Alumni Awards

The Distinguished Alumnus Award recognizes an individual alumnus of the iSchool who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of library and information science. The Leadership Award recognizes a recipient of the master's degree who has graduated in the past ten years and who has shown leadership in the field of library and information science. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a friend of the School, including faculty, staff, alumni, and non-alumni, who has served ISAA or the School in an exceptional way. The Student Award recognizes a student who "caught the spirit" of the library and information science profession while employed in a library setting and so chose to enter the master's program.

Call for nominations

The iSchool Alumni Association (ISAA) is seeking nominations for the three distinguished alumni awards it gives annually at the alumni reception held at the American Library Association Conference. To submit a nomination, please fill out this form. Supporting documentation, additional materials, and/or references will be appreciated. All materials must be received by April 1.

Award descriptions

iSchool Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award guidelines (revised 04/17/2004)

I. Purpose

The purpose of the Distinguished Alumnus Award is to recognize an individual alumnus of the School of Information Sciences who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of library and information science.

II. Eligibility

A. Only living alumni are eligible to be nominated for this award. For purposes of definition, an alumnus is any person who graduated from the School or its predecessors in library and information science.

B. The nominee shall have made significant contributions in the library and information science field benefiting his/her community, state, or nation.

C. The nominee need not be a member of the iSchool Alumni Association (ISAA).

D. The award may be given posthumously.

III. Award

A. The award shall consist of a certificate.

B. The award shall be presented at a reception held for graduates at the annual membership meeting of the Association, or other appropriate event at which the recipient or a designee is present.

C. Announcement of the recipient's name shall be made after the recipient is officially notified and the recipient has accepted.

D. The recipient's name shall be inscribed on a Distinguished Alumnus Award plaque. The plaque will remain on open display in the quarters of the School.

E. The recipient shall be or shall be invited to become a member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association and the ISAA.

IV. Nominations

A. Nominations may be submitted by 1) any member of the ISAA, 2) any current or former member of the faculty and staff, 3) any alumnus, 4) any member of the Award Committee, 5) or any current student.

B. All nominations must be made in writing and must include complete biographical information; a statement outlining the nominee's achievements in the field of library and information science; and include the name and address of the person making the nomination.

C. Nominations must be submitted no later than the deadline set in the call for nominations.

D. In rare cases, more than one award may be given in one year.

E. All nominations for the Distinguished Alumnus Award shall be continued in force for the following two successive years. After that time, they may be resubmitted.

F. If, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, no worthy candidate is nominated in a given year, the award will not be presented that year.

V. Award Committee

A. The Awards Committee shall consist of the vice president/president-elect who shall serve as the chair of the committee. In addition, the dean of the School or designee, the vice-chair of the Executive Committee (as a faculty representative), and two other Association members appointed by the president shall be invited to serve on the Awards Committee.

B. The chair of the Awards Committee will prepare a written report, including nominations and recommendations, to be submitted to the ISAA Board for action at its next meeting.

VI. iSchool Alumni Association Executive Board

A. The ISAA Executive Board is responsible for approving the recommendation of the Awards Committee and for notifying the recipient.

B. The ISAA Executive Board is responsible for coordinating with the ISAA liaison all publicity relating to the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Past winners

1987 Beverly Lynch
1988 Edward Holley
1989 Charles Bunge
1990 Jessie Carney Smith
1991 Robert Wedgeworth
1992 Ralph McCoy
1993 Kathryn Luther Henderson
1994 Laurel Grotzinger
1995 Bridget Lamont
1996 Mary Dempsey
1997 Barbara Ford
1998 Ellis Mount
1999 Samuel F. Morrison
2000 Guy St. Clair
2001 Ruth Carter, Guy Garrison
2002 Jane Bolster Nida
2003 Edward Barrett Stanford
2004 Donald G. Davis, Jr., Donna Dziedzic
2005 Linda Smith
2006 Mohamed Mohamed El-Hadi, Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson
2007 Kathryn Harris
2008 Gail Fish Bush
2009 William R. Holman
2010 Carol Tenopir
2011 Arlene Taylor
2012 Becky Lyon
2013 Katrina Stierholz
2014 Loriene Roy
2015 Vailey Oehlke
2016 Sidney Berger
2017 Beth Woodard
2018 Anne Gilliland
2019 Scott Burgh
2020 Safiya Noble
2021 Lorraine Haricombe
2022 Emily Knox
2023 Michèle Cloonan

iSchool Alumni Association Leadership Award guidelines (revised 4/17/2004)

I. Purpose

The purpose of the Leadership Award is to recognize a recipient of the master's degree from the School of Information Sciences who has graduated in the past ten years and who has shown leadership in the field of library and information science.

II. Eligibility

A. Alumni who received the master's degree not more than ten years previous to the current year's application deadline are eligible to be nominated for this award.

B. The nominee shall have made significant contributions in the library and information science field benefitting his/her community, state, or nation.

C. The nominee need not be a member of the iSchool Alumni Association (ISAA).

D. The award may be given posthumously.

III. Award

A. The award shall consist of a certificate.

B. The award shall be presented at a reception held for graduates at the annual membership meeting of the Association, or other appropriate event at which the recipient or a designee is present.

C. Announcement of the recipient's name shall be made after the recipient is officially notified and the recipient has accepted.

D. Incidental expenses for meals, lodging, etc., may be paid by the ISAA in an amount to be determined annually by the Board.

E. The recipient's name shall be inscribed on a Leadership Award plaque. The plaque will remain on open display in the quarters of the School.

F. The recipient shall be or shall be invited to become a member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association and the ISAA.

IV. Nominations

B. All nominations must be made in writing and should include complete biographical information; a statement outlining the nominee's achievements in the field of library and information science; and the name and address of the person making the nomination.

C. Nominations must be submitted no later than the deadline set in the call for nominations.

D. In rare cases, more than one award may be given in one year.

E. All nominations for Leadership Award shall be continued in force for the following two successive years, provided that the nominee would not have received the master's degree more than ten years ago, as defined in Section II (A) above.

F. If, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, no worthy candidate is nominated in a given year, the award will not be presented that year.

V. Award Committee

B. The chair of the Awards Committee will prepare a written report, including nominations and recommendations, to be submitted to the ISAA Board for action at its next meeting.

VI. iSchool Alumni Association Executive Board

A. The ISAA Executive Board is responsible for approving the recommendation of the Awards Committee and for notifying the recipient.

B. The ISAA Executive Board is responsible for coordinating with the ISAA liaison all publicity relating to the Leadership Award.

Past winners

1996 Diane Kovacs
1997 Carol Erickson
1998 Karen Schneider
1999 Steven J. Oberg
2000 Daniel Burgard
2001 Elizabeth Dupuis
2002 Julie A. James
2003 Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe
2004 Elaina Norlin
2005 Rebecca Graham
2006 Richard Pearce-Moses
2007 Robin Brenner
2008 Jennifer Ward
2009 Sarah Houghton-Jan
2010 Jessica Emily Moyer
2011 Sarah Shreeves
2012 Matt Cheney, Kevin Hawkins
2013 Maurice York
2014 Dipesh Navsaria
2015 Merinda Hensley
2016 Sarah Park Dahlen
2017 Trevor Munoz
2018 Chera Kowalski
2019 Soraya Silverman-Montoya
2020 Thomas Padilla
2021 Yasmeen Shorish
2022 Pia Hunter
2023 Ted Quiballo

iSchool Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award guidelines (revised 10/27/2001)

I. Purpose

The purpose of the Distinguished Service Award is to recognize a friend of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign iSchool Alumni Association (ISAA), or the School of Information Sciences, including faculty, staff, alumni and nonalumni, who has served the ISAA or the School in an exceptional way.

II. Eligibility

A. Faculty, staff, supporters, and alumni of the School are eligible to be nominated for this award. For purposes of definition, an alumnus is any person who graduated from the School or its predecessors in library and information science.

B. The nominee shall have made significant contributions to the ISAA and/or to the School.

C. The nominee need not be a member of the ISAA.

D. The award may be given posthumously.

III. Award

A. The award shall consist of a certificate.

B. The award shall be presented at the reception held for graduates at the annual membership meeting of the Association, or other appropriate event at which the recipient or a designee is present.

C. Announcement of the recipient's name shall be made after the recipient is officially notified and the recipient has accepted.

D. Incidental expenses for meals, lodging, etc., may be paid by the ISAA in an amount to be determined annually by the Board.

E. The recipient's name shall be inscribed on a Distinguished Service Award plaque. The plaque will remain on open display in the quarters of the School.

F. The recipient shall be, or shall be invited to become, a member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association and the ISAA.

IV. Nominations

B. All nominations must be made in writing and should include complete biographical information; a statement outlining the nominee's contributions to the ISAA or to the School; and the name and address of the person making the nomination.

C. Nominations must be submitted no later than the deadline set in the call for nominations.

D. In rare cases, more than one award may be given in one year.

E. All nominations for the Distinguished Service Award shall be continued in force for the following two successive years. After that time, they may be resubmitted.

F. If, in the opinion of the Awards Committee, no worthy candidate is nominated in a given year, the award will not be presented that year.

V. Award Committee

B. The chair of the Awards Committee will prepare a written report, including nominations and recommendations, to be submitted to the ISAA Board for action at its next meeting.

VI. iSchool Alumni Association Executive Board

A. The ISAA Executive Board is responsible for approving the recommendation of the Awards Committee and for notifying the recipient.

B. The ISAA Executive Board is responsible for coordinating with the ISAA liaison all publicity relating to the Distinguished Service Award.

Past winners

1993 Helen Knights
1994 Peggy Harris
1997 Patricia Stenstrom
1998 John Littlewood
1999 Stella (Frankie) Mosborg
2000 Terry Weech
2001 Leigh Estabrook
2002 Lionelle Elsesser
2003 Barbara J. Lintner
2004 Nancy Gillfillan
2005 Jean Koch
2006 Susan K. Barrick
2007 Mary Wilkes Towner
2008 Curt McKay
2009 The Faculty and Staff of the LIS Library - Lori Miller, Susan Searing and Sandra Wolf.
2010 Lynn Hanson
2011 William Henderson
2012 Marianne Steadley
2013 Jill Gengler
2014 Sally Eakin, Kathy Painter
2015 Fred Schlipf
2016 Georgeann Burch
2017 Martin Wolske
2018 Diana Stroud
2019 Betty Bush
2020 Meg Edwards
2021 Deborah Stevenson
2022 Ruth Shasteen
2023 Christine Hopper

iSchool Alumni Association Student Award

The ISAA Student Award recognizes a student who "caught the spirit" of the library and information science profession while employed in a library setting and so chose to enter the master's program. This student must have a strong commitment to return to a professional position in a library setting and help others "catch the spirit."

In 2001 the Board of Directors of the iSchool Alumni Association voted to provide an annual award to a student at Convocation. This award is to recognize involvement in and commitment to the library and information science profession prior to, during, and after the master's program. Since the birth of both the School and the iSchool Alumni Association over 100 years ago, many alumni have "caught the spirit" of the profession through an entry level position working in a library setting. This award recognizes this spirit and honors the librarians in our past who fostered its growth.

The award recipient is selected by the faculty and is presented the award and an honorarium for $100 at Convocation, as well as introduced at the ISAA Annual Business Meeting and Reception during the American Library Association Annual Conference.

Past winners

2001 Rose Allen
2002 David Monroe
2003 Gwen Evans
2004 M. Brooke Helman
2005 Jomichele Seidl
2006 Honore Bray
2007 Helen Linda
2008 Alex Reczkowski
2009 Donna LaFollette
2010 Hakim A. Murphy
2013 Brigitta Denning
2014 Pia Hunter
2015 Kristin Petersheim
2016 Jarrett Dapier
2017 Kyle Huizenga
2018 Eva Johnson
2019 Kevin Kelley
2020 Rosemary Froeliger
2021 Jeanine Vaughn
2022 Susan Schober
2023 Sheridan Cazarez
2024 Kaitlyn Weger