SLA Hall of Fame Member Paul Wasserman, 1924-2009

Paul Wasserman, inducted into the SLA Hall of Fame in 2007 for his work as the founding Dean of The College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, died Friday, May 8, 2009, following a period of ill health; he was 85 years old. Services will be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, with burial at 9:00 am at Arlington National Cemetery, followed by a memorial service at 11:30 am in Memorial Chapel, University of Maryland, College Park.

Wasserman took up the post of Dean of the School of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland, in January 1965, shortly after the school was formally approved. He began work with a secretary but without faculty, curriculum, or students. However, the promise to open the school in fall 1965 had been made and was kept through Wasserman's efforts. He built the new school to be interdisciplinary, recruiting an engineer, a physicist, and an industrial psychologist, among others, to be the first faculty. He had undertaken a post-doctoral fellowship in data processing and information technology and knew the importance of technology to information work. The technology required course in the MLS program was one of the first of its kind. Wasserman attained full accreditation of the program by the American Library Association before the first graduated in 1966. He led the design of the doctoral program, which admitted its first students in 1967. He left the deanship in 1970 and returned to a fulltime faculty position.

Watch the SLA 2007 Hall of Fame video on Wasserman

Read the SLA Press Release on Wasserman's induction into the Hall of Fame.

Read the UMD press release on Wasserman's death.

Read the Washington Post article on Wasserman.

Comments

[A C (Tony) Foskett]

Paul invited me to be a Visiting Lecturer in the School 1968-69 as part of his plan to have English lecturers teach classification! A terrific opportunity, which boosted my later career as head of a Library School!