[Asis-l] News Release: INDIANA UNIVERSITY SLIS DEAN ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION

Mon Jan 13 15:14:36 EST 2003

Please send to the ASIS Listserv.

NEWS RELEASE
January 13, 2003

INDIANA UNIVERSITY SLIS DEAN ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Blaise Cronin, dean of Indiana University's (IU)
School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) since 1991, has
announced his intention to step down as dean with effect from June 30,
2003. After a year's sabbatical leave, he will return to the faculty to
pursue his many research and other interests.

During Cronin's 12 years as dean the School of Library and Information
Science has undergone significant transformation, and it is consistently
ranked as one of the nation's premier programs. The school's faculty,
with disciplinary backgrounds in computer science, information science,
political science, cognitive science, linguistics, sociology, and
library science, comprises some of the best-known scholars in the field.
In 2000, the school's faculty was rated #1 in North America for its
scholarly productivity and impact. In recent years, SLIS has established
research centers in social informatics, information retrieval, and
information visualization, and faculty members have been successful in
securing external research support, notably from the National Science Foundation.

Dean Cronin also oversaw a major restructuring of the school's programs
across the state of Indiana. During the early nineties SLIS phased out
its programs in six locations, and greatly strengthened its presence on
both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses. At the same time, new
degrees in information science (master's and Ph.D) were introduced,
along with an array of joint/dual degree programs. In recent years the
school's enrollments have reached record levels, reflecting the high
standing in which SLIS's curricula and faculty are held, both nationally
and internationally.

Blaise Cronin is the Rudy Professor of Information Science at Indiana
University Bloomington. He is concurrently Visiting Professor of
Information Science at the Manchester Metropolitan University, England
and also Visiting Professor in the School of Computing at Napier
University, Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1985-1991 he held the Chair of
Information Science at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where
he was Head of the Department of Information Science in the Strathclyde
Business School.

Professor Cronin is the author/editor of 300 research articles,
monographs, technical reports, conference papers, and other
publications, and is one of the most widely published and highly cited
scholars in information science. His principal areas of research are
scholarly communication, citation analysis, scientific collaboration,
and cybermetrics. He has also published extensively on topics such as
information warfare, strategic intelligence, knowledge management, and
information marketing. Professor Cronin is Editor of the prestigious
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, and sits on many
editorial boards, including JASIST, IJIM, LQ, and Scientometrics. 

Dr. Cronin has taught, researched, or consulted in more than 30
countries: clients have included the World Bank, U.S. Department of
Justice, Asian Development Bank, Unesco, Brazilian Ministry of Science &
Technology, European Commission, British Council, Her Majesty's
Treasury, Hewlett-Packard, British Library, Commonwealth Agricultural
Bureaux, Association for Information Management, and Chemical Abstracts
Service. Professor Cronin was a founding director of Crossaig, an
electronic publishing start-up in Scotland, which was acquired in 1992
by Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in Philadelphia. Professor
Cronin was educated at Trinity College Dublin (M.A.) and the Queen's
University of Belfast (Ph.D., D.S.Sc.) In 1997, he was awarded the
degree Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., honoris causa) by Queen Margaret
University College, Edinburgh for his scholarly contributions to
information science. 

-30-

Media Contact:

Diane J. Squire 
Director of Marketing and Communications
Indiana University, SLIS
School of Library and Information Science
812-855-5530 
Email: djsquire at indiana.edu
Web: www.slis.indiana.edu