the thrill of helping to launch and steer HCI as it shaped the future of information technology and then to be a part of its continuing growth for another couple decades — amazing,” he said. 

Carroll has written and edited several books, and last year published a book of reflective essays from 20 IST faculty members that explores innovative teaching practices in a collaborative faculty environment. 

“There was so much collaboration in the creation of this book,” Tapia said. “It showcases IST’s devotion to creative teaching and excellence.” 

Carroll helped the College of IST celebrate its 25th anniversary last year and hopes the college will continue growing and developing. 

“Our intellectual territory is exciting and full of possibility, but it takes a lot of energy and imagination to stay focused and thoughtful about everyday transformative change,” he said. “In IST, we each have a substantive opportunity to change the world. I hope that in the future, every member of the college will see themself as a key to human innovation from interview to retirement.” 

In retirement, Carroll plans to travel with his wife, Mary Beth, and spend time with their granddaughter.  

“I would also like to return to writing, after mainly editing grad student drafts for many years,” he said. “We’ll see.”