Four Women Join the Faculty at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public

The University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public has named six scholars to its faculty. Four of the faculty members who have joined the center are women.

CIP-affiliated faculty members have the opportunity to engage with the center’s full range of research and activities, including pursuing collaborative research proposals and projects, participating in the CIP’s Invited Speaker Series, utilizing the center’s research infrastructure, and applying for the CIP Innovation Fund.

Emily M. Godfrey is a professor in the department of family medicine. She is also affiliated with the university’s Osher Center for Integrative Health. She previously taught at the University of Illinois Chicago and worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She joined the University of Washington faculty in 2012. Dr. Godfrey holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and a master of public health degree from the University of Rochester in New York.

Heather D. Hill is a professor and director of the Ph.D. program in public policy and management at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. She joined the faculty in 2014 after teaching at the University of Illinois. Dr. Hill was promoted to full professor in 2020. Her research examines how public and workplace policies influence family economic circumstances and child well-being in low-income families. Professor Hill is a graduate of the University of Washington, where she majored in political science. She holds a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in human development and social policy from Northwestern University in Illinois.

Jisoo Kim is an assistant professor of communication. Her research centers on how communication environments influence social democracy. Her recent work examines how broader communication ecology influences public perceptions of polarization and politicization — and how these perceptions, in turn, affect people’s willingness to share opinions, engage in conversation, navigate relationships with others, or take political action. Dr. Kim is a graduate of Sogang University in South Korea, where she majored in mass communication and Korean language and literature.. She holds a master’s degree from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Belén Saldías is an assistant teaching professor in the university’s Information School. Her research focuses on the responsible, human-centered design and evaluation of machine learning systems, emphasizing human-AI collaboration. Dr. Saldías is committed to making the internet safer and more empowering, especially for children and marginalized communities. Dr. Saldías earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering information technology and a master’s degree in machine learning from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She holds a Ph.D. in media arts & sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.