Dr. Schement is a Distinguished Professor and School Professor of Communication Policy and of Latino Studies in the School of Communication and Information (SC&I) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. He previously served as Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion for Rutgers-New Brunswick and for Rutgers Biological and Health Sciences. He also served as Dean of SC&I, and chaired the Executive Planning Committee for Rutgers’ 250th Anniversary Commemoration. He was a Distinguished Professor, and cofounder of the Institute for Information Policy at Penn State University. Schement holds a PhD from Stanford University, and an MS from the University of Illinois. He is author of over 250 books, papers, and articles.
As Vice Chancellor, he formally established the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, organized the President’s Diversity Council, the Chancellor’s Pathways Council, as well as the first Diversity Forum and Diversity Almanac. He authored the diversity and inclusion passages for the Strategic Plan, oversaw the Civic Engagement Collaborative, and sponsored a University library portal for diversity-related materials. As Dean, he recruited and promoted women and minority faculty and staff to their highest numbers in the history of the School.
A Latino from South Texas, his research focuses on the social and policy implications of the production and consumption of information, especially as they relate to ethnic minorities. He conducted the first study of the impact of minority ownership in broadcasting, and conducted the original research that led to recognition of the Digital Divide. He introduced the idea of Universal Service as an evolving concept in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. His studies of minority ownership contributed to the Supreme Court’s decision in Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. F.C.C. et al. He has served on editorial boards of 18 academic journals, guest edited the Annual Review of Technology for the Aspen Institute, and is editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Communication and Information.
He served on President George W. Bush’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the Technology Advisory Committee for Governor Jerry Brown of California, and authored the telecommunications policy agenda for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He advised the FCC Transition Team for President Barack Obama. He is a founding member of the FCC Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity in the Digital Age. Schement served on the Transition Team for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, and is a member of the Steering Committee for the Governor’s Diversity Council.
Schement has served on boards for the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Centers for Disease Control, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Media Access Project, Libraries for the Future, Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, Center for Media Education, Internet Policy Institute, American Library Association, Minority Media Telecommunications Council, New Millennium Research Council, Open Society Institute, Advertising Council, Benton Foundation, Aspen Institute, MCI, Sprint, Verizon, Pew Project on Internet and American Life, and the Harwood Institute. He chaired the board of directors of TPRC Inc.
Dr. Schement’s primary interest regarding EOAS stems from his commitment to encourage diversity and inclusion within the academy, and in particular the sciences.
