Wagner to Receive 2026 James M. Cretsos Award for Leadership
The Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is delighted to announce that Travis Wagner is the recipient of the 2026 James M. Cretsos Award for Leadership. The award’s purpose is to recognize a new ASIS&T member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities in professional ASIS&T activities.
Wagner is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, School of Information Sciences. They previously earned a Master’s in Library and Information Science and a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of South Carolina, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in History with Honors from Augusta State University.
Since joining the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) in 2020, Travis has contributed to ASIS&T through active involvement in ASIS&T publications, conferences, webinars, and SIG activities. As a faculty member, they are now recruiting new members to join ASIS&T through involvement in research and presentations at ASIS&T conferences. Wagner’s research interests encompass information and communication technologies, queer archives, embodied information, digital curation, qualitative methods, gender and sexuality, and media studies. They already have four co-authored research papers in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, including an Annual Review of Information Science and Technology review article and contributions to special issues on “Conceptual Models of the Sociotechnical” and “Information Behaviour & Information Practices Theory.” Since joining ASIS&T, they have been a regular presenter at ASIS&T annual meetings, with 9 conference papers, 2 posters, and as a member of 6 panels. They have also been active in the delivery of multiple ASIS&T webinars, both as a developer and as a presenter.
In nominating Wagner for this award, Linda C. Smith, Professor Emerita, said “Travis Wagner’s exemplary accomplishments as a relatively new member of ASIS&T should serve as inspiration to other new members on how they can become involved and contribute.”
Upon learning of their selection as winner of the award, Wagner responded, “I feel incredibly honored to be receiving the James M. Crestos Leadership Award. While I know it is an award for leadership, I believe that ASIS&T thrives on collaboration, and my work in the organization reflects the guidance, support, and hard work of many others. In particular, I would like to thank the awards committee, the folks who wrote letters of support for me, and those who nominated me for the award. Since joining ASIS&T, I have found the community of scholars both deeply supportive and critically engaged, and my desire to be involved has always been about expanding what we can do as a field. I do my best to always bring to ASIS&T research and service that I wanted to see when I was a new member of the community, and I hope this award is a signal to others that ASIS&T is a place that welcomes new ideas, new methods, and new community members with open arms.”
Wagner will receive the award during the 2026 meeting of ASIS&T which will be held 6-10 November 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand.
About ASIS&T
The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) is the only professional association that bridges the gap between information science practice and research. For nearly 90 years, ASIS&T has been leading the search for new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information.