[Asis-l] E.J.Josey Honored

[Richard Hill]

April 5, 2002   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:        Ron Cichowicz
[412/624-4007; cich+ at pitt.edu]

American Library Association Bestows Highest Honor
On Pitt Professor

PITTSBURGH  E.J. Josey, emeritus professor of library and information 
science in the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences 
(SIS), recently was named an honorary member of the American Library 
Association (ALA).  Josey was the first male African American president of 
the ALA and was instrumental in integrating library associations in the 1960s.

According to the ALA, honorary membership may be conferred on a living 
citizen of any country whose contribution to librarianship or a closely 
related field is so outstanding that it is of lasting importance to the 
advancement of the whole field of library service.  By earning this honor, 
Josey joins such notable individuals as Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey, Bill 
Gates, Barbara Bush, and Andrew Carnegie.

Josey joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1986 and taught the initial 
Libraries and Librarianship in Society course for the Department of Library 
and Information Science.  He retired from the University in 1995.

Josey earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Howard University, 
the Master of Arts degree in history from Columbia University, and the 
Master of Science degree in library science from the State University of 
New York at Albany.  He also has had four honorary degrees conferred upon 
him, as well as numerous professional, academic, and community honors.  He 
was president of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1984-85, was a 
member of its council for 30 years, and received its most coveted honor, 
the Joseph W. Lippincott Award.

A prolific speaker and writer, Josey has authored more than 400 articles 
and has written or edited 12 books on library and information science.

Upon Josey's retirement from Pitt, The E.J. Josey Endowment Scholarship for 
Minorities was created in his honor; it is awarded annually to an enrolled 
African American graduate student in the Department of Library and 
Information Science who demonstrates potential for academic excellence and 
leadership.  The ALA's Black Caucus established its first independent 
scholarship, the E.J. Josey Scholarship Award, in his honor; it is given 
annually to an African American from the United States or Canada pursuing a 
degree in an ALA-accredited library and information science program.

Pitt's School of Information Sciences celebrated its centennial in 
2001.  Originally part of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the school 
moved to the University of Pittsburgh in 1962.  The SIS faculty, staff, 
students, and programsinterdisciplinary, multicultural, and international 
by designare dedicated to the building of a global society and an informed 
citizenship based upon the foundation of knowledge made possible only 
through access to reliable and useful information.  As a result of Josey 
and the School's Affirmative Action Committee, SIS received the 
Chancellor's Affirmative Action Award in 2001 honoring the "outstanding 
University of Pittsburgh program area or individual that has made a 
significant contribution in affirmative action."


Executive Director
American Society for Information Science and Technology
1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 510
Silver Spring, MD  20910
FAX: (301) 495-0810
PHONE: (301) 495-0900

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