Annual event celebrates SIS 2022 award recipients
Wayne State University's School of Information Sciences hosted its annual Awards and Recognition Dinner on Thursday, Oct. 13. Spirits were high as this was the school's first in-person event since COVID-19. Approximately 75 students, donors, alumni, faculty and staff joined for an evening of celebration in honor of the 2022 award recipients. Click here to view additional photos on Flickr.
Robert P. Holley Endowed Scholarship Gift
Interim Dean Tom Walker hosted the event and introduced Bob Holley, former director of the library science program, who recently made a multi-million-dollar estate commitment to the School of Information Sciences and is the largest donor in the school's history. The Robert P. Holley Endowed Scholarship Gift will establish an endowed professorship in library science, enlarge a new endowed support fund for the school and add to his existing scholarship fund, established back in 2008.
Patricia B. Knapp Award
Ginny Schneider served as a graduate student research assistant for the grant-funded research project, Community Health and Wellness: Small and Rural Public Library Practices, Perspectives, and Programs under the direction of Assistant Professor Christine D’Arpa. As a member of Wayne State’s student chapter of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), she worked on the Family Digital Preservation Project, a website resource that aims to help individuals preserve their digital content and co-presented the group’s findings at the NDSA’s annual conference. Schneider is also a founding member of The Information Warrior Journal committee.
The Patricia B. Knapp Award was established by the then Division of Library Science at Wayne State University in 1973 in memory of Professor Knapp. The award is granted each year to a graduating MLIS student who, in the estimation of the faculty of library and information science, represents those professional qualities which Professor Knapp exemplified so admirably.
Distinguished Alumna Award
Jill Turner is a library professor at the University of Detroit Mercy. She has made significant and sustained contributions to health sciences librarianship and served in leadership roles for the Michigan Health Sciences Libraries Association (MHSLA) and Metropolitan Detroit Medical Libraries Group. Turner received the "Librarian of the Year Award" twice from MHSLA.
Turner received a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. She worked as a nurse and was captain of the Army Nurse Corps for the U.S. Army before receiving a master of library and information science from Wayne State in 2005. Turner worked as a medical librarian at Botsford Hospital and Wayne State before joining U of D in 2010. She received a master’s in liberal arts and sciences and liberal studies this year from U of D.
Professional Service Award
Louis E. Jones is a field archivist for Wayne State’s Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. Originally from New York City, Jones received a bachelor’s in history from Morehouse College and a master's in African and Afro-American studies from Cornell University. He also received a master’s degree from the University of Delaware before earning his Ph.D. in history from Wayne State in 2010.
Jones worked as an adjunct instructor for the university’s School of Information Sciences for many years and was inducted as a fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in 2019. The distinction of fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the profession. He was recognized for his service to SAA and other professional organizations, especially the Academy of Certified Archivists, where he served in several key positions, including president.
The Information Warrior Journal
Associate Professor of Teaching Kim Schroeder recognized students Lindsay Pulsipher, Kirsten Cessna, Melissa Moore, Ginny Schneider and Hannah Grant (not pictured) for their work in establishing The Information Warrior Journal, a peer-edited publication that nurtures and encourages students to publish their research papers and literature reviews. The journal will feature articles that address significant issues facing today’s library, archival and information professionals and will be available on the Wayne State University Library System's Digital Commons.