Heather Wigell (nee MacLeod) is a Hastac Scholar of the Year (2016), after studying at University of Chicago in their Masters of Social Science Program, and suqsequent employment in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, on the Digital Publics Project. Wigell also worked at the Kenan Institue for Rusian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in 2009 She started her career serving as Congressional Intern in the U.S. House of Represtives, 11th Congressional District of Illinois, Washington, D.C. Office. Throughout her career she has also worked in for non-profits, and tech firms in research and marketing roles. She recieved her B.A. in Russian and Eastern European Studies from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009.