Informatics Professors Constance Steinkuehler and Kurt Squire have been appointed Fellows of The Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA). Steinkuehler, who was recognized as a Founding Fellow and serves as president for the organization’s executive committee, and Squire were among 30 scholars inducted into HEVGA’s inaugural cohort of higher education game leaders.

The HEVGA Fellows Program was established in 2017 to recognize senior scholars in the games domain who have made significant contributions to the field in design, theory or research. Fellows are peer-elected based on their outstanding contributions to games-based research and design, and are expected to serve as ambassadors for HEVGA. Consideration of a candidate begins with their nomination, followed by an extensive and careful vetting process that results in a final ballot of current Fellows at HEVGA’s annual meeting, which was held on Feb. 26, 2017 in San Francisco.

HEVGA’s mission is to create a platform for higher education leaders that will underscore the cultural, scientific and economic importance of video game programs in colleges and universities. The organization provides a robust network of resources and support to its members and member institutions, whose contributions are essential to the success of the field and the international games community.