The iSchool Alumni Association (ISAA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Alumni Awards.
Lorraine Haricombe (MS/LIS '88, PhD '92) is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award. Each year this award is given to an alum who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of library and information science.
Haricombe serves as vice provost and director of the University of Texas Libraries at The University of Texas at Austin, where she provides strategic leadership for twelve library collections, including several storage facilities in Austin and in College Station, Texas. She previously served as dean of libraries at the University of Kansas (KU) and Bowling Green State University. In 2012, she was inducted into the KU Women's Hall of Fame for leading the university's efforts to develop a pioneering open access policy, the first of its kind among public universities. Haricombe is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and served as president of the ARL from 2019-2020. She has held several leadership positions, including chair of the Steering Committee of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) and chair of the Greater Western Library Alliance. She is also an elected member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Standing Committee on Academic and Research Libraries. Haricombe speaks and writes about transformation of libraries, leadership, and open access nationally and internationally.
Yasmeen Shorish (MS/LIS '11) is the recipient of the Leadership Award, which is given to an alum who has graduated in the past ten years and shown leadership in the field.
Shorish is the head of scholarly communications strategies and an associate professor at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She also serves as special advisor to the dean on equity initiatives. Shorish has held a series of positions at JMU with increasing responsibility, including physical and life sciences librarian/assistant professor and data services coordinator/associate professor. Shorish has an extensive record of professional, university, and community service, and she is currently a member of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Board of Directors. Her research interests include changing models in scholarly communication, data privacy and ethics, and issues related to representation within the profession. In December 2021, Shorish served as the iSchool's convocation speaker.
Deborah Stevenson is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Each year this award is given to an individual who has served ISAA or the School in an exceptional way.
Stevenson served as editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books prior to her retirement from the University of Illinois in 2021. She was with The Bulletin, one of the nation's leading children's book review journals for school and public librarians, since 1989 and held the position of editor since 2001. From 2010-2019, she also served as director of the iSchool's Center for Children's Books (CCB). Stevenson served as a mentor to generations of students preparing to be youth services librarians, book reviewers, and researchers. In addition to her work with graduate assistants, reviewers, and staff, she guided and mentored visiting scholars from China and countless students who relied on the CCB's collection to complete coursework and write theses. Stevenson has served on major children's book award committees of the American Library Association and has served on or chaired the Scott O'Dell Award committee since 2011.